Daily Links Archives: November, 2025
The Investment Company Institute's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report shows money fund assets decreasing by $15.7 billion to $7.522 trillion after reaching a record high of $7.536 trillion the week prior. Assets have risen in 7 of the last 9 weeks, and 15 of the past 18 weeks. MMFs rose $2.7 billion last week, after increasing $116.4 billion two weeks ago. MMF assets are up by $873 billion, or 13.1%, over the past 52 weeks (through 11/19/25), with Institutional MMFs up $512 billion, or 12.9% and Retail MMFs up $362 billion, or 13.5%. Year-to-date, MMF assets are up by $671 billion, or 9.8%, with Institutional MMFs up $374 billion, or 9.1% and Retail MMFs up $297 billion, or 10.9%. ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets decreased by $15.74 billion to $7.52 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, November 19, the Investment Company Institute reported.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds decreased by $14.14 billion and prime funds decreased by $1.83 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds increased by $224 million." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs decreasing $25.1 billion and Retail MMFs increasing $9.3 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $6.166 trillion (82.0% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.211 trillion (16.1%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $143.9 billion (1.9%). It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds increased by $9.34 billion to $3.03 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets increased by $7.86 billion to $1.91 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $1.15 billion to $991.94 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $331 million to $131.80 billion." Retail assets account for 40.3% of the total, and Government Retail assets make up 62.9% of all Retail MMFs. They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds decreased by $25.09 billion to $4.49 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $22.00 billion to $4.26 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $2.98 billion to $219.42 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $107 million to $12.10 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 59.7% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 94.8% of all institutional MMF totals. According to Crane Data's separate Money Fund Intelligence Daily series, money fund assets have increased by $50.4 billion to $7.900 trillion month-to-date in November (as of 11/19). They hit a record high of $7.931 trillion on November 13, but have dipped since. Assets increased by $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September and $132.0 billion in August. They rose $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June and $100.9 billion in May. MMFs fell by $24.4 billion in April, but rose $2.8 trillion in March, $94.2 billion in February and $52.8 billion in January. They jumped $110.9 billion in December, $200.5 billion last November. Note that ICI's asset totals don't include a number of funds tracked by the SEC and Crane Data, so they're almost $400 billion lower than Crane's asset series.
Inside Fidelity's Money Market Team
Fidelity Investments posted a video titled, "Inside Fidelity's Money Market Team," which features Portfolio Managers Joe McHale, Eric Graham and Stephanie Merrin. McHale says, "Hello and thank you for joining us to learn more about Fidelity's taxable money market investment team. As a leader in the money market industry, we pride ourselves on an investment process that's routed in a collaborative team-based approach that prioritizes safety, liquidity, and generating consistent returns. Our co-portfolio management structure, combined with our highly experienced trading, research, and technology teams, help us deliver on our investment strategy. Today I am pleased to introduce Eric Graham and Stephanie Merrin, who along with myself comprise the portfolio management team of our Government money market funds. We'll take some time today to discuss their career experiences and our team's investment approach. Eric, you joined the portfolio management team in March of 2024, but you've been with Fidelity since 2000 in a variety of roles. When you think about your career thus far at Fidelity, which experience do you feel has helped you the most for your current role?" Graham replies, "Thanks, Joe. I try not to assign any one experience as the most beneficial training ground for my current role as a portfolio manager, as I truly believe the benefit lies in the breadth of experience across roles in credit research, trading, and now portfolio management. Each functional role in our group is tasked with evaluating certain sets of risks the portfolios face. The portfolio manager is ultimately responsible for assessing all risk factors, which is why I believe having experience across the different disciplines prepares an