Jan 08

 

The January issue of our flagship Money Fund Intelligence newsletter, which was sent to subscribers Wednesday morning, features the articles: "Yields Bottoming Near 4.​20%; Assets Keep Breaking Records," which discusses the move lower and plateauing of yields and jumps in assets; "ICI: Worldwide MMF Assets Rise in Q3'​24 to $​11.​2 Tril.," which looks at the latest MMF statistics outside the U.​S.; and, "Top Money Funds of 2024; 16th Annual MFI Awards" which reviews the best performing MMFs of 2024. We also sent out our MFI XLS spreadsheet Wednesday a.​m., and we'​ve updated our Money Fund Wisdom database with 12/​31/​24 data. Our Jan. Money Fund Portfolio Holdings are scheduled to ship on Friday, December 10, and our Jan. Bond Fund Intelligence is scheduled to go out on Wednesday, January 15.

MFI'​s "Yields Bottoming" article says, "Money fund yields fell by 16 basis points to 4.​28% on average during December (​down from 5.​20% at the start of 2024). Our Crane 100 Money Fund Index continues inching lower, falling to 4.​23% as of 1/​6/​25. Fund yields have now digested most of the Federal Reserve'​s 25 basis point cut on Dec. 18, though they may inch a lower in coming days. But yields should remain solidly above 4.​0% in the near-​term, and they may even hold these levels for the entire year as expectations for more rate cuts evaporate."

It continues, "Yields on average have declined by 81 bps since the Fed first cut its Fed funds target rate by 50 bps percent on Sept. 18, and they'​ve declined by 38 bps since the Fed cut rates by 1/​4 point on 11/​7. Yields were 4.​45% on 11/​30/​24, 4.​65% on 10/​31, 4.​75% on 9/​30, 5.​10% on 8/​31, 5.​13% on 7/​31 and 6/​28, 5.​14% on 3/​31/​24 and 5.​20% on 12/​31/​23."

We write in our Worldwide article, "​The Investment Company Institute published, 'Worldwide Regulated Open-​Fund Assets and Flows, Third Quarter 2024,' which shows that money fund assets globally rose by $​572.​9 billion, or 5.​4%, in Q3'​24 to a record $​11.​215 trillion. Increases were led by a sharp jump in money funds in U.​S., Ireland and China, while Luxembourg and France also rose. Meanwhile, money funds in Mexico and Korea were lower. MMF assets worldwide increased by $​1.​271 trillion, or 12.​8%, in the 12 months through 9/​30/​24, and MMFs in the U.​S. now represent 60.​4% of worldwide assets."

It states, "​ICI'​s release says, 'Worldwide regulated open-​end fund assets increased 6.​8% to $​74.​95 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2024, excluding funds of funds. Worldwide net cash inflow to all funds was $​913 billion in the third quarter, compared with $​819 billion of net inflows in the second quarter of 2024. The Investment Company Institute compiles worldwide regulated open-​end fund statistics on behalf of the International Investment Funds Association (​IIFA), the organization of national fund associations. The collection for the third quarter of 2024 contains statistics from 44 jurisdictions.'"

Our "Top Money Funds of 2024" piece says, "This issue recognizes the top performing money funds, ranked by total returns, for calendar year 2024, as well as the top funds for the past 5‐​year and 10‐​year periods. We present the funds below with our annual Money Fund Intelligence Awards. These are given to the No. 1‐​ranked funds based on 1‐​year, 5‐​year and 10‐​year returns, through Dec. 31, 2023, in each of our major fund categories -- Prime Institutional, Government Institutional, Treasury Institutional, Prime Retail, Government Retail, Treasury Retail and Tax‐​Exempt."

The piece continues, "The Top-​Performing Prime Institutional fund (​and fund overall) was BlackRock Cash Inst MMF SL (​BISXX), which returned 5.​43%. Among Prime Retail funds, Schwab Value Adv MF Ultra (​SNAXX) had the best return in 2024 (​5.​36%). (​Our Crane 100 Money Fund Index returned 5.​08% in 2024.)"

