Daily Links Archives: May, 2026
ICI Monthly Portfolio Composition
ICI recently 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 April, prime money market funds held 45.8 percent of their portfolios in daily liquid assets and 62.3 percent in weekly liquid assets, while government money market funds held 71.6 percent of their portfolios in daily liquid assets and 83.9 percent in weekly liquid assets." Prime DLA was down from 46.7% in March, and Prime WLA was unchanged. Govt MMFs' DLA fell from 74.7% and Govt WLA was down from 86.3% for the previous month. ICI explains, "At the end of April, prime funds had a weighted average maturity (WAM) of 38 days and a weighted average life (WAL) of 59 days. Average WAMs and WALs are asset-weighted. Government money market funds had a WAM of 44 days and a WAL of 98 days." Prime WAMs and WALs were both up from the previous month, WAMs were 4 days longer and WALs were 3 days longer. 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 $813.99 billion in March to $763.06 billion in April. Government money market funds’ holdings attributable to the Americas declined from $5,935.68 billion in March to $5,799.64 billion in April." The Prime Money Market Funds by Region of Issuer table shows Americas-related holdings at $763.1 billion, or 63.0%; Asia and Pacific at $165.6 billion, or 13.7%; Europe at $265.5 billion, or 21.9%; and, Other (including Supranational) at $16.4 billion, or 1.4%. The Government Money Market Funds by Region of Issuer table shows Americas at $5.800 trillion, or 92.0%; Asia and Pacific at $106.5 or 1.7%; Europe at $367.9 billion, 5.8%, and Other (Including Supranational) at $28.2 billion, or 0.4%.
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 May 15) includes Holdings information from 55 money funds (down 8 from two weeks ago), or $3.562 trillion (down from $4.081 trillion) of the $8.215 trillion in total money fund assets (or 43.4%) 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 May 12 News, "May MF Portfolio Holdings: Treasuries Plunge, Repo and Agencies Rise.") Our latest Weekly MFPH Composition summary shows Government assets dominating the holdings list with Treasuries totaling $1.539 trillion (down from $1.826 trillion two weeks ago), or 43.2%; Repurchase Agreements (Repo) totaling $1.352 trillion (down from $1.479 trillion two weeks ago), or 37.9%, and Government Agency securities totaling $406.3 billion (down from $450.0 billion two weeks ago), or 11.4%. Commercial Paper (CP) totaled $93.0 billion (down from $135.8 billion two weeks ago), or 2.6%. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) totaled $44.7 billion (down from $79.4 billion two weeks ago), or 1.3%. The Other category accounted for $90.1 billion or 2.5%, while VRDNs accounted for $37.0 billion or 1.0%. The Ten Largest Issuers in our Weekly Holdings product include: the US Treasury with $1.539 trillion, Fixed Income Clearing Corp with $481.0B, the Federal Home Loan Bank with $239.5B, JP Morgan with $126.1B, Federal Farm Credit Bank with $97.5B, RBC with $95.0B, Citi with $89.4B, BNP Paribas with $83.0B, Wells Fargo with $71.7B and Credit Agricole with $47.2B. The Ten Largest Funds tracked in our latest Weekly include: JPMorgan US Govt MM ($331.5B), JPMorgan 100% US Trs MM ($324.7B), Goldman Sachs FS Govt ($272.0B), Fidelity Inv MM: Govt Port ($266.5B), Morgan Stanley Inst Liq Govt ($219.0B), State Street Inst US Govt ($202.9B), Fidelity Inv MM: MM Port ($161.8B), Dreyfus Govt Cash Mgmt ($152.2B), First American Govt Oblg ($125.9B) and Allspring Govt MM ($124.5B). (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 3.44%
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) were down 1 basis point to 3.44% on average during the week ended Friday, May 15 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after decreasing one bps the week prior. Fund yields hadn't been below 3.5% since November 2022, and they are down from a recent high of 5.20% in November 2023. They should remain flat in coming days (and weeks) since the Fed left short-term rates unchanged three weeks ago. Yields were 3.47% on 4/30/26 and 3/31/26, 3.49% on 2/28/26, 3.50% on 1/31/26, 3.58% on 12/31/25, 3.78% on 11/30, 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, 4.14% 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 684), shows a 7-day yield of 3.34%, down 1 bp in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were