individual well for the role." McHale comments, "Thanks Eric, and Stephanie, you joined Eric and I as a co-portfolio manager in January 2025. Can you tell us about your background prior to becoming a portfolio manager and what you think has prepared you most for this role?" Merritt answers, "Sure, Thanks Joe. I spent my early career working for banks. First for a bank treasury where I gained a deep understanding of balance sheet mechanics, liquidity management, and funding strategies. I then moved to sell-side rate sales, where I covered a variety of clients, including government-sponsored entities, banks, and money market funds. This role provided me with invaluable insights into the funding strategies and balance sheet management of the GSEs as well as the asset management practices of money market funds. Those two experiences helped me build a deep understanding of front-end markets across a range of different market participants. Equally important, before becoming a money market portfolio manager, I was a trader for our money market funds. That role allowed me to interact daily with portfolio managers and our portfolios, which gave me an in-depth understanding of our investment process and our shareholder needs." McHale then asks, "Can you talk a little bit about the money market teams investment approach?" Graham comments, "Paramount to our investment philosophy is insuring stability and liquidity for our shareholders while providing them with a competitive risk adjusted return. As you mentioned earlier, we work closely with our research, trading, and technology teams to help us achieve these goals. We collaborate with research to invest within the maturity day and dollar guideline limits aligned with their credit risk assessments across approved counterparties. Additionally, our research team performs in depth analysis on a Federal Reserve and U.S. Banking system, which informs our opinions on the trajectory of U.S. Monetary policy and the effects of its transmission on the banking system and money markets generally." Finally, Merritt adds, "Building off of Eric, we also partner with our Trading Desk, who helps us find opportunities to reinvest regular maturities. Depending on the portfolio, we invest in a combination of overnight investments and short duration government securities, which means we rely both on the government and repo trading desks to help us find the most advantageous investments. Finally, our technology partners provide us with the tools we need to monitor fund attributions, analyze investments, and stress test our funds to ensure ongoing stability and liquidity."
Weekly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings
Crane Data published its latest Weekly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings statistics Tuesday, which track a shifting subset of our monthly Portfolio Holdings collection. The most recent cut (with data as of November 14) includes Holdings information from 62 money funds (up 15 from two weeks ago), or $4.029 trillion (up from $2.871 trillion) of the $7.899 trillion in total money fund assets (or 51.0%) tracked by Crane Data. (Note: Our Weekly MFPH are e-mail only and aren't available on the website. See our latest Monthly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings here and our November 13 News, "Nov. Money Fund Portfolio Holdings: Treasuries Jump; Repo Inches Down.") Our latest Weekly MFPH Composition summary shows Government assets dominating the holdings list with Treasuries totaling $1.978 trillion (up from $1.409 trillion two weeks ago), or 49.1%; Repurchase Agreements (Repo) totaling $1.409 trillion (up from $965.7 billion two weeks ago), or 35.0%, and Government Agency securities totaling $353.9 billion (up from $286.5 billion two weeks ago), or 8.8%. Commercial Paper (CP) totaled $134.6 billion (up from $104.2 billion two weeks ago), or 3.3%. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) totaled $72.4 billion (up from $44.4 billion two weeks ago), or 1.8%. The Other category accounted for $42.2 billion or 1.0%, while VRDNs accounted for $38.2 billion or 1.0%. The Ten Largest Issuers in our Weekly Holdings product include: the US Treasury with $1.978 trillion, Fixed Income Clearing Corp with $507.3B, the Federal Home Loan Bank with $207.6B, JP Morgan with $113.8B, RBC with $97.4B, BNP Paribas with $88.5B, Citi with $87.0B, Federal Farm Credit Bank with $85.6B, Wells Fargo with $73.5B and Barclays PLC with $63.6B. The Ten Largest Funds tracked in our latest Weekly include: JPMorgan US Govt MM ($316.9B), Goldman Sachs FS Govt ($282.9B), JPMorgan 100% US Treas MMkt ($280.2B), Fidelity Inv MM: Govt Port ($275.9B), State Street Inst US Govt ($191.8B), BlackRock Lq FedFund ($190.2B), Morgan Stanley Inst Liq Govt ($182.4B), Fidelity Inv MM: MM Port ($168.6B), BlackRock Lq Treas Tr ($168.5B) and Dreyfus Govt Cash Mgmt ($162.7B). (Let us know if you'd like to see our latest domestic U.S. and/or "offshore" Weekly Portfolio Holdings collection and summary.)