MFI also includes the News brief, "Fed Cuts Rates Another 1/​4 to 4.​375%. The FOMC'​s Statement says, 'Inflation has made progress toward the Committee’​s 2 percent objective but remains somewhat elevated.... In support of its goals, the Committee decided to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by 1/​4 percentage point to 4-​1/​4 to 4-​1/​2 percent.'"

Another News brief, "J.​P. Morgan'​s '​Mid-​Week US Short Duration Update,' features, 'November MMF Holdings Update: Sufficient Supply Meeting MMFs' Demand.' It states, 'Taxable MMFs experienced another strong month of inflows in November, with AUMs increasing by nearly $​200bn, bringing total balances to just under $​7tn. Despite this significant rise in balances, MMFs successfully found enough supply to meet their demand throughout the month, aided by a rise in T-​bill, repo, and time deposit outstandings. As a result, MMFs' use of ON RRP fell to an end-​of-​month low since May 2021.'"

A third News brief, "SEC Stats: MMF Assets Jump to Record $​7.​13 Tril. in Nov., Yields Fall," says, "​The SEC'​s 'Money Market Fund Statistics' show that total money fund assets rose by $​197.​8 billion in November to a record $​7.​125 trillion. Prime MMFs increased $​12.​9 billion to $​1.​187 trillion, Govt & Treasury funds increased $​181.​5 billion to $​5.​797 trillion and Tax Exempt funds increased $​3.​4 billion to $​141.​3 billion. Taxable yields fell again in November after plunging in October.'"

A sidebar, "WSJ on Why to Cheer MMFs," says, "The Wall Street Journal tells us, 'Why You May Want to Cheer for Money-​Market Funds.' Subtitled, 'Money funds remain an attractive place for excess cash and can help keep a lid on short-​term borrowing costs,' the article says, '​Cash might be a trash asset to some risk-​loving traders. But it'​s a pretty good thing to have sloshing around the economy. U.​S. money-​market fund assets have so far through mid-​December grown by over $​800 billion in 2024, bringing the nearly two-​year gain since the end of 2022 to roughly $​2 trillion, according to [​ICI]. This continuing flow may be a surprise to some. At points in 2024, it often seemed that Fed ... cuts, plus a bullish tilt to equity markets, would push more investors out of cash.'"

Our January MFI XLS, with Dec. 31 data, shows total assets increased $​113.​0 billion to a record $​7.​184 trillion, after increasing $​196.​1 billion in November, $​89.​9 billion in October, $​155.​2 billion in September, $​105.​6 billion in August, $​19.​7 billion in July, $​11.​8 billion in June and $​79.​7 billion in May. They decreased $​17.​6 billion in April and $​66.​7 billion in March, but increased $​50.​0 billion in February and $​87.​0 billion last January.

Our broad Crane Money Fund Average 7-​Day Yield was down 15 bps at 4.​19%, and our Crane 100 Money Fund Index (​the 100 largest taxable funds) was also down 16 bps at 4.​28% in December. On a Gross Yield Basis (​7-​Day) (​before expenses are taken out), the Crane MFA and the Crane 100 averaged 4.​58% and 4.​55%. Charged Expenses averaged 0.​39% and 0.​27% for the Crane MFA and the Crane 100. (​We'​ll revise expenses once we upload the SEC'​s Form N-​MFP data for 12/​31/​24 on Thursday, 1/​9.) The average WAM (​weighted average maturity) for the Crane MFA was 37 days (​up 1 bp) and the Crane 100 WAM was unchanged from the previous month at 37 days. (​See our Crane Index or craneindexes.​xlsx history file for more on our averages.)

