Wells Funds on Fed Hike, Future
Wells Fargo Money Market Funds writes in its latest "Portfolio Manager Commentary about the imminent hike in rates by the Federal Reserve. They tell us, "The main topic in the government space continues to be the Federal Reserve (Fed), including its potential interest-rate path and balance sheet changes. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) remains on track for another 0.25% rate hike at its mid-June meeting, which would bring its reverse repurchase program rate to 1.00% and the rate it pays on excess reserves to 1.25%. Pricing in the government markets largely reflects this expected move, and Fed speakers have not pushed back against this view, suggesting it would take a major development to derail a June tightening. With June a seeming fait accompli, attention has turned to future meetings, and opinions about those are mixed and evolving. While the data has been mixed, the Fed appears poised to look through the weak 1.2% first-quarter gross domestic product growth, forecasting a rebound in the second quarter. That sense of deja vu you're feeling may be due to this data point's tendency to execute the first-quarter dip and subsequent recovery; if it happens as expected, it'll be the fourth year in a row." In other news, Zacks writes "Invesco's May AUM Up 2.1% on Improved Money Market Assets". They write, "Invesco Ltd. announced an increase in its preliminary month-end assets under management for May 2017. The company's AUM came in at $859 billion, up 2.1% from $841.4 billion recorded in the prior month. The rise reflected favorable market returns, higher Money Market AUM and inflows into PowerShares QQQs and net long-term inflows." (Note: Invesco will also be the unofficial host for next week's Crane's Money Fund Symposium. See you in Atlanta!)
