Link of The Day
ICI: Assets Break $7.0 Trillion
ICI published its latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report on Thursday. The weekly series shows money fund assets rising $51.2 billion to a record $7.025 trillion, after rising $60.5 billion the week prior. Money fund assets have risen in 22 of the last 31, and 33 of the last 46 weeks, increasing by $721.8.7 billion (or 11.5%) since the Fed cut on 9/18/24 and increasing by $1.048 trillion (or 17.5%) since 4/24/24. MMF assets are up by $948 billion, or 15.6%, in the past 52 weeks (through 3/5/25), with Institutional MMFs up $491 billion, or 13.3% and Retail MMFs up $458 billion, or 19.2%. Year-to-date, MMF assets are up by $175 billion, or 2.6%, with Institutional MMFs up $70 billion, or 1.7% and Retail MMFs up $105 billion, or 3.8%. ICI's weekly release says, "Continued strong inflows into money market funds (MMFs) sent assets soaring by $51.15 billion to a record-breaking $7.03 trillion, the Investment Company Institute reported for the week ended Wednesday, March 5. Among taxable money market funds, government funds increased by $45.67 billion and prime funds increased by $8.30 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds decreased by $2.82 billion." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs increasing $20.8 billion and Retail MMFs increasing $30.4 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $5.766 trillion (82.1% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.127 trillion (16.0%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $132.0 billion (1.9%). ICI Chief Economist Shelly Antoniewicz comments on the record-high, saying, "Recent strong inflows may be a response to the spike in volatility in the financial markets we've seen lately. With short-term interest rates still at elevated levels historically, money market funds -- which pass earned interest on to their shareholders -- are relatively more attractive to both institutional and retail investors." ICI's release explains, "Assets of retail money market funds increased by $30.35 billion to $2.84 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets increased by $22.62 billion to $1.81 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $9.96 billion to $908.94 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $2.23 billion to $120.97 billion." Retail assets account for well over a third of total assets, or 40.4%, and Government Retail assets make up 63.7% of all Retail MMFs. They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds increased by $20.80 billion to $4.19 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets increased by $23.06 billion to $3.96 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $1.66 billion to $218.54 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $592 million to $11.02 billion." `Institutional assets accounted for 59.6% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 94.5% of all institutional MMF totals. According to Crane Data's separate Money Fund Intelligence Daily series, money fund assets have risen by $35.7 billion in March through 3/5/25 to a record high $7.357 trillion. Assets rose by $94.2 billion in February, $52.8 billion in January, $110.9 billion in December, $200.5 trillion in November, $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 2024. Note that ICI's asset totals don't include a number of funds tracked by the SEC and Crane Data, so they're over $330 billion lower than Crane's asset series.
FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile Q4'24
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation released its latest "FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile," which says, "The [chart] shows that domestic deposits increased $214.4 billion, or 1.2 percent, during the fourth quarter. Transaction deposits increased from the prior quarter by $230.7 billion while time deposits declined $122.4 billion. Brokered deposits decreased for the fourth straight quarter, down $46.0 billion (3.6 percent) from the prior quarter. Estimated uninsured domestic deposits increased $218.5 billion, or 3.0 percent, during the quarter. Growth in estimated uninsured deposits was widespread; banks in all QBP asset size groups that report estimated uninsured deposits reported an increase in uninsured deposits from the previous quarter. The industry's insured deposits also increased, but at a slower pace. Insured deposits increased $39.1 billion quarter over quarter, or 0.4 percent." It explains, "[Another] chart shows that the DIF balance was $137.1 billion on December 31, 2024, up $4.0 billion from the third quarter. Assessment revenue continued to be the primary driver of the increase, adding $3.2 billion to the DIF balance. Interest earned on investment securities, negative provisions for insurance losses, and unrealized gains on securities also contributed a combined $1.5 billion to the fund, partially offset by operating expenses of $666 million." The FDIC adds, "`Insured deposits increased approximately 0.4 percent during the fourth quarter, while year-over-year insured deposit growth was 0.5 percent. The reserve ratio increased by 3 basis points in the fourth quarter to 1.28 percent as of December 31, 2024, and was 13 basis points higher than a year ago. The FDIC adopted a DIF Restoration Plan on September 15, 2020, to return the reserve ratio to the statutory minimum of 1.35 percent by September 30, 2028, as required by law. Based on FDIC projections, the reserve ratio remains on track to reach 1.35 percent by the statutory deadline. The FDIC will continue to monitor factors affecting the reserve ratio, including but not limited to, insured deposit growth and potential losses due to bank failures and related reserves."