Dec 27

 

As we enjoy the Holiday season and approach the New Year, Crane Data is ramping up preparations for its 2025 conference calendar. We just finished our "basic training" Money Fund University event last week, and we'​re getting ready for our next show, Bond Fund Symposium, which is March 27-​28, 2025, in Newport Beach, Calif. But our focus will soon shift to our big show, Crane'​s Money Fund Symposium, which will take place June 23-​25, 2025 at The Renaissance Boston Seaport, in Boston, Mass. The preliminary draft agenda for the largest gathering of money market fund managers and cash investors in the world is now available and registrations are now being taken. Money Fund Symposium attracts money fund managers, marketers and servicers, cash investors, money market securities dealers, issuers, and regulators. We review the MFS preliminary agenda, as well as Crane Data'​s other 2025 conferences, below. (Thanks once more to those who supported our Money Fund University in Providence last week! Attendees and subscribers may access the recordings and conference materials at the bottom of our "Content" page or via our "Money Fund University 2024 Download Center.")

Our Money Fund Symposium Agenda kicks off on Monday, June 23 with a "Keynote: Will the Money Fund Party Keep Going?" featuring Yie-​Hsin Hung of State Street Global Advisors. The rest of the Day 1 Agenda includes: "Repo, Fed RRP & Treasury Clearing Issues," with Travis Keltner of State Street, Dina Marchioni of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Nathaniel Wuerffel of BNY Mellon; "New Frontier: Tokenized MMFs & MM ETFs" with Teresa Ho of J.​P. Morgan Securities and Adam Ackermann of Paxos; and, a "Major Money Fund Issues 2025" panel with moderator Peter Crane of Crane Data, Laurie Brignac of Invesco, Kevin Gaffney of Fidelity Investments and Dan LaRocco, of Northern Trust A.​M. The evening'​s reception is sponsored by Bank of America.

Day 2 of Money Fund Symposium 2025 begins with "Strategists Speak '​25: Rates, Repo & Risks," with Joseph Abate of Barclays, Mark Cabana of BofA Securities and Gennadiy Goldberg of TD Securities; followed by a "Senior Portfolio Manager Perspectives" panel with Deborah Cunningham of Federated Hermes, Doris Grillo of J.​P. Morgan Asset Mgmt, and John Tobin of Dreyfus. Next up is "Treasury & Government Money Fund Issues," with Tom Katzenbach of the US Dept of Treasury, Mike Bird of Allspring Global Investments and Nafis Smith of Vanguard. The morning concludes with a "Muni & Tax Exempt Money Fund Update," featuring John Vetter of Fidelity, Cameron Ullyatt of Schwab Asset Mgmt and David Elmquist of J.​P. Morgan Securities.

The Afternoon of Day 2 (​after a Dreyfus-​sponsored lunch) features the segments: "Dealer'​s Choice: Supply, New Securities & CP" with moderator Rob Sabatino of UBS A.​M., Robe Crowe of Citi Global Markets, John Kodweis of J.​P. Morgan and Stewart Cutler of Barclays; "Local Government Investment Pool Briefing" with Laura Glenn of Public Trust Advisors, and Jeffrey Rowe of PFM Asset Management; "Deposits, Brokerage Sweeps & Retail Cash" with Michael Berkowitz of Citi Treasury & Trade Solutions; and "Investors, Portals & Distribution Topics" with Greg Fortuna of State Street Fund Connect and Vanessa McMichael of Wells Fargo Securities (​The Day 2 reception is sponsored by Barclays.)

The third day of the Symposium features the sessions: "Regulations: Money Fund Reforms Round III" with Brenden Carroll of Dechert LLP, Jon-​Luc Dupuy of K&​L Gates LLP and Jamie Gershkow of Stradley Ronon; "Ratings Agency Outlook & Trend Review" with Robert Callagy of Moody’​s Investors, Peter Gargiulo of Fitch Ratings and Michael Masih of S&​P Global Ratings; "State of the Money Market Fund Industry" with Peter Crane and Pia McCusker of SSGA; and, "Money Fund Wisdom Demo & Training" with Peter Crane.

Visit the Money Fund Symposium website at www.​cranesmfsymposium.​com for more details. Registration is $​1,​000, and discounted hotel reservations are available. We hope you'​ll join us in Boston this June! Note that some of our speakers have yet to confirm their participation, and the agenda is still in the process of being finalized, so watch for tweaks in coming weeks. E-​mail us at info@​cranedata.​com to request the full brochure.

