Money Fund Yields Inch Down to 5.15%
Money fund yields fell one basis point to 5.15% on average (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index) in the week ended Feb. 9, after remaining unchanged 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 1/31/24, 5.20% on 12/31/23 and 11/30, 5.19% on 10/31, 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 fell by $8.6 billion last week to $6.401 trillion according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. Weighted average maturities were unchanged last week. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 690), shows a 7-day yield of 5.05%, down 1 bp in the week through Friday. Prime Inst MFs were down 2 bps at 5.25% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were down 1 bp at 5.12%. Treasury Inst MFs were unchanged at 5.08%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 4.86%, Government Retail MFs yield 4.83%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 5.06%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were down 46 bps at 2.96%. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (2/9), 60 money funds (out of 811 total) yield under 3.0% with $33.4 billion in assets, or 0.5%; 65 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($95.3 billion, or 1.5%), 232 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($1.317 trillion, or 20.6%) and 454 funds now yield 5.0% or more ($4.955 trillion, or 77.4%). Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was down 1 bp to 0.61%. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of Feb. 9, shows that there was one change over the past week. Wells Fargo moved rates to 0.05% for balances of $1 to $999K, to 0.15% for balances of $1 million to $1.9 million, and to 0.50% for balances of $10 million and greater. 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.