Weekly Money Fund Portfolio Holds
Crane Data published its latest Weekly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings statistics Tuesday, which track a shifting subset of our monthly Portfolio Holdings collection. The most recent cut (with data as of Feb. 28) includes Holdings information from 55 money funds (down 12 from a week ago), or $3.133 trillion (down from $3.856 trillion) of the $7.321 trillion in total money fund assets (or 42.8%) tracked by Crane Data. (Note: Our Weekly MFPH are e-mail only and aren't available on the website. See our latest Monthly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings here and our Feb. 12 News, "Feb. Money Fund Portfolio Holdings: Treasuries Higher, Fed Repo Plunges.") Our latest Weekly MFPH Composition summary shows Government assets dominating the holdings list with Treasuries totaling $1.466 trillion (down from $1.825 trillion a week ago), or 46.8%; Repurchase Agreements (Repo) totaling $1.140 trillion (down from $1.283 trillion a week ago), or 36.4%, and Government Agency securities totaling $284.3 billion (down from $320.3 billion), or 9.1%. Commercial Paper (CP) totaled $110.8 billion (down from a week ago at $173.8 billion), or 3.5%. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) totaled $54.5 billion (down from $95.7 billion a week ago), or 1.7%. The Other category accounted for $45.5 billion or 1.5%, while VRDNs accounted for $32.6 billion, or 1.0%. The Ten Largest Issuers in our Weekly Holdings product include: the US Treasury with $1.468 trillion (46.8% of total holdings), Fixed Income Clearing Corp with $284.3B (9.1%), the Federal Home Loan Bank with $177.9 billion (5.7%), JP Morgan with $96.6B (3.1%), Citi with $79.5B (2.5%), BNP Paribas with $78.4B (2.5%), Federal Farm Credit Bank with $74.4B (2.4%), RBC with $58.5B (1.9%), Wells Fargo with $51.8B (1.7%) and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with $48.5B (1.5%). The Ten Largest Funds tracked in our latest Weekly include: JPMorgan US Govt MM ($299.2B), Goldman Sachs FS Govt ($271.4B), JPMorgan 100% US Treas MMkt ($250.3B), Fidelity Inv MM: Govt Port ($228.3B), Morgan Stanley Inst Liq Govt ($176.3B), State Street Inst US Govt ($159.1B), Fidelity Inv MM: MM Port ($151.2B), Dreyfus Govt Cash Mgmt ($127.5B), Allspring Govt MM ($125.6B) and First American Govt Oblg ($105.8B). (Let us know if you'd like to see our latest domestic U.S. and/or "offshore" Weekly Portfolio Holdings collection and summary.)
Investment News on Berkshire Cash
Investment News writes "Berkshire Hathaway is piling cash. Advisors say that's not such a bad thing," which tells us, "Why did the so-called 'Oracle of Omaha' completely sell out of his S&P 500 index funds? And what's the deal with all that cash on his balance sheet? Inquiring financial advisors are dying to know." They explain, "The report also revealed that Berkshire Hathaway's cash stockpile ended 2024 at a hefty $334 billion, or nearly 30 percent of the investment company's total assets. Moreover, that cash position doubled over the course of last year, helped along by significant sales in its publicly traded equities portfolio of big-name stocks like Bank of America (BAC) and Apple (AAPL).... The 94-year-old Buffett didn’t offer much insight into his rational for holding all that cash, nor did he give his thoughts on current market conditions. In his accompanying letter to shareholders, he noted that, 'Despite what some commentators currently view as an extraordinary cash position at Berkshire, the great majority of your money remains in equities.' He added: 'That preference won’t change.'" The piece adds, "Moreover, regarding his cash position, Buffett reiterated his long-held stance that 'Berkshire will never prefer ownership of cash-equivalent assets over the ownership of good businesses, whether controlled or only partially owned.' Eric Amzalag, founder of Peak Financial Planning, holds Berkshire B-shares in 80 percent of his client portfolios. In his view, Berkshire has maintained an elevated cash position for quite some time, so he does not consider Buffett's decision to reduce exposure to the market-cap weighted index last year as being particularly bearish. Instead, he interprets it as a 'prudent investment management action.'"