We'​re also making plans for our eighth annual ultra-​short bond fund event, Bond Fund Symposium, which will take place March 27-​28, 2025 <​b:>`​_in `​Newport Beach, Calif. at the Hyatt Regency. Crane'​s Bond Fund Symposium offers a concentrated and affordable educational experience, as well as an excellent networking venue, for bond fund and fixed-​income professionals. Registrations are now being accepted ($​1,​000) and sponsorship opportunities are available. See the latest agenda here and details here.

Portfolio managers, analysts, investors, issuers, service providers, and anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of bond funds and fixed-​income investing will benefit from our comprehensive program. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Newport Beach Hyatt Regency. We'​d like to thank our past sponsors and exhibitors -- Wells Fargo Securities, Fitch Ratings, Fidelity Investments, J.​P. Morgan Asset Management, Allspring Global, S&​P Global Ratings, StoneX, Invesco, BofA Securities, Northern Trust, Bloomberg Intelligence, Goldman Sachs, Federated, GLMX, Payden & Rygel, PIMCO and Dechert -- for their support. (​We'​d love to get some new ones!) E-​mail us for more details.

Finally, mark your calendars for our next European Money Fund Symposium, which is scheduled for Sept. 25-​26, 2025, in Dublin, Ireland, and for our next Crane'​s Money Fund University, which is scheduled for Pittsburgh, Pa., Dec. 18-​19, 2025. Let us know if you'​d like more details on any of our events, and we hope to see you in Newport Beach in March, in Boston in June, in Dublin in September or in Pittsburgh in December 2025. Thanks for your patience and support in 2024, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Dec 26

 

This month, Crane Data'​s Bond Fund Intelligence publication featured the story "Payden & Rygel'​s Kerry Rapanot on Rethinking Cash." The BFI piece explains, "Payden & Rygel recently hosted a media briefing on low duration bond strategies featuring Director Kerry Rapanot, a member of their Low Duration Strategy leadership team. Rapanot says, 'It'​s a good time to be talking about cash. We'​ve reached a new peak in money fund assets at $​7 trillion. We went from the lower band of zero back in 2022 all the way to 5.​25% in the summer of 2023. Finally, this past September, the Fed began their easing cycle. We had a 50-​basis points rate cut in September and then another 25-​basis point cut just recently here in November [​and another 25 bps cut last week.'" (Note: The following is reprinted from the December issue of BFI, which was published on December 13. Contact us at info@​cranedata.​com to request the full issue or to subscribe. BFI is $​500 a year, $​1,​000 including our Bond Fund Intelligence XLS spreadsheet or $​2,​000 including our Bond Fund Portfolio Holdings dataset.)

She continues, "Now as yields are decreasing as the Fed is cutting the federal funds rate, yields on money market funds are declining. It'​s a bit of a surprise to us to see fund balances continuing to increase, as that $​7 trillion number is eye-​popping. While we'​ve reached these new highs, prime institutional funds are the only category with net outflows this year. This is directly a result of the SEC'​s latest round of reforms, which went into place this year."

Rapanot explains, "As investors think about moving cash out of money market funds into longer bonds, a low duration strategy makes sense. A low duration strategy is a compelling solution for investors looking to balance safety, liquidity, and enhanced income. We'​re currently in a period of increased interest rate volatility and lower credit risk premiums, which means the additional yield investors earn by buying higher risk securities is lower than normal. With this backdrop, we don’​t think it’​s sensible to take on credit risk that doesn’​t fairly compensate the investor."

She continues, "We have a similar view for interest rates, where we do not see value in taking on additional risk where youre not compensated. We came into January of this year with the market pricing in seven cuts. And now at the end of the year we'​ve had three cuts.... Since we believe the market is pricing in fewer future cuts than what we think, we see value in extending out bond duration right now."

She asks, "So what are low duration strategies and how do they differ from money market funds? Low duration strategies have a lot of other alternative names. You may have heard ultra short, short duration, enhanced cash, enhanced income, etc. These strategies offer investors the potential to earn more than money market funds or bank deposits. They broaden the investible universe in two key ways. Number one, low duration strategies invest in bonds with maturities as long as five years, compared to the 397-​day maturity limit on money market funds. This enables an investor the potential to lock in longer term yields, as well as take advantage of price appreciation as interest rates fall, something money market funds cannot do as effectively. And second, low duration strategies invest across the fixed income universe -- from Treasury bills to corporates to structured bond credit. `​This investment diversification can generate greater returns while maintaining liquidity."