down 1 bp at 3.56% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were down 1 bp at 3.43%. Treasury Inst MFs were down 1 bp at 3.40%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.17%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.15% and Prime Retail MFs yield 3.35%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were down 26 bps to 2.01%. Money market mutual fund assets have fallen since hitting a record high of $8.280 trillion on March 18, according to our Money Fund Intelligence Daily. Assets have risen $79.8 billion in the week through Friday, and they've increased by $132.3 billion in May month-to-date (through 5/15). MMF assets decreased by $108.8 billion in April, $49.3 billion in March, increased by $99.5 billion in February, $32.9 billion in January, $126.3 billion in December, $132.8 billion in November, $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September and $132.0 billion in August. They rose by $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June and $100.9 billion last May. Weighted average maturities were at 43 days for the Crane MFA and 44 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (5/15), just 178 money funds (out of 794 total) yield under 3.0% with $240.9 billion in assets, or 2.9%, while the vast majority (616) of funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($7.974 trillion, or 97.1%). No funds yield over 4.0%. Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.30%, after falling 1 basis point twenty weeks prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of May 15, shows no changes over the past week. Four 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, Morgan Stanley and Schwab.
HSBC AM Launches Euro Govt Liquidity
A publication called Institutional Asset Manager posted a news piece titled, "HSBC Asset Management launches Euro Government Liquidity Fund," which says, "HSBC Asset Management (HSBC AM) has announced the launch of the HSBC Euro Government Liquidity Fund, designed to offer institutional investors a euro liquidity solution focused on capital preservation and liquidity to support their day-to-day cash management needs. The fund is a euro-denominated Public Debt Constant Net Asset Value (CNAV) money market fund investing in a diversified portfolio of short-term EU government money market securities, instruments and obligations issued or guaranteed by EU governments. This approach aims to preserve capital and maintain daily liquidity, while seeking to generate a competitive yield relative to normal short-term euro-denominated government returns." The article says, "The firm writes that this approach is intended to support institutional investors looking for a liquidity vehicle aligned to capital preservation and liquidity priorities, particularly where risk appetite, governance frameworks or accounting requirements call for a high-quality, highly liquid approach. The launch expands HSBC AM's Global Liquidity range to complement its existing flagship Euro and ESG Euro Liquidity offerings and aims to provide clients with more choice in how they structure their most conservative euro cash allocations. Against a backdrop of ongoing regulatory discussion and evolving expectations around liquidity resilience, the fund broadens HSBC AM's euro government liquidity capability to support clients' liquidity planning." They quote Jonathan Curry, Global CIO, Liquidity, "Cash management has evolved from a purely operational function to a strategic priority with institutional investors increasingly reassessing investment guidelines and building flexibility, especially where governance, accounting or risk appetite requires a highly liquid, high-quality approach. We are pleased to launch the HSBC Euro Government Liquidity Fund which extends a familiar, conservative public debt CNAV structure into euro, helping clients implement consistent global cash policies across currencies. By focusing on EU government-only exposure, the fund is designed to support clients with capital preservation and their day-to-day liquidity needs." See the website for HSBC Euro Government Liquidity Fund here, and let us know if you'd like to see more information on Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence International product, which tracks "offshore" or European money market funds. (Note: These are not available to U.S. investors.)