Digital MM Debuts at ChinaAMC HK
The website TronWeekly posted a story titled, "Ethereum-Based $107M Digital Currency Market Fund Debuts at ChinaAMC HK," which tells us, "China Asset Management Hong Kong (ChinaAMC HK) launched the ChinaAMC HKD Digital Money Market Fund combining blockchain technology with traditional finance through its platform. This fund started operations on February 28, 2025, to serve retail Asia-Pacific investors through the Ethereum blockchain platform. The fund launched with an initial value of US$107 million represents the first money market fund token available for this demographic in the Asia-Pacific region. Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) serves as the tokenization agent and administrator, but OSL Digital Securities is the market's key distributor." The piece explains, "The implementation of digital assets in conventional investment options holds a position as an emerging industry trend. The fund allocates its assets to short-term HKD-denominated deposits and high-quality money market instruments. Ethereum allows ChinaAMC HK to provide investors faster transactions and better market access. Hong Kong advances as a digital asset innovation center through this move which received approval from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)." It adds, "Investors who want exposure to diversified digital assets within the retail market can now access opportunities through the ChinaAMC HKD Digital Money Market Fund. The investment requires at least HKD 10, USD 1, or RMB 10 for minimum subscriptions across three share classes. Because of this accessibility feature, the fund seeks to increase its financial accessibility. Despite strong investments, the ChinaAMC HKD Digital Money Market Fund has faced risks because of blockchain security problems, credit risks tied to short-term deposits and currency fluctuations."
XDC Launches Money Fund Tokens
A press release titled, "XDC Network Launches First Four Money Market Fund Tokens in Alliance with Archax" tells us, "XDC Network, an enterprise-grade Layer-1 blockchain, ... announced the launch of the first funds on its platform in token form in collaboration with Archax, the FCA-regulated digital asset exchange, broker and custodian. This builds on the previous partnership announcement between XDC and Archax for real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation. The first fund tokens that are live represent four of the world's largest money market funds (MMFs) from providers including abrdn, Fidelity International, BlackRock and State Street, and will be followed by others from the 100+ available through Archax from a variety of asset managers." It says, "Tokenised access to money market funds addresses a growing demand from institutional investors for regulated, digital-first financial products. There are currently $11.5 billion tokenised RWAs on-chain with some projections estimating the value could reach $16 trillion by 2030. By bringing these established investment vehicles onto the blockchain, XDC Network and Archax are creating new opportunities for improved liquidity, faster settlement, and reduced operational costs." Keith O'Callaghan, Head of Asset Management and Structuring at Archax, comments, "Providing digital representations of major MMFs opens up a potential new audience for these types of yield-bearing products that historically have been challenging for some to access. We're excited to hit this milestone with XDC Network, a firm that is poised to become one of the railways of the future of the finance industry." The release quotes Angus O'Callaghan, Head of Trading and Markets at XDC Network, "With our platform's robust performance and functionality, we have the ideal protocol for real-world asset tokenisation for institutions who want to work with regulated entities like Archax. We're excited to be taking this next step in our partnership with Archax and unlock access to some of the world's largest MMFs with transparency and efficiency."
One Month to Bond Fund Symposium!
There's just one month to go until Crane Data's eighth annual ultra-short bond fund event, Bond Fund Symposium, which will take place March 27-28, 2025 at the Hyatt Regency in Newport Beach, Calif. 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 speaking and sponsorship opportunities are available. See the latest agenda here and details below. 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 Hyatt Regency. We'd like to thank our sponsors and exhibitors -- Northern Trust, Fitch Ratings, Morgan Stanley I.M., J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Bloomberg Intelligence, Dreyfus, UBS Asset Mgmt., Payden & Rygel, J.P. Morgan Securities, Northcross Capital, PIMCO and Dechert -- for their support. (We'd also love to get some new ones!) E-mail us for more details. We're also starting to make plans for our next big show, Money Fund Symposium, which will be held June 23-25, 2025, at The Renaissance Boston Seaport in Boston. (Let us know if you'd like details.) Finally, mark your calendars for next year's European Money Fund Symposium, which will be held Sept. 25-26, 2025 in Dublin, Ireland and for next year's Money Fund University, which will be held Dec. 18-19, 2025 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Watch for details on these shows in coming weeks and months.