Rapanot says, "Now, expanding the guidelines does add some risk, as these strategies are not $​1 net asset value (​NAV). While they do offer the higher potential for return than money market funds, they come with greater price volatility due to owning longer maturities, and the inclusion of credit. However, the investments remain short-​term enough to limit this risk, especially as bonds quickly approach maturities and their prices pull to par, which help to stabilize returns. By its nature, a low duration portfolio should be liquid. However, not every individual holding needs to be able to function as liquidity. Though money market securities have less price risk and lower trade costs than corporate bonds, both can be sold to generate liquidity. Through active management, portfolios can maintain liquidity and participate in total return opportunities."

She states, "Payden & Rygel'​s low duration strategy team manages two strategy solutions: Enhanced cash and low duration. Both aim to outperform passive cash strategies, but they differ in their benchmarks and duration profiles."

Rapanot comments, "Enhanced cash is your first step out beyond a money market fund. The duration is typically short, less than three quarters of a year, and the spread duration is typically under one and a quarter year. As a result, the volatility is low, and liquidity is exceptional. The next step out is what we call low duration. Typically a one- to three-​year benchmark duration will range somewhere between one and a half and two and a half years and spread duration somewhere between one and three years. The price volatility here is going to be a little higher than the enhanced cash strategy but remains low when you look at it compared to longer, intermediate, or core bond strategies. And again, active management looks to minimize this price volatility over time."

She adds, "Many of our clients employ a mix of both enhanced cash and low duration strategies as they look to put their longer reserve cash to work. Within the strategy, we offer customized approaches to fulfill our clients' investment objectives."

The Payden PM also asks, "How does a low duration strategy differ from other fixed income strategies? With the Fed cutting interest rates to a more neutral level, this is going to have the greatest impact on short-​term securities. That means money market yields will fall rapidly as the Fed lowers rates. However, low duration bond portfolio yields will not decrease as quickly. By investing a portion of the cash in longer duration bonds investors can lock in higher yields further out the maturity curve. Clients can customize the amount of duration or credit risk they wish to tolerate through their investment guidelines. The broader the guidelines, the more opportunity to earn higher long-​term returns, along with some additional volatility than a money market fund. Low duration strategies are for investors who want a balance of liquidity and moderate returns with lower risk. While intermediate to core bond strategies are for those seeking higher returns, but over a long run, and willing to accept more volatility."

She adds, "Low duration strategies are positioned between the safer world of money funds, and the more volatile space of intermediate and core bond strategies. And while they do carry more price risk than a money market fund, they do have lower volatility and credit risk compared to other bond strategies."

Finally, Rapanot states, "So what factors should investors consider when seeking higher yields? Returns in a low duration strategy are primarily driven by sector allocations. Investment grade corporates and structured credit are integral parts of the portfolio. We invest in debt, ranging from zero to five years in maturity, both fixed rate and floating rate coupons. Diversification guidelines limit our exposure to any single issuer except within government securities, and we actively manage that credit exposure, selling and buying securities when changes in their valuations or fundamentals make it necessary or worthwhile. This multi-​sector approach seeks to provide multiple sources of return and allows us to improve risk-​adjusted performance across a variety of market environments."

Dec 06

 

The December issue of our flagship Money Fund Intelligence newsletter, which was sent to subscribers Friday morning, features the articles: "Money Fund Assets Break Over $​7.​0 Trillion; Still Going," which reviews the continued jump in MMF assets; "Top 10 Stories of 2024: Asset Surge Continues, Yields Peak," which looks back at some of Crane Data'​s top stories of the year; and, "BlackRock Files for Money Market ETFs: Will They Fly?" which looks at the new ETF filing. We also sent out our MFI XLS spreadsheet Friday a.​m., and we'​ve updated our Money Fund Wisdom database with 11/​30/​24 data. Our Dec. Money Fund Portfolio Holdings are scheduled to ship on Tuesday, December 10, and our Dec. Bond Fund Intelligence is scheduled to go out on Friday, December 13. (Note: We'​re still taking registrations for our "basic training" event, Money Fund University, which is Dec. 19-​20 in Providence, R.​I.)