Crane 100 MF Index Dips to 3.77%
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) decreased by 3 bps to 3.77% on average during the week ended Friday, November 14 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after falling 10 bps the week prior. Fund yields should continue moving lower in coming days as they digest the remainder of the Fed's Oct. 29 25 bps rate cut. Yields were 3.90% on 10/31, 3.94% on 9/30, 4.11% on 8/31, 4.12% on 7/31, 4.13% on 6/30, 4.10% on 5/31, 4.13% on 4/30/25, 4.14% on 3/31/25 and 4.28% on average on 12/31/24. MMFs averaged 4.75% on 9/30/24, 5.10% on 6/28/24, 5.14% on 3/31/24 and 5.20% on 12/31/23. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 679), shows a 7-day yield of 3.68%, down 3 bps in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were down 2 bps at 3.87% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were down 4 bps at 3.78%. Treasury Inst MFs were down 2 bps at 3.73%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.50%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.49% and Prime Retail MFs yield 3.67%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were down 26 bps to 2.21%. Assets of money market funds rose by $13.7 billion last week to $7.899 trillion, according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. MMF assets hit a record high of $7.931 trillion on November 13. Month-to-date in November (through 11/14), MMF assets have increased $48.9 billion, after increasing by $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September, $132.0 billion in August, $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June, $100.9 billion in May, decreasing $24.4 billion in April, increasing by $2.8 billion in March, $94.2 billion in February, $52.8 billion in January, $110.9 billion in December and $200.5 billion last November. Weighted average maturities were at 39 days for the Crane MFA and 41 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (11/14), 126 money funds (out of 790 total) yield under 3.0% with $151.9 billion in assets, or 1.9%; 644 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($7.339 trillion, or 92.9%), 20 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($407.8 billion, or 5.2%) 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 down 1 bp to 0.32%, after falling 2 basis points the week prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of November 14, shows one change over the past week. Ameriprise Financial Services lowered rates for accounts of $1 to $249K to 0.05%, accounts of $250K to $499K to 0.10%, accounts of $500K to $999K to 0.15%, accounts of $1M to $4.9M to 1.19% and accounts of $5M or greater to 1.73%. Three of the 10 major brokerages tracked by our BSI offer rates of 0.01% for balances of $100K (and lower tiers). These include: E*Trade, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
ICI Money Fund Holdings Summary
ICI also released its latest monthly "Money Market Fund Holdings" summary, which reviews the aggregate daily and weekly liquid assets, regional exposure, and maturities (WAM and WAL) for Prime and Government money market funds. It tells us, "The Investment Company Institute (ICI) reports that, as of the final Friday in October, prime money market funds held 47.0 percent of their portfolios in daily liquid assets and 60.8 percent in weekly liquid assets, while government money market funds held 76.6 percent of their portfolios in daily liquid assets and 87.9 percent in weekly liquid assets." Prime DLA was down from 47.2% in September, and Prime WLA was down from 60.8%. Govt MMFs' DLA rose from 75.9% and Govt WLA increased from 87.0% for the previous month. ICI explains, "At the end of October, prime funds had a weighted average maturity (WAM) of 32 days and a weighted average life (WAL) of 52 days. Average WAMs and WALs are asset-weighted. Government money market funds had a WAM of 43 days and a WAL of 94 days. "Prime WAMs and WALs were both 3 days longer from the previous month. Govt WAMs and WALs were both unchanged from the previous month. Regarding Holdings by Region of Issuer, the release tells us, "Prime money market funds' holdings attributable to the Americas declined from $740.43 billion in September to $736.56 billion in October. Government money market funds' holdings attributable to the Americas rose from $5,525.97 billion in September to $5,623.40 billion in October." The Prime Money Market Funds by Region of Issuer table shows Americas-related holdings at $736.6 billion, or 61.5%; Asia and Pacific at $154.6 billion, or 12.9%; Europe at $276.2 billion, or 23.1%; and, Other (including Supranational) at $30.5 billion, or 2.6%. The Government Money Market Funds by Region of Issuer table shows Americas at $5.623 trillion, or 91.7%; Asia and Pacific at $112.5 or 1.8%; Europe at $367.5 billion, 6.0%, and Other (Including Supranational) at $27.2 billion, or 0.4%.
