Crane 100 Now 5.08%; MFA Below 5.0%
Money fund yields inched lower to 5.08% (down 2 bps) on average in the week ended Sept. 6 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index, an average of 7-day yields for the 100 largest taxable money funds) after remaining unchanged the week prior. Yields were 5.10% on 8/31, 5.13% on 7/31 and 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. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 668), shows a 7-day yield of 4.98%, down 2 bps in the week through Friday. (This is the first time our Crane MFA fell below 5.0% since July 2023.) Prime Inst money fund yields were unchanged at 5.19% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were down 2 bps at 5.08%. Treasury Inst MFs were down 2 bps at 5.01%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 4.78%, Government Retail MFs yield 4.79%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 4.99%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were down 12 bps to 2.71%. Assets of money market funds rose by $48.4 billion last week to a record $6.663 trillion according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. For the month of September, MMF assets increased by $48.4 billion, after increasing by $109.7 billion in August. Weighted average maturities were unchanged at 33 days for the Crane MFA but were down 1 day to 32 days for the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (9/6), 109 money funds (out of 787 total) yield under 3.0% with $116.7 billion in assets, or 1.8%; 14 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($16.6 billion, or 0.2%), 279 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($1.508 trillion, or 22.6%) and 385 funds now yield 5.0% or more ($5.022 trillion, or 75.4%). 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 Sept. 6, 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.) Fifteen 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.