MFI'​s "$​7.​0 Trillion" article says, “Money market mutual fund assets broke the $​7.​0 trillion barrier for the first time ever on Wednesday, Nov. 13, according to our Money Fund Intelligence Daily. Assets jumped following the Federal Reserve'​s Nov. 7 25 basis point rate cut, and they'​ve continued surging higher in December, rising $​58.​0 billion month-​to-​date (​through 12/​3) to a record $​7.​121 trillion. Money fund assets have increased by $​816.​0 billion (​13.​0%) year-​to-​date in 2024 (​through 12/​4).

It continues, "According to our monthly MFI XLS, money fund assets increased by $​196.​1 billion in November to a record $​7.​066 trillion. Assets rose by $​97.​5 billion in October, $​149.​8 billion in September, $​109.​7 billion in August, $​16.​6 billion in July, $​15.​7 billion in June and $​91.​4 billion in May. They declined by $​15.​8 billion in April and $​68.​8 billion in March. They rose $​​72.​​1 billion in February, $​93.​9 billion in Jan., $​32.​7 billion in December and $​226.​4 billion last November."

We write in our Top 10 article, "Dramatic asset growth was again the biggest story of the year, as money market fund assets jumped by $​800 billion to a record $​7.​0 trillion (​after jumping by over $​1.​0 trillion last year). With still almost a month to go, money fund asset growth could approach $​1.​0 trillion by yearend. In 2023, rising yields were the big news. Though yields have begun declining, and are now below 4.​5%, yields remained above 5% for most of the past year. So great yields were another theme of 2024. Other major headlines of 2024 included: the implementation (​and minor impact) of the SEC'​s latest Money Fund Reforms, the birth of tokenized money market funds (​and money fund ETFs), the continued growth of Social (​and shrinkage of ESG) MMFs and the increase in assets and now decline in yields in European and other worldwide markets. Below, we excerpt from a number of our biggest and most representative news stories of 2024 to highlight the major trends of the past year."

It states, "Crane Data'​s Top 10 Stories of 2024 include (​in chronological order): 'Dreyfus Liquid Assets Celebrates 50th Birthday; ICI Trends for December' (​1/​31/​24); 'American Funds Central Cash to Convert to Govt to Avoid Liquidity Fees' (​2/​6/​24); 'BlackRock Launches Private Tokenized Money Fund, BUIDL; BVI Domicile' (​3/​22/​24); 'ICI: Worldwide MF Assets Jump in Q4'​23, Break $​10 Trillion; US Leads' (​3/​25/​24); 'Goldman Files to Liquidate Prime Inst MMFs; Barron'​s: MMFs Tempting' (​4/​22/​24); 'More AFP Liquidity Survey: Banks, MMFs, T-​Bills Kings of Cash; MMFs Up' (​6/​27/​24); 'WSJ, Investment News on Brokerage Deposit, Advisory Sweep Pressures' (​7/​19/​24); 'SSGA Sticks w/​Prime Inst Money Funds; Discusses Reforms; Benchmarks' (​8/​29/​24); 'MMF Assets Break $​6.​7 Trillion; Crane 100 Falls Below 5.​0%; FT on MMFs' (​9/​24/​24); 'Bloomberg, ignites on Latest MMF Reforms; Prime Inst Shift a Nonevent' (​10/​3/​24); and, 'Money Fund Assets Break Over $​7.​0 Trillion; S&​P on AAA Rated MFs in Q3' (​11/​13/​24)."