MMF Assets Flat on Week at $7.749T
The Investment Company Institute's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report shows money fund assets flat at $7.449 trillion after they jumped a massive $122.4 billion the previous week. MMFs fell $11.0 billion the week before that, and they fell by a huge $175.8 billion 4 weeks ago, the largest weekly drop ever. Assets hit a record high $7.856 trillion 8 weeks ago. MMF assets are up by $808 billion, or 11.6%, over the past 52 weeks (through 5/13/26), with Institutional MMFs up $592 billion, or 14.5% and Retail MMFs up $216 billion, or 7.5%. Year-to-date in 2026, MMF assets are up by $16 billion, or 0.2%, with Institutional MMFs up $9 billion, or 0.2% and Retail MMFs up $7 billion, or 0.2%. ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets increased by $436 million to $7.75 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, May 13, the Investment Company Institute reported.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds increased by $3.25 billion and prime funds decreased by $4.08 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds increased by $1.27 billion." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs increasing $0.16 billion and Retail MMFs increasing $0.28 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $6.373 trillion (82.2% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.226 trillion (15.9%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $150.1 billion (1.9%). It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds increased by $277 million to $3.08 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $748 million to $1.96 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $154 million to $986.96 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $1.18 billion to $136.67 billion." Retail assets account for 39.8% of the total, and Government Retail assets make up 63.6% of all Retail MMFs. They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds increased by $159 million to $4.66 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets increased by $4.00 billion to $4.41 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $3.93 billion to $238.80 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $86 million to $13.42 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 60.2% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 94.5% of all institutional MMF totals. According to Crane Data's separate Money Fund Intelligence Daily series, money fund assets have increased by $106.4 billion to $8.189 trillion month-to-date in May (as of 5/13), assets hit a record high on March 18 of $8.280 trillion. Assets decreased by $108.8 billion in April, $49.3 billion in March, increased $99.5 billion in February, $32.9 billion in January, $126.3 billion in December, $132.8 billion in November, $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 last May. 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.
JPMAM Launches 2nd Tokenized MMF
A press release titled, "J.P. Morgan Asset Management Launches Second Tokenized Money Market Fund on Ethereum," tells us, "J.P. Morgan Asset Management ... announced the launch of its second tokenized money market fund available to U.S. investors, JPMorgan OnChain Liquidity‑Token Money Market Fund ('JLTXX'), now available on the public Ethereum blockchain. JLTXX is a U.S. registered government money market fund designed to invest in a manner to support stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act. Qualified investors can access JLTXX by subscribing through Morgan Money, J.P. Morgan Asset Management's open-architecture trading and analytics platform for liquidity management, and receive token balances at their blockchain addresses. At launch, J.P. Morgan Asset Management is investing $100 million in JLTXX, with additional participation from Anchorage Digital." The release explains, "JLTXX invests only in U.S. Treasury securities and overnight repurchase agreements collateralized fully by U.S. Treasury securities and/or cash, allowing investors the opportunity to earn yield while holding their token balances on the blockchain. The fund offers daily dividend reinvestment and investors will be able to subscribe and redeem through the Morgan Money platform using cash or stablecoins through a third-party vendor. This is the second fund to use J.P. Morgan's multi‑chain asset tokenization solution as part of its infrastructure." John Donohue, Head of Global Liquidity at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, comments, "Investors are increasingly looking for ways to modernize liquidity management without changing the fundamentals of what they own. Money market funds have long served as a core tool for investors seeking liquidity, stability and competitive short-term yield. There is a continued shift toward bringing established financial products onto public blockchain networks and we are excited to bring more options to market for our clients." The release adds, "J.P. Morgan Asset Management introduced MONY, a 506(c) private placement, tokenized money market fund for qualified U.S. investors seeking to earn U.S. dollar yields last year. Together, JLTXX and MONY broaden the firm's tokenized liquidity suite across private and registered fund structures, available through Morgan Money. JLTXX reinforces the firm's commitment to modernizing traditional offerings with blockchain technology. The tokenized asset landscape has grown significantly in recent years, with approximately $30 billion in traditional assets currently tokenized on public blockchain networks. While this represents a small fraction of industry assets under management, adoption is accelerating, with AUM in on‑chain products nearly tripling since early 20242. For more information, please visit our dedicated website. The JLTXX blockchain token address is 0x09864f52B035AE22eE739dFa5c748fA080D07bD8."