Fidelity Investments latest "Money Market Monthly Commentary features a brief titled, "Not a Foregone Conclusion." Discussing the "Money Market Environment and Strategy Update," they write, "The market correctly anticipated the interest rate policy adjustment by the Fed at their October 28-29 policy meeting. `However, the market did not anticipate the continued growth of Treasury Bill supply that occurred throughout the month of October as the Treasury continues to utilize the product as a significant source of funding for the growing Federal deficits. Over the course of the past 4-months, net Treasury Bill supply has increased by over $800 billion which included a nearly $200 billion increase in Bill supply during October alone. This increase in Treasury supply resulted in a corresponding decrease of bank reserves and created attractive opportunities for our money market funds in both Treasury Bills as well as in the repurchase agreement market." Fidelity comments, "While the short-term investment opportunities were advantageous for our funds, the longer tenor opportunities became increasing challenging to evaluate given the lack of official economic data that the market received throughout the month. The longer the government shutdown lasts, the more difficult it becomes for market participants to identify the trends of the most important economic indicators such as labor and inflation which complicates the market's ability to anticipate the future reaction function by the FOMC in terms of monetary policy." They tell us, "While the majority of our funds did extend duration during October, our top priorities will always be to maintain price stability and provide liquidity to our shareholders. Therefore, during these times of heightened uncertainty, our conservative investment approach resulted in our funds remaining shorter than their respective peer groups. According to the Crane Data at the end of October, Government institutional funds had an average WAM of 39 days and an average WAL of 93 days while Government retail funds had an average WAM of 36 days and an average WAL of 87 days. Prime institutional funds ended the month with an average WAM of 30 days and an average WAL of 48 days while Prime retail funds had an average WAM of 34 days and an average WAL of 56 days." Fidelity's piece adds, "Fixed-rate CD/CP volumes were lower in October as compared to September as some of the precautionary funding taken up by issuers in the Spring continues to roll off. Despite the lower volumes over the past month, overall net supply remains higher year-to-date. Fixed-rate yields remain inverted as the three month yield decreased to 4.00-4.02% while the six-month yield declined to the 3.93-3.98% range. Volumes in the one-year tenor were light with quoted yields declining to 3.85-3.93%. All three tenors were lower in yield, reflecting the 25 bp reduction to the policy rate by the Fed at the end-October FOMC meeting. The spread for floating-rate securities relative to SOFR were largely unchanged with some signs of slight widening with the six-month tenor at SOFR +20-25 bp, the nine month tenor at SOFR +25-30 bp and the one-year tenor at SOFR +30-36 bp."
PFII Says LGIPs Nearly $1 Trillion
The Public Funds Investment Institute posted a brief titled, "2024 LGIP Survey: LGIPs Hold Nearly $1 Trillion of Public Funds." It explains, "This year we expanded our survey to include local sponsored LGIPs. In total we identified 161 portfolios. They operate in all but seven states. The survey is the only comprehensive look at the LGIP industry which invests assets for thousands of public units across the country." The update tells us, "Here are some highlights: LGIPs held $931 billion in state and local government assets at the end of last year. State sponsored programs dominate the industry with assets totaling $691 billion in 32 states. Average portfolio size was $14.7 billion in 47 portfolios." It continues, "Local sponsored LGIPs are smaller, with average size of $2.1 billion, but there are many more of them -- 114 portfolios in our survey. After several years of rapid growth, the path leveled in 2024, with assets of state-sponsored programs growing by 3% over 2023. (We did not survey local sponsored programs in 2023.)" The release says, "Most state sponsored portfolio assets are managed internally, but outside mangers are responsible for nearly 30% of assets. All local sponsored LGIPs have external managers. Stable value portfolios constituted more than 99% of LGIP assets. These seek to provide a constant net asset value just as money market mutual funds do. Some LGIPs also offer longer duration investment portfolios. While there were 28 of these offered, their assets totaled barely $15 billion." The piece adds, "LGIPs compete with money market funds whose assets totaled more than $7 trillion at the end of last year. LGIPs are not subject to most Securities and Exchange Commission rules, and they operate with greater flexibility than registered funds. State sponsored LGIPS operate at low expense ratios. They averaged 5.8 basis points last year, much lower than the average for institutional money market funds. Local sponsored LGIP expense ratios were appreciably higher, averaging 18.2 basis points." Finally, it says, "Disclosure and transparency among LGIPs vary from some whose disclosure follows SEC requirements for money market funds to others that provide little public disclosure of their shareholder and investment activities. The survey results provide state treasurers and trustees of LGIPs with details on how programs operate across the nation. They also provide investors with key information to help them evaluate and monitor LGIPs that they invest in. Download the LGIP Survey Report here"