Our "BlackRock" piece says, "​A Form N-​1A Registration Statement for the BlackRock ETF Trust and its new iShares Prime Money Market ETF tells us, 'The iShares Prime Money Market ETF seeks as high a level of current income as is consistent with liquidity and stability of principal.... The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing, under normal circumstances, in a broad range of U.​S. dollar-​denominated money market instruments, including government, U.​S. and foreign bank, and commercial obligations and repurchase agreements. The Fund invests in securities maturing in 397 days or less (​with certain exceptions) and the portfolio will have a dollar-​weighted average maturity of 60 days or less and a dollar-​weighted average life of 120 days or less.'"

The piece continues, "The Fund'​s Board of Trustees has determined that the Fund will qualify as a '​money market fund' pursuant to Rule 2a-​7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended ('​Rule 2a-​7'). The securities purchased by the Fund are subject to the quality, diversification, and other requirements of Rule 2a-​7, and other rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission ('​SEC'). Unlike a traditional money market fund, the Fund operates as an exchange traded fund ('​ETF'). As an ETF, the Fund'​s shares will be traded on [​an exchange] and will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in net asset value ('​NAV') per share as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, shares on [​the exchange]."

MFI also includes the News brief, "Reuters: 'America'​s $​7 Trillion Cash Stash Isn'​t Going Anywhere.' They write, 'A record-​high $​7 trillion of cash is currently sitting '​on the sidelines' in money market funds.... Anyone hoping to see a significant chunk of this flooding the wider investment field in the coming months may be disappointed. Many strategists assume this massive pile of cash will start to shrink now that the Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates as investors seek a more profitable home for their capital in the face of diminishing cash yields.... Not so fast.'"

Another News brief, "Money Fund Yields Dip Below 4.​5%," states, "Money fund yields declined by 20 basis points to 4.​44% on average during the month ended November 30 (​as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after falling 11 bps in October and 35 bps in September. Yields now reflect the majority of the Fed'​s 25 bps cut on November 7, but they should continue inching lower this week and next. They'​ve declined by 58 bps since the Fed cut its target rate by 50 bps on Sept. 18 and by 15 bps since the Fed cut rates by 1/​4 point on 11/​7."

A third News brief, "Northern Trust A.​M.'​s 'Global Investment Outlook 2025," quotes NTAM, "Money fund assets up while rates go down.... Importantly for money market investors, we and the markets see little chance rates return to the zero lower bound anytime soon -- a welcome change from much of the past 15 years of very low yields on cash."

A sidebar says, "Barron'​s asks, 'Can Cash Be King Again? Suddenly, T-​Bills Look More Attractive.' Subtitled, 'The potential for higher-​for-​longer rates means cash vehicles, including Treasury bills, money market funds and savings accounts, could continue to offer attractive yields into next year,' the article says, 'Cash could be the best game in town. That’​s the argument of one prominent Wall Street analyst after market shifts make short-​term investments look a lot more attractive.'"

Our December MFI XLS, with Nov. 30 data, shows total assets increased $​196.​1 billion to a record $​7.​066 trillion, after increasing $​89.​9 billion in October, $​155.​2 billion in September, $​105.​6 billion in August, $​19.​7 billion in July, $​11.​8 billion in June and $​79.​7 billion in May. They decreased $​17.​6 billion in April and $​66.​7 billion in March, but increased $​50.​0 billion in February, $​87.​0 billion in January and $​24.​5 billion last December.

Our broad Crane Money Fund Average 7-​Day Yield was down 20 bps at 4.​34%, and our Crane 100 Money Fund Index (​the 100 largest taxable funds) was also down 20 bps at 4.​44% in November. On a Gross Yield Basis (​7-​Day) (​before expenses are taken out), the Crane MFA and the Crane 100 averaged 4.​71% and 4.​71%. Charged Expenses averaged 0.​38% and 0.​27% for the Crane MFA and the Crane 100. (​We'​ll revise expenses once we upload the SEC'​s Form N-​MFP data for 11/​30/​24 on Monday, 12/​9.) The average WAM (​weighted average maturity) for the Crane MFA was 36 days (​up 1 bp) and the Crane 100 WAM was up 1 bp from the previous month at 37 days. (​See our Crane Index or craneindexes.​xlsx history file for more on our averages.)