Daily Links Archives: August, 2026
HSBC Merges Intm, Intm Svc Classes
A Prospectus Supplement filing for HSBC U.S. Government Money Market Fund and HSBC U.S. Treasury Money Market Fund says, "Upon the recommendation of HSBC Global Asset Management (USA) Inc. (the 'Adviser'), the Board of Trustees of HSBC Funds (the 'Trust') has approved: (i) the conversion of the outstanding Intermediary Class Shares of the HSBC U.S. Government Money Market Fund (the 'Government Fund') and the HSBC U.S. Treasury Money Market Fund (the 'Treasury Fund,' and with the Government Fund, the 'Funds') into Intermediary Service Class Shares of the same respective Fund; (ii) the termination of the Intermediary Class Shares of the Funds; and (iii) the elimination of the shareholder servicing fees for Intermediary Service Class Shares and Class P Shares of the Funds. These changes will take effect on or about September 11, 2026, or on such other date as the officers of the Trust determine (the 'Effective Date')." It tells us, "Effective immediately, the Funds will no longer sell Intermediary Class Shares to new investors or existing shareholders (except through reinvested dividends), including through exchanges into each Fund. Investors may continue to redeem shares of each Fund prior to the Effective Date." The filing adds, "As a result, effective on the Effective Date, the following changes are being made to the Prospectus and SAI: 1. All references to Intermediary Class Shares of the Government and Treasury Funds are eliminated."
ICI: MMF Assets Rebound in August
After almost breaking the $8.0 trillion barrier five weeks prior, the Investment Company Institute's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report shows money fund assets rising $55.4 billion to $7.909 trillion. Assets fell $6.8 billion the previous week and decreased $22.6 billion the week before this. But MMF assets are still up by $757 billion, or 10.6%, over the past 52 weeks (through 8/5/26), with Institutional MMFs up $589 billion, or 13.9% and Retail MMFs up $168 billion, or 5.7%. Year-to-date in 2026, MMF assets are up by $176 billion, or 2.3%, with Institutional MMFs up $155 billion, or 3.3% and Retail MMFs up $21 billion, or 0.7%. ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets increased by $55.39 billion to $7.91 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, August 5, the Investment Company Institute reported.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds increased by $46.36 billion and prime funds increased by $7.06 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds increased by $1.97 billion.” ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs increasing $34.1 billion and Retail MMFs increasing $21.3 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $6.519 trillion (82.4% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.238 trillion (15.7%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $152.1 billion (1.9%). It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds increased by $21.26 billion to $3.10 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets increased by $16.01 billion to $1.97 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $4.54 billion to $988.81 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $708 million to $138.11 billion." Retail assets account for 39.2% 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 $34.14 billion to $4.81 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets increased by $30.35 billion to $4.55 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $2.53 billion to $249.38 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $1.27 billion to $14.01 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 60.8% 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 $48.9 billion to $8.338 trillion month-to-date in August (as of 8/5), assets reached an all-time high of $8.404 trillion on July 6. Assets decreased $61.4 billion in July, increased $58.6 billion in June, $208.6 billion in May, 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 last August. 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.
BNY Debuts BLIQUID Tokenized MMF
A press release, "BNY Investments Launches Its First Native Blockchain Product, BLIQUID by BNY," states, "BNY Investments Dreyfus, part of BNY (BNY) ... announced the launch of BNY Dreyfus On-Chain Liquidity Fund, one of the first digitally native, SEC-registered 2a-7 money market funds. Shares are represented on-chain by BLIQUID tokens, with each share's ownership and transfers recorded on the blockchain as part of the fund's recordkeeping system." It continues, "The Fund is fueled by