Crane 100 MF Index Falls to 3.80%
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) decreased by 10 bps to 3.80% on average during the week ended Friday, November 7 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after falling 2 bps the week prior. Fund yields should continue moving lower in coming days as they digest the remainder of the Fed's Oct. 29 25 bps cut. Yields were 3.90% on 10/31, 3.94% on 9/30, 4.11% on 8/31, 4.12% on 7/31, 4.13% on 6/30, 4.10% on 5/31, 4.13% on 4/30/25, 4.14% on 3/31/25 and 4.28% on average on 12/31/24. MMFs averaged 4.75% on 9/30/24, 5.10% on 6/28/24, 5.14% on 3/31/24 and 5.20% on 12/31/23. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 679), shows a 7-day yield of 3.70%, down 9 bps in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were down 14 bps at 3.89% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were down 11 bps at 3.82%. Treasury Inst MFs were down 6 bps at 3.75%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.52%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.52% and Prime Retail MFs yield 3.70%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were down 19 bps to 2.47%.`Assets of money market funds rose by $35.2 billion last week to $7.885 trillion <b:>`_, according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. MMF assets hit a record high of $7.925 trillion on November 4. Month-to-date in November (through 11/7), MMF assets have increased $35.2 billion, after increasing by $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September, $132.0 billion in August, $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June, $100.9 billion in May, decreasing $24.4 billion in April, increasing by $2.8 billion in March, $94.2 billion in February, $52.8 billion in January, $110.9 billion in December and $200.5 billion last November. Weighted average maturities were at 39 days for the Crane MFA and 41 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (11/7), 121 money funds (out of 790 total) yield under 3.0% with $150.6 billion in assets, or 1.9%; 636 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($7.180 trillion, or 91.1%), 33 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($554.6 billion, or 7.0%) 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 down 2 bps to 0.33%, after falling 1 basis point the week prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of November 7, shows three changes over the past week. Ameriprise Financial Services lowered rates for accounts of $250K to $999K to 0.20% and accounts of $1M to $4.9M to 1.39%. Raymond James lowered rates for accounts of $1K to $249K to 0.05%, accounts of $250K to $499K to 0.10%, accounts of $500K to $999K to 0.12%, accounts of $1M to $4.9M to 1.15% and accounts of $10M or greater to 1.75%. RW Baird lowered rates for accounts of $1K to $999K to 1.05%, accounts of $1M to $1.9M to 1.69% and accounts of $5M or greater to 2.22%. Three of the 10 major brokerages tracked by our BSI offer rates of 0.01% for balances of $100K (and lower tiers). These include: E*Trade, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
FFN on Tokenized MMF Sandbox
FinTech Finance News writes, "Major Banks and Firms Complete Largest Ever Tokenized MMF Sandbox." The article says, "Global Digital Finance (GDF), the leading global digital assets members association, announced the results of a working group reporting on the legal certainty of collateral eligibility and the mobility of Tokenized Money Market Funds (TMMF) in Luxembourg, Ireland, and the UK. Ireland and Luxembourg host more than 80% of the MMFs and cross-border funds in Europe and English law governs the Credit Support Annex (CSA). The report concludes: There is relative legal certainty of TMMFs located in Luxembourg in a digitally native or registered form due to the availability of statutory frameworks to govern such transactions; Longstanding historical legal interaction between Luxembourg and the UK in respect of financial and investment contractual arrangements, including CSAs, also makes this an attractive place to establish a TMMF where the tokens will be posted as collateral under a CSA governed by English law." It adds, "There is not yet express statutory or judicial authority in Ireland specifically addressing tokenized shares or TMMFs. Legal certainty in respect of ownership and treatment of tokenized shares under Irish law therefore requires an analogy to traditional shares and electronic contracts, rather than being directly established. It is reasonable to conclude that Irish courts would treat digitally native TMMF shares in a manner consistent with traditional shares. This alignment reinforces the view that TMMF shares can be accommodated within existing property law principles in Ireland, supporting their recognition and enforceability under Irish legal standards. Where an MMF is tokenized using a digitally native TMMF and is located in the UK, there is a low degree of legal uncertainty concerning the legal treatment of ownership and a similarly low level of uncertainty concerning the replication of rights for market participants between the traditional MMF and a digitally native TMMF.... Over 70 firms participated in the working group including S&P, Federated Hermes, R3, JP Morgan, Ownera, Finastra, Lloyds Banking Group, Hogan Lovells, LSEG, Archax, Blackrock, State Street, ISDA, EY, Commerzbank, Fireblocks, Northern Trust, Apex Group, Franklin Templeton, and Goldman Sachs." Sharon Lewis, Lead Partner for Future of Finance and Co-Chair of Digital Asset & Blockchain Practice, Hogan Lovells, comments, "There is relative legal certainty of TMMFs located in Luxembourg in a digitally native or registered form, where both Ireland and the UK have a low degree of uncertainty as the courts are likely to treat digitally native TMMF shares in a manner consistent with traditional shares. The cross discipline collaboration involved in this work has been outstanding and it is a credit to the industry participants."
The Investment Company Institute's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report shows money fund assets surging by $116.4 billion and breaking above the $7.5 trillion level for the first time to a new record high of $7.535 trillion. Assets have risen in 6 of the last 7 weeks, and 14 of the past 16 weeks. MMFs rose $20.6 billion last week, after increasing $30.4 billion two weeks ago. MMF assets are up by $945 billion, or 14.3%, over the past 52 weeks (through 11/5/25), with Institutional MMFs up $587 billion, or 14.9% and Retail MMFs up $358 billion, or 13.5%. Year-to-date, MMF assets are up by $684 billion, or 10.0%, with Institutional MMFs up $401 billion, or 9.7% and Retail MMFs up $283 billion, or 10.4%. ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets increased by $116.36 billion to $7.53 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, November 5, the Investment Company Institute reported.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds increased by $111.12 billion and prime funds increased by $2.01 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds increased by $3.22 billion" ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs increasing $102.5 billion and Retail MMFs increasing $13.9 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $6.178 trillion (82.0% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.214 trillion (16.1%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $142.2 billion (1.9%). It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds increased by $13.88 billion to $3.02 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets increased by $5.76 billion to $1.90 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $5.60 billion to $988.89 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $2.52 billion to $129.55 billion." Retail assets account for 40.1% of the total, and Government Retail assets make up 62.9% of all Retail MMFs. They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds increased by $102.48 billion to $4.52 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets increased by $105.36 billion to $4.28 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $3.59 billion to $225.56 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $707 million to $12.61 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 59.9% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 94.7% of all institutional MMF totals. According to Crane Data's separate Money Fund Intelligence Daily series, money fund assets have increased by $65.0 billion to $7.915 trillion month-to-date in November (as of 11/5). They hit a record high of $7.925 trillion on November 4, but dipped slightly on Wednesday. Assets increased by $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September and $132.0 billion in August. They rose $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June and $100.9 billion in May. MMFs fell by $24.4 billion in April, but rose $2.8 trillion in March, $94.2 billion in February and $52.8 billion in January. They jumped $110.9 billion in December, $200.5 billion last November. Note that ICI's asset totals don't include a number of funds tracked by the SEC and Crane Data, so they're almost $400 billion lower than Crane's asset series.