Texas Capital Govt MM ETF Weekly
A recent SEC filing for the Texas Capital Government Money Market ETF states, "This Supplement contains new and additional information beyond that contained in the Prospectus and should be read in conjunction with the Prospectus. Capitalized terms and certain other terms used in this Supplement, unless otherwise defined in this Supplement, have the meanings assigned to them in the Prospectus. Effective on March 1, 2025, the third sentence in the Prospectus in the section 'DIVIDENDS, DISTRIBUTIONS, AND TAXES-Dividends and Distributions' on page 12 is deleted and replaced with the following: The Fund expects to declare and to distribute all of its net investment income, if any, to shareholders as dividends on a weekly basis." For more see these Crane Data News pieces, "RIABiz on BlackRock Money Market ETFs; New Figure Markets Stablecoin" (2/24/25); "BlackRock Money Market ETFs Go Live; Ondo Finance on Tokenized MMFs" (2/6/25); "VettaFi Discusses Money Market ETFs" (12/11/24); "Dec. MFI: Assets Break $7.0 Tril; Top 10 of 2024; BlackRock MM ETFs" (12/6/24); "BlackRock Debuts First Euro MM ETF" (12/5/24); "FT on BlackRock Money Market ETFs" (11/18/24); "November BFI: Bond Funds Hit by Election; ETF Trends MM Substitutes" (11/15/24); "BlackRock Files for Money Market ETFs" (11/12/24); and, "Texas Capital Launches Govt MM ETF" (9/26/24).
Crane 100 Index Inches Down to 4.16%
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) were down 1 bp at 4.16% on average during the week ended Friday, Feb. 21 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after falling 1 bp the week prior and falling 1 bp two weeks prior. Fund yields have digested almost all of the Federal Reserve's 25 basis point cut from December 18, though they may inch down a basis point or 2 lower in coming days. They've declined by 90 bps since the Fed first cut its Fed funds target rate by 50 bps percent on Sept. 18, and they've declined by 47 bps since the Fed cut rates by 1/4 point on 11/7. Yields were 4.28% on average on 12/31/24, 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 and 5.20% on 12/31/23. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 679), shows a 7-day yield of 4.06%, unchanged in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were unchanged at 4.28% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were unchanged at 4.17%. Treasury Inst MFs were unchanged at 4.11%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.88%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.86%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 4.06%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were up 47 bps at 2.65%. Assets of money market funds rose by $14.3 billion last week to $7.267 trillion, according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. For the month of February, MMF assets have rose by $40.1 billion, after increasing by $52.8 billion in January, $110.9 billion in December, $200.5 billion in November, $97.5 billion in October and $149.8 billion in September. Weighted average maturities were down 1 day at 36 days for the Crane MFA and 2 days shorter at 37 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (2/21), 106 money funds (out of 791 total) yield under 3.0% with $113.0 billion in assets, or 1.6%; 223 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($829.4 billion, or 11.4%), 462 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($6.324 trillion, or 87.0%) and following the recent rate cut there continue to be zero funds yielding 5.0% or more. Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.41%, after rising 1 bp five weeks prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of Feb. 21, shows no changes over the past week. Three of the 10 major brokerages tracked by our BSI still offer rates of 0.01% for balances of $100K (and lower tiers). These include: E*Trade, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
Standard Chartered Tokenised MMF
A publication called The Fintech Times writes, "Standard Chartered Backs Tokenised Retail Money Market Fund in Asia Pacific." The piece tells us, "Standard Chartered Bank Hong Kong (SCBHK) is supporting China Asset Management (Hong Kong) to launch the first tokenised retail money market fund in Asia Pacific. Standard Chartered will act as the digital asset service provider for China Asset Management, as they look to launch the fund by the end of February. SCBHK subsidiary Standard Chartered Trustee will also act as the open-ended fund company custodian for the fund." Mary Huen, CEO of Hong Kong and Greater China and North Asia at Standard Chartered, comments, "We are pleased to strategically combine our strengths in traditional custody services and innovative fintech capabilities to support ChinaAMC (HK) in launching the first tokenised retail money market fund in Asia Pacific in the near future, marking another milestone in the development of Hong Kong as a global digital assets hub. Standard Chartered believes that digital assets are fundamentally transforming the ecosystem of the financial markets." The article adds, "By leveraging technology developed by Libeara, an SC Ventures incubated tokenisation platform, Standard Chartered will collaborate with ChinaAMC to build an ecosystem for its tokenised money market fund, with a comprehensive suite of securities services and technology solutions to enable tokenisation of the fund, fiduciary, fund administration, custody and cash services."