TIAA CREF MMA Added to Fed RRP
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York posted a statement titled, "Reverse repo counterparties list updated," which says, "College Retirement Equities Fund – Money Market Account has been added to the list of reverse repo counterparties, effective May 8." Money funds on the Fed's RRP counterparty list now include: AB Government Money Market Portfolio; Allspring Govt MMF, Money Market Fund, and Treasury Plus MMF; BlackRock Liquidity Funds: FedFund, T-Fund, and TempCash; BlackRock Money Market Master Portfolio and Treasury Money Market Master Portfolio; Dreyfus Government Cash Management, Dreyfus Institutional Preferred Government Money Market Fund, Dreyfus Treasury and Agency Liquidity Money Market Fund and Dreyfus Treasury Obligations Cash Management; American Funds U.S. Govt MMF and Capital Group Central Cash Fund; Cavanal Hill Government Securities Money Market Fund and Cavanal Hill U.S. Treasury Fund; Schwab Govt MF, Retirement Govt MF, Treasury Oblig MF, US Treasury MF and Prime Advantage MF; Columbia Short-Term Cash Fund; DWS Govt & Agen Fund and Deutsche Government Cash Mgmt Portfolio; Edward Jones Money Market Fund; Federated Hermes Capital Reserves Fund, Government Obligations Fund, Government Obligations Tax-Managed Fund, Government Reserves Fund, Inst Prime Obligations Fund, Municipal Obligations Fund, Prime Cash Obligations Fund, Tax-Free Obligations Fund, Treasury Obligations Fund and Trust for U.S. Treasury Obligations; Fidelity Cash Central Fund, Securities Lending Cash Central Fund, Government Portfolio, Money Market Portfolio, Treasury Portfolio, Government MMF, Money Market Fund, Treasury Money Market Fund, Govt Cash Reserves, Govt MMF and VIP Govt MMP; Franklin MM Port; Goldman Sachs Financial Square Government Fund, Money Market Fund, Treasury Obligations Fund and Treasury Solutions Fund; HSBC U.S. Govt MMF; Invesco Govt and Agency Port, Govt MMF, Premier US Govt MP and Treasury Port; JNL Govt MMF and JNL/Dreyfus Govt MMF; JPMorgan 100% U.S. Treasury Securities MMF, Liquid Assets MMF, Prime MMF, Tax Free MMF, U.S. Govt MMF and U.S. Treasury Plus MMF; Western Asset Govt Port, Liquid Reserves Port and US Treas Reserves Port; Morgan Stanley Institutional Liquidity Funds Govt Port, Govt Securities Port, Prime Portfolio, Treasury Port and Treasury Securities Port; Northern U.S. Govt MMF, US Govt Select MMF, Govt Port, Govt Select Port, Treasury Port and NTAM Treasury Assets Fund; PIMCO Government Money Market Fund; PGIM Core Govt MMF and Inst MMF; Principal Govt MMF; RBC Funds U.S. Govt MMF; SSgA Inst US Govt MMF, State Street Navigator Securities Lending Govt MMP and Treasury Plus Money Market Portfolio; TCW Central Cash Fund; TIAA-CREF College Retirement Equities Fund – Money Market Account; T. Rowe Price Cash Reserves Fund, Government Money Fund, Govt Reserve Fund, Treasury Reserve Fund and U.S. Treasury Money Fund; UBS Govt Master Fund, Limited Purpose Cash Inv Fund, Prime CNAV Master Fund and Treasury Master Fund; First American Govt Obligations Fund and Treasury Obligations Fund; Vanguard Treasury MMF, Market Liquidity Fund, Cash Reserves Federal MMF, Federal MMF and Money Market Portfolio; and Wilmington U.S. Govt MMF.