Franklin Tokenised MMF in Hong Kong
"Franklin Templeton introduces tokenised money market fund in Hong Kong," says a brief in the South China Morning Post. It says, "Digital trading in Hong Kong has taken a step forward with the launch of the city's first Luxembourg-registered tokenised money market fund by US asset manager Franklin Templeton.... The Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund, which invests in US government securities and was registered in Luxembourg last year, would be available to institutional and professional investors in Hong Kong who had a minimum of HK$8 million (US$1 million) in assets, according to a statement from Franklin Templeton.... Tokenisation allows investors to own blockchain-based digital representations of various assets, including deposits, bonds, stocks, cryptocurrencies and loyalty points." `Tariq Ahmad, head of Asia-Pacific at Franklin Templeton, comments, "This launch reflects our ongoing commitment to delivering innovative investment solutions that address the needs of modern investors by expanding the accessibility of tokenised products in this dynamic market. Looking ahead, we aim to offer a retail-approved tokenised fund, subject to the Securities and Futures Commission's approval, as part of our broader efforts to democratise access to investment solutions and foster a vibrant digital assets ecosystem in the region." The piece adds, "The new fund is the first Luxembourg-registered tokenised UCITS money market fund issued on a blockchain platform developed by Franklin Templeton, providing investors with the opportunity to invest in high-quality, short-term US government securities. UCITS is a regulatory framework that allows for the cross-border sale of mutual funds among European Union member states. Franklin Templeton has been collaborating with HSBC and OSL Group, operator of Hong Kong's first licensed virtual-asset trading platform, to engage in the HKMA's Project Ensemble since 2024."
Weekly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings
Crane Data published its latest Weekly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings statistics Tuesday, which track a shifting subset of our monthly Portfolio Holdings collection. The most recent cut (with data as of October 31) includes Holdings information from 47 money funds (down 27 from a week ago), or $2.871 trillion (down from $4.836 trillion) of the $7.850 trillion in total money fund assets (or 36.6%) tracked by Crane Data. (Note: Our Weekly MFPH are e-mail only and aren't available on the website. See our latest Monthly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings here and our October 10 News, "Oct. Money Fund Portfolio Holdings: T-Bills Jump Again, Repo Rebounds.") Our latest Weekly MFPH Composition summary shows Government assets dominating the holdings list with Treasuries totaling $1.409 trillion (down from $2.139 trillion a week ago), or 49.1%; Repurchase Agreements (Repo) totaling $965.7 billion (down from $1.492 trillion a week ago), or 33.6%, and Government Agency securities totaling $286.5 billion (down from $390.4 billion a week ago), or 10.0%. Commercial Paper (CP) totaled $104.2 billion (down from $168.9 billion a week ago), or 3.6%. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) totaled $44.4 billion (down from $89.6 billion a week ago), or 1.5%. The Other category accounted for $30.2 billion or 1.1%, while VRDNs accounted for $31.2 billion or 1.1%. The Ten Largest Issuers in our Weekly Holdings product include: the US Treasury with $1.409 trillion, Fixed Income Clearing Corp with $344.2B, the Federal Home Loan Bank with $174.9B, JP Morgan with $74.8B, BNP Paribas with $70.8B, Federal Farm Credit Bank with $69.4B, RBC with $60.9B, Wells Fargo with $57.8B, Citi with $55.9B and Bank of America with $33.3B. The Ten Largest Funds tracked in our latest Weekly include: JPMorgan US Govt MM ($310.7B), JPMorgan 100% US Treas MMkt ($270.9B), Fidelity Inv MM: Govt Port ($265.4B), State Street Inst US Govt ($176.9B), Fidelity Inv MM: MM Port ($165.7B), Morgan Stanley Inst Liq Govt ($161.4B), Dreyfus Govt Cash Mgmt ($157.7B), Allspring Govt MM ($141.2B), First American Govt Oblg ($123.8B) and Fidelity Inv MM: Treas Only ($113.9B). (Let us know if you'd like to see our latest domestic U.S. and/or "offshore" Weekly Portfolio Holdings collection and summary.)
