ICI: Money Fund Assets Inch Higher
After jumping last week as investors sought shelter from market turmoil, money fund assets inched higher in the latest week, according to the `Investment Company Institute's latest "Money Market Fund Assets" report. ICI writes, "Total money market fund assets increased by $2.00 billion to $2.83 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, February 14, the Investment Company Institute reported today. Among taxable money market funds, government funds decreased by $625 million and prime funds increased by $2.72 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds decreased by $96 million." Total Government MMF assets, which include Treasury funds too, stand at $2.227 trillion (78.7% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs stand at $463.2 billion (16.4%). Tax Exempt MMFs total $138.0 billion, or 4.9%. They explain, "Assets of retail money market funds increased by $2.86 billion to $1.01 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets increased by $3.43 billion to $618.34 billion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $462 million to $263.18 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $99 million to $130.79 billion." Retail assets, which retook the $1 trillion level last week, account for over a third of total assets, or 35.8%, and Government Retail assets make up 61.1% of all Retail MMFs. The release adds, "Assets of institutional money market funds decreased by $869 million to $1.82 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $4.05 billion to $1.61 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $3.18 billion to $200.02 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets were unchanged at $7.17 billion." Institutional assets account for 64.2% of all MMF assets, with Government Inst assets making up 88.6% of all Institutional MMFs.