Crane 100 MF Index Dips to 3.45%
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) were down 2 bps at 3.45% on average during the week ended Friday, May 8 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after increasing 1 basis point three week prior. Fund yields hadn't been below 3.5% since November 2022, and they are down from a recent high of 5.20% in November 2023. They should remain flat in coming days (and weeks) since the Fed left short-term rates unchanged two weeks prior. Yields were 3.47% on 4/30/26 and 3/31/26, 3.49% on 2/28/26, 3.50% on 1/31/26, 3.58% on 12/31/25, 3.78% on 11/30, 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, 4.14% 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 682), shows a 7-day yield of 3.35%, down 2 bps in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were down 2 bps at 3.57% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were down 2 bps at 3.44%. Treasury Inst MFs were down 1 bp at 3.41%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.18%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.17% and Prime Retail MFs yield 3.36%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were down 54 bps to 2.27%. Money market mutual fund assets have fallen since hitting a record high of $8.280 trillion on March 18, according to our Money Fund Intelligence Daily. Assets have risen $13.7 billion in the week through Friday, and they've increased by $52.5 billion in May month-to-date (through 5/8). MMF assets decreased by $108.8 billion in April, $49.3 billion in March, increased by $99.5 billion in February, $32.9 billion in January, $126.3 billion in December, $132.8 billion in November, $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September and $132.0 billion in August. They rose by $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June and $100.9 billion last May. Weighted average maturities were at 42 days for the Crane MFA and 43 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (5/8), just 170 money funds (out of 792 total) yield under 3.0% with $238.6 billion in assets, or 2.9%, while the vast majority (622) of funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($7.897 trillion, or 97.1%). No funds yield over 4.0%. Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.30%, after falling 1 basis point nineteen weeks prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of May 8, shows no changes over the past week. Four 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, Morgan Stanley and Schwab.
BlackRock Files for Tokenized MMFs
Bloomberg writes, "BlackRock Readies Launch of Two Tokenized Money-Market Funds." The piece tells us, "BlackRock Inc. is planning to launch two money-market funds built for investors who hold their cash in stablecoins, not bank accounts, a sign the world's largest asset manager sees a durable customer base in the digital-dollar economy. The New York-based firm submitted paperwork to debut a digital class of shares tied to the roughly $6.1 billion BlackRock Select Treasury Based Liquidity Fund (BSTBL), which invests in cash, US Treasury bills, notes and other securities with maturities of 93 days or less. The tokenized securities will be available on the Ethereum blockchain, and operate alongside the current traditional share classes." It says, "The other vehicle, BlackRock Daily Reinvestment Stablecoin Reserve Vehicle (BRSRV), will be a newly created tokenized money-market fund aimed at a growing class of investors who manage their finances through crypto wallets and stablecoins, as opposed to traditional brokerages. The fund will be launching on multiple blockchains, according to the Friday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission." Bloomberg adds, "The market value of tokenized assets has surged about 410% since 2025 to roughly $31 billion, according to data provider rwa.xyz. While the sector remains small compared with the trillions of dollars held in mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, proponents see growth continuing. BlackRock was among the early movers in the space with its blockbuster fund, BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (ticker BUIDL), now at roughly $2.5 billion."
Money Fund Assets Jump $122.4B
The Investment Company Institute's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report shows money fund assets jumping by $122.4 billion to $7.749 trillion. MMFs fell $11.0 billion the previous week, and they fell by a massive $175.8 billion three weeks prior, the largest weekly drop ever. (The second largest drop ever was also tax related, $125.4 billion during the week ended April 16, 2025; the third largest was $121.3 billion the week of Sept. 17, 2008; and the fourth largest was $112.0 billion the week ended April 17, 2024.) Assets hit a record high $7.856 trillion seven weeks ago. MMFs have risen in 24 of the last 33 weeks and 32 of the past 42 weeks. MMF assets are up by $803 billion, or 11.6%, over the past 52 weeks (through 5/6/26), with Institutional MMFs up $591 billion, or 14.5% and Retail MMFs up $212 billion, or 7.4%. Year-to-date in 2026, MMF assets are up by $16 billion, or 0.2%, with Institutional MMFs up $9 billion, or 0.2% and Retail MMFs up $7 billion, or 0.2%. ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets increased by $122.35 billion to $7.75 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, May 6, the Investment Company Institute reported.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds increased by $109.20 billion and prime funds increased by $9.02 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds increased by $4.13 billion." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs increasing $103.3 billion and Retail MMFs increasing $19.1 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $6.370 trillion (82.2% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.230 trillion (15.9%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $148.8 billion (1.9%). It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds increased by $19.09 billion to $3.08 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets increased by $13.60 billion to $1.96 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $2.18 billion to $987.12 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $3.31 billion to $135.49 billion." Retail assets account for 39.8% of the total, and Government Retail assets make up 63.6% of all Retail MMFs. They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds increased by $103.26 billion to $4.66 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets increased by $95.60 billion to $4.41 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $6.84 billion to $242.73 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $818 million to $13.34 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 60.2% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 94.5% of all institutional MMF totals. According to Crane Data's separate Money Fund Intelligence Daily series, money fund assets have increased by $90.7 billion to $8.174 trillion month-to-date in May (as of 5/6), assets hit a record high on March 18 of $8.280 trillion. (Our asset series previous record high, $8.276 trillion, was set on 3/17/26.) Assets decreased by $108.8 billion in April, $49.3 billion in March, increased $99.5 billion in February, $32.9 billion in January, $126.3 billion in December, $132.8 billion in November, $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 last May. 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.
