Crane 100 Lower Again to 4.13%
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) were one basis point lower to 4.13% on average during the week ended Friday, March 21 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after falling 1 bp last week and falling 1 bp the week prior. Fund yields have digested all of the Federal Reserve's 25 basis point cut from December 18, but they may inch down another basis point or 2 lower in coming days. They've declined by 93 bps since the Fed first cut its Fed funds target rate by 50 bps on Sept. 18, and they've declined by 50 bps since the Fed cut rates by 1/4 point on 11/7. Yields were 4.16% on 2/28/25, 4.19% on 1/31/25, 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 683), shows a 7-day yield of 4.03%, down one bps in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were down one bp to 4.27% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were down 1 bp to 4.13%. Treasury Inst MFs were down one bp to 4.08%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.85%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.83%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 4.03%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were up 22 bps to 2.93%. Assets of money market funds rose by $28.8 billion last week to $7.355 trillion, according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. For the month of February, MMF assets rose by $94.2 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 36 days for the Crane MFA and 37 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (3/21), 63 money funds (out of 795 total) yield under 3.0% with $32.7 billion in assets, or 0.4%; 287 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($1.436 trillion, or 19.5%), 445 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($5.886 trillion, or 80.0%) 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%. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of March 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.
