Money Fund Yields Inch Up to 4.14%
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) were one basis point higher to 4.14% on average during the week ended Friday, March 28 (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, so they should remain relatively flat until the Fed moves rates again. They've declined by 92 bps since the Fed first cut its Fed funds target rate by 50 bps on Sept. 18, and they've declined by 49 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 4.04%, up one bp in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were up one bp to 4.28% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were up 2 bps to 4.15%. Treasury Inst MFs were up one bp to 4.09%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.85%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.85%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 4.04%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were down 21 bps to 2.71%. Assets of money market funds fell by $167 million last week to $7.355 trillion, according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. For the month of March, MMF assets rose by $33.7 billion, after increasing by $94.2 billion in February, $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 (3/28), 105 money funds (out of 795 total) yield under 3.0% with $104.7 billion in assets, or 1.4%; 241 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($1.340 trillion, or 18.2%), 449 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($5.910 trillion, or 80.4%) 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 28, 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.