Barron's writes, "Stablecoin Deal Removes Obstacle to Crypto Bill. What It Means For Coinbase." They explain, "A pair of senators have released a long-awaited compromise on a bill to regulate the cryptocurrency industry. It's a big step forward, but there's still significant uncertainty that the bill has time to become law this year. Sens. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) and Angela Alsobrooks (D., Md.) unveiled the deal late Friday on so-called 'stablecoin rewards.' The deal would be included in the so-called Clarity Act, a broad bill to regulate the crypto industry. Under the proposal, crypto companies would be forbidden from offering yields on so-called stablecoins, which are types of tokens tied to the U.S. dollar, that look like yields on bank deposits." The piece continues, "For months, banks have been fighting for such a prohibition, arguing that crypto firms' yield programs might drain deposits from banks. The deal would let crypto firms still pay 'rewards' when customers perform certain activities on their platforms, which regulators would determine later." Barron's adds, "Coinbase Global runs one of the biggest stablecoin rewards programs, offering a 3.5% yield to some customers. Stablecoins have become an increasingly important source of profit for the company amid declining trading revenues. Rewards entice more customers to hold stablecoins, which are often a gateway into trading other cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin.... The fight between banks and crypto firms has been raging since January and threatened to upend the bill, which broadly would move most crypto trading under the purview of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a long-stated goal of the crypto industry.... If the Tillis-Alsobrooks compromise sticks, it would solve a major problem keeping the bill from proceeding and could trigger the Senate Banking Committee to vote on the bill as soon as this month. There are still significant hurdles to passage.... The bill's biggest enemy is the clock.... This week's deal is a milestone, but no guarantee that a bill to regulate the crypto industry becomes law."
ignites: Federated Sues SEC on Fees
Mutual fund publication ignites writes, "Federated Sues SEC Over Money Fund Liquidity Fee Rule." The article tells us, "Federated Hermes is suing the Securities and Exchange Commission over its liquidity fee rule for institutional money market funds. The firm contested a key provision of the regulator's 2023 money market fund reforms, escalating its previous efforts to roll back a rule that has already drawn scrutiny from the industry, a complaint filed Friday shows. The asset manager is seeking to vacate the SEC's mandatory liquidity fee, which requires institutional prime and municipal money market funds to charge investors during periods of elevated redemptions, according to the suit filed in Pennsylvania district court. The mandatory liquidity fee, which was added to Rule 2a-7 in July 2023, requires 'a burdensome and costly regulatory framework and which was in our view adopted without adequate notice and opportunity to comment, and without an adequate cost benefit analysis,' a Federated spokesperson said." The ignites piece says, "Federated is represented by Jan Folena, partner at Stradley Ronon. She declined to comment. Federated consolidated its own prime fund lineup over that period and now offers a single institutional prime fund, the roughly $15 billion Federated Hermes Institutional Prime Obligations Fund, according to Crane Data. The rule has weighed heavily on the category, even though funds have not actually had to impose fees, said Pete Crane, president of Crane Data." They quote Crane, "While it might be seen as closing the barn door after the horses are all gone, if this longshot succeeds there might be a lot more horses trying to get back in.... No money fund has implemented a liquidity fee, but the mechanics and threat of one weigh heavily on prime institutional money funds, so many have decided just to exit the space."
