ICI: Money Fund Assets Drop Again
Money fund assets declined slightly for the third week in a row, though Prime MMFs were roughly flat and Tax Exempt MMFs rose, according to the Investment Company Institute's latest "Money Market Fund Assets" report. ICI writes, "Total money market fund assets decreased by $20.12 billion to $2.82 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, January 17, the Investment Company Institute reported today. Among taxable money market funds, government funds decreased by $21.41 billion and prime funds decreased by $112 million. Tax-exempt money market funds increased by $1.40 billion." Total Government MMF assets, which include Treasury funds too, stand at $2.217 trillion (78.7% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs stand at $462.2 billion (16.4%). Tax Exempt MMFs total $137.2 billion, or 4.9%. ICI explains, "Assets of retail money market funds decreased by $2.99 billion to $1.00 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $3.48 billion to $607.21 billion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $1.04 billion to $265.11 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $1.53 billion to $130.90 billion." Retail assets account for over a third of total assets, or 35.6%, and Government Retail assets make up 60.5% of all Retail MMFs. Their release adds, "Assets of institutional money market funds decreased by $17.13 billion to $1.81 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $17.93 billion to $1.61 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $930 million to $197.12 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $128 million to $6.25 billion." Institutional assets account for 64.4% of all MMF assets, with Government Inst assets making up 88.8% of all Institutional MMFs.