VettaFi Talks Money Market ETFs
An article titled, "Money Market ETFs: New Ways to Reach for Yield in 2025," published by VettaFi, states, "Stocks are holding firm near all-time highs. But Wall Street can't ignore the record amounts of cash still parked on the sidelines.... The reinvestment risk into lower rates is significantly lessened this year from 2024. So the $7 trillion money market suddenly looks more appealing. Recent developments here may offer advisors and investors fresh pathways with which to attain higher yield in 2025." It continues, "BlackRock recently expanded its cash management strategies with the launch of two new money market ETFs. They are the iShares Government Money Market ETF (GMMF) and the iShares Prime Money Market ETF (PMMF). The funds both charge a fee 0.2%. They enable investors to diversify their cash holdings beyond traditional deposit accounts. This allows them to manage their cash needs flexibly.... The new products add to a small but growing lineup of money market ETFs. Last year, Texas Capital was the first to launch an ETF with the money market moniker -- the Texas Capital Money Market ETF (MMKT). Like GMMF, the fund acts as a government money market ETF that invests nearly all its assets in cash and U.S. government securities." The piece adds, "Short-term rate demand has driven monster flows into money market funds. Staying within a range of two to three years allows investors to pick up a little extra risk cushioned by a flight-to-safety trade that offers stability with minimal rate risk. Two actively managed ETFs drew in the bulk of last year's inflows. The Dimensional Short-Duration Fixed Income ETF (DFSD) boasts a low expense ratio of 0.16% and largely offers exposure to high-quality investment-grade bonds. The $12 billion PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active ETF (MINT) is designed to provide a higher yield than traditional money market funds while maintaining minimal risk. Both funds drew in nearly $2 billion in net inflows last year."
Crane 100 MF Index Stays at 4.17%
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) were down 1 bp at 4.17% on average during the week ended Friday, Feb. 14 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after falling 1 bp the week prior and going up 1 bp two weeks prior. Fund yields have digested almost all of the Federal Reserve's 25 basis point cut from December 18, though they may inch down a basis point or 2 lower in coming days. They've declined by 89 bps since the Fed first cut its Fed funds target rate by 50 bps percent on Sept. 18, and they've declined by 46 bps since the Fed cut rates by 1/4 point on 11/7. Yields were 4.28% on average on 12/31/24, 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 and 5.20% on 12/31/23. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 679), shows a 7-day yield of 4.06%, down 2 bps in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were down 1 bp at 4.28% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were down 2 bps at 4.17%. Treasury Inst MFs were down 1 bp at 4.11%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.88%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.86%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 4.06%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were up 64 bps at 2.54%. Assets of money market funds fell by $29.2 billion last week to $7.213 trillion, according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. For the month of February, MMF assets have fallen by $14.0 billion, after increasing by $52.8 billion in January, $110.9 billion in December, $200.5 billion in November, $97.5 billion in October and $149.8 billion in September. Weighted average maturities were unchanged at 37 days for the Crane MFA and 1 day longer at 39 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (2/14), 107 money funds (out of 791 total) yield under 3.0% with $111.4 billion in assets, or 1.5%; 222 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($800.0 billion, or 11.1%), 462 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($6.301 trillion, or 87.4%) and following the recent rate cut there continue to be zero funds yielding 5.0% or more. Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.41%, after rising 1 bp four weeks prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of Feb. 14, shows no changes over the past week. Three of the 10 major brokerages tracked by our BSI still offer rates of 0.01% for balances of $100K (and lower tiers). These include: E*Trade, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
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