Crane 100 MF Index Flat at 3.47%
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) were unchanged at 3.47% on average during the week ended Friday, May 1 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after increasing 1 basis point two week prior. Fund yields hadn't been below 3.5% since November 2022, and they are down from a recent high of 5.20% in November 2023. They should remain flat in coming days (and weeks) since the Fed left short-term rates unchanged last week. Yields were 3.47% on 4/30/26 and 3/31/26, 3.49% on 2/28/26, 3.50% on 1/31/26, 3.58% on 12/31/25, 3.78% on 11/30, 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, 4.14% 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 682), shows a 7-day yield of 3.37%, unchanged in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were unchanged at 3.59% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were unchanged at 3.46%. Treasury Inst MFs were down 1 bp at 3.42%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.20%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.18% and Prime Retail MFs yield 3.38%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were down 20 bps to 2.81%. Money market mutual fund assets have fallen since hitting a record high of $8.280 trillion on March 18, according to our Money Fund Intelligence Daily. Assets have risen $109.4 billion in the week through Friday, and they've decreased by $70.0 billion in April month-to-date (through 5/1). MMF assets decreased by $49.3 billion in March, increased by $99.5 billion in February, $32.9 billion in January, $126.3 billion in December, $132.8 billion in November, $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September and $132.0 billion in August. They rose by $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June and $100.9 billion in May. But MMFs decreased $24.4 billion last April. Weighted average maturities were at 43 days for the Crane MFA and 44 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (5/1), just 135 money funds (out of 792 total) yield under 3.0% with $117.9 billion in assets, or 1.5%, while the vast majority (657) of funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($8.004 trillion, or 98.5%). No funds yield over 4.0%. Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.30%, after falling 1 basis point eighteen weeks prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of May 1, shows no changes over the past week. Four 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, Morgan Stanley and Schwab.
LPL Sees No AI Risk of Cash Sorting
LPL Financial released its Q1 2026 earnings late last week (see the earnings call transcript here), where CFO Matthew Audette comments, "With respect to client cash revenue, it was $460 million, up $4 million as the growth in average cash balances more than offset the full quarter impact of short-term rates.... Overall client cash balances ended the quarter at $59 billion, down $2 billion, primarily driven by record net buying in Q1. Within our ICA portfolio, the mix of fixed rate balances ended the quarter at roughly 60% within our target range of 50% to 75%. Looking more closely at ICA yield, it was 336 basis points in Q1, down 5 basis points sequentially and driven by the full quarter impact from the Q4 rate cuts. As we look ahead to Q2, based on where client cash balances and interest rates are today, we expect our ICA yield to be roughly flat." During the Q&A, LPL was asked about Agentic AI tools and cash balances. CEO Richard Steinmeier comments, "So first off, we don't see an imminent risk to further adviser-led cash sorting from AI. But with respect to cash, while the AI and tokenization angle is new, we've heard variations of this question over time. We are well attuned to the recent developments in the sector and understand the focus on this subject. So you should know we're doing the work, to properly assess the opportunities and risks of reducing our reliance on cash sweep economics over time. And as with everything we do, we must ensure we're delivering a fair value exchange with our advisers and their end investors and understand how any change may impact them or position us with prospective advisers while being cognizant of how our shareholders value predictable recurring earnings rates. However, while the levers are clear, this is grounded in a lot of complex work.... We must ensure that any potential changes would work for them and also how it might intersect with other services we are delivering in the broader value exchange. So maybe to summarize, we're doing the work, which we know is extremely important. However, I would note, it's going to take some time as we work closely with our clients to ensure any potential changes would work for them. We appreciate the question, deeply understand the setup and know that this is top of mind for many of you." Audette adds, "I'll cover client cash, too, because I think everybody would also be interested in how April is shaping up there, too.... I