Money Fund Yields Flat at 5.11%
Money fund yields remained at 5.11% on average in the week ended Aug. 16 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index, an average of 7-day yields for the 100 largest taxable money funds) after falling 1 bp the week prior. Yields were 5.13% on 6/28, 5.14% on 5/31, 5.13% on 4/30, 5.14% on 3/31 and 2/29/24, 5.17% on 1/31/24, 5.20% on 12/31/23, 4.94% on 6/30/23, 4.61% on 3/31/23 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 $3.4 billion last week to $6.559 trillion according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. Weighted average maturities were unchanged at 33 days. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 706), shows a 7-day yield of 5.01%, unchanged in the week through Friday. Brokerage sweep rates also remained unchanged, contrary to the discussions on a number of brokerage earnings calls in recent weeks. Prime Inst money fund yields were unchanged at 5.15% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were unchanged at 5.10%. Treasury Inst MFs were unchanged at 5.05%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 4.83%, Government Retail MFs yield 4.82%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 5.01%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were up 30 bps to 3.20%. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (8/16), 22 money funds (out of 823 total) yield under 3.0% with $1.4 billion in assets, or 0.0%; 102 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($133.2 billion, or 2.0%), 266 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($1.209 trillion, or 18.4%) and 433 funds now yield 5.0% or more ($5.215 trillion, or 79.5%). Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged (again) at 0.62%. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of Aug. 16, shows that there was no changes over the past week. (We haven't seen many of the changes mentioned on earnings calls, which apparently only apply to a narrow slice of "advisory" accounts. Only a couple of brokerages report these rates, which aren't included on our BSI report.) Twelve weeks ago, we removed the rates for TD Ameritrade from the listings, which completed its merger with Charles Schwab and which pushed the averages higher (2 bps). 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.