MMF Yields Inch Down to 3.90%
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) decreased by 2 bps to 3.90% on average during the week ended Friday, October 31 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after falling 1 bp the week prior. Fund yields should move lower in coming days as they digest the Fed's Oct. 29 25 bps cut. They've declined by 116 bps since the Fed first cut in the Fed funds target rate by 50 bps on Sept. 18, 2024, and they've declined by 73 bps since the Fed cut rates by 1/4 point on 11/7/24. Yields were 3.90% on 10/31, 3.94% on 9/30, 4.11% on 8/31, 4.12% on 7/31, 4.13% on 6/30, 4.10% on 5/31, 4.13% on 4/30/25, 4.14% on 3/31/25 and 4.28% on average on 12/31/24. MMFs averaged 4.75% on 9/30/24, 5.10% on 6/28/24, 5.14% on 3/31/24 and 5.20% on 12/31/23. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 676), shows a 7-day yield of 3.80%, down 2 bps in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were down 3 bps at 4.03% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were down 2 bps at 3.92%. Treasury Inst MFs were down 3 bps at 3.81%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.58%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.62% and Prime Retail MFs yield 3.83%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were up 48 bps to 2.66%.`Assets of money market funds rose by $85.4 billion last week to $7.850 trillion <b:>`_, according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. MMF assets hit a record high of $7.850 trillion on October 31. Month-to-date in October (through 10/31), MMF assets have increased $142.1 billion, after increasing by $105.2 trillion in September, $132.0 billion in August, $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June, $100.9 billion in May, decreasing $24.4 billion in April, increasing by $2.8 billion in March, $94.2 billion in February, $52.8 billion in January, $110.9 billion in December, $200.5 billion in November, and $97.5 billion last October. Weighted average maturities were at 40 days for the Crane MFA and 41 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (10/31), 104 money funds (out of 787 total) yield under 3.0% with $111.0 billion in assets, or 1.4%; 542 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($4.633 trillion, or 59.0%), 141 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($3.106 trillion, or 39.6%) 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 down 1 bp at 0.35%, after falling 3 bps four weeks prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of October 31, shows one change over the past week. Fidelity lowered rates for all accounts of $1k to greater than $5 million to 1.94%. 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.
NYT: Why People Are Buying MMFs
The New York Times asks in a new article, "Interest Rates Are Falling. Why Are People Still Buying Money Market Funds?" They write, "Money market funds seem to be defying gravity. They are paying less in interest to investors, but becoming more popular. Given a choice, people usually want more for their money, not less. Yet since the Federal Reserve began pushing short-term interest rates down more than a year ago, investors have been funneling hundreds of billions of additional dollars into these funds." The piece says, "That may seem strange but there are good reasons for it. Thanks to a combination of convenience, good returns, and favorable comparisons with alternatives, money market funds are likely to continue attracting enormous wads of cash, even though the Fed announced on Wednesday that it was lowering short-term interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point. Big money market funds have been paying more than 4 percent annualized interest, according to Crane Data, an independent financial market research firm. Within the next several weeks, these funds are almost certain to offer about a quarter of a percentage point less. But Peter G. Crane, a founder of Crane Data, is quite confident that their appeal will be undiminished." They quote Crane, "I expect about $100 billion to pour into money market funds each month for the rest of the year.... The funds will probably reach $8 trillion in assets by the end of this calender year up from around $7.8 trillion now." The Times adds, "Basically, it’s because money market funds are still a good deal, even if they are no longer paying more than 5 percent interest, as many of the biggest funds did through much of last year.... In certain periods, money market funds have been an effective stand-in for investment-grade bonds and bond funds, especially if you were looking for a stable and safe place for holding cash. We are living through one of those periods.... The more extreme the stock market's valuations, the more comforting it is to own an ample stash of cash. Still-handsome money market rates make holding cash even sweeter."