think everybody knows, but ... the seasonality in April, it's typically ... from an organic growth standpoint, one of the lowest months of the year, if not the lowest month of the year. And then on cash balances, you'll typically see one of the larger declines of the year because of seasonal factors." Steinmeier replies to another question on AI risk, "So on why don't we think it's a risk? I think first, in many ways, the behavior you're alluding to has already happened. We've seen sustained yield seeking over time and cash allocations today are already at historical low levels. And cash is around $5,000 per account, which has been hovering there for nearly 2 years consistently, barring slight seasonal movements. So the system has been adjusting. And what we tend to see is incremental evolution, not step function change first. Second, we've always provided advisers with an abundance of options for managing yield sensitive cash on behalf of their clients. And so we think that this set of offerings, most advisers have adopted that into their practices themselves. And so we don't see behavioral change necessarily occurring, whether a tool be available or not available." For more on AI and cash sweeps, see our recent Crane Data News stories: "Ameriprise Says Core Cash Flat, Questions on AI Tools During Q1'26 Call" (4/29/26), "Raymond James Call Responds to 'Agentic AI Cash Sweep Optimization'" (4/24/26), "Barron's on Schwab AI Sweeps Worries" (4/21/26), "Earnings: JP Morgan Talks AI Cash Allocation Tool; BNY on Tokenization" (4/20/26), "Schwab Says AI a Tailwind, Not a Threat to Cash Sweeps on Q1 Update" (4/17) and "Morgan Stanley Q1 Call: AI & Sweeps" (4/16).
Assets Fall for Third Straight Week
The Investment Company Institute's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report shows money fund assets falling by $11.0 billion to $7.626 trillion. MMFs fell $5.6 billion the previous week, and they fell by a massive $175.8 billion two weeks prior, the largest weekly drop ever. (The second largest drop ever was also tax related, $125.4 billion during the week ended April 16, 2025; the third largest was $121.3 billion the week of Sept. 17, 2008; and the fourth largest was $112.0 billion the week ended April 17, 2024.) Assets hit a record high $7.856 trillion six weeks ago. MMFs have risen in 23 of the last 32 weeks and 31 of the past 41 weeks. MMF assets are up by $718 billion, or 10.4%, over the past 52 weeks (through 4/29/26), with Institutional MMFs up $503 billion, or 12.4% and Retail MMFs up $215 billion, or 7.5%. Year-to-date in 2026, MMF assets are down by $107 billion, or -1.4%, with Institutional MMFs down $94 billion, or -2.0% and Retail MMFs down $12 billion, or -0.4%. ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets decreased by $10.98 billion to $7.63 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, April 29, the Investment Company Institute reported.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds decreased by $8.02 billion and prime funds decreased by $5.23 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds increased by $2.26 billion." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs decreasing $6.6 billion and Retail MMFs decreasing $4.4 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $6.261 trillion (82.1% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.221 trillion (16.0%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $144.7 billion (1.9%). It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds decreased by $4.44 billion to $3.07 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $4.95 billion to $1.95 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $1.59 billion to $984.94 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $2.10 billion to $132.18 billion." Retail assets account for 40.2% of the total, and Government Retail assets make up 63.6% of all Retail MMFs. They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds decreased by $6.55 billion to $4.56 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $3.06 billion to $4.31 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $3.64 billion to $235.88 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $157 million to $12.52 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 59.8% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 94.6% of all institutional MMF totals. According to Crane Data's separate Money Fund Intelligence Daily series, money fund assets have decreased by $129.1 billion to $8.063 trillion month-to-date in April (as of 4/29), assets hit a record high on March 18 of $8.280 trillion. (Our asset series previous record high, $8.276 trillion, was set on 3/17/26.) Assets decreased by $49.3 billion in March, increased $99.5 billion in February, $32.9 billion in January, $126.3 billion in December, $132.8 billion in November, $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, but fell by $24.4 billion last April. 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.
