Money Fund Yields Climb to 5.19%
Money fund yields rose by another basis point this past week (ended 10/27) to 5.19% (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after rising one bp the week prior. Our Crane 100 is an average of 7-day yields for the 100 largest taxable money funds. Yields were 5.17% on 9/30, 5.16% on 8/31, 5.09% on July 31, 4.94% on June 30, 4.61% on March 31 and 4.05% on 12/31/22. The vast majority of money market fund assets now yield 5.0% or higher. Assets of money market funds rose by $30.8 billion last week to $6.011 trillion according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, but they have fallen by $62.3 billion since the start of October (after rising $93.9 billion in September). Weighted average maturities were unchanged last week. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 680), shows a 7-day yield of 5.09%, up 1 bp in the week through Friday. Prime Inst MFs were up 1 bp at 5.29% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were unchanged at 5.15%. Treasury Inst MFs were unchanged for the week at 5.13%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 4.91%, Government Retail MFs yield 4.85%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 5.11%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were up 31 bps to 3.63%. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (10/27), 6 money funds (out of 807 total) yield under 3.0% with $11.9 billion in assets, or 0.2%; 114 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($86.8 billion, or 1.4%), 211 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($637.4 billion, or 10.6%) and 476 funds now yield 5.0% or more ($5.275 trillion, or 87.8%). Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.62%. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of Oct. 27, shows that there were no changes over the past week. Three of the 11 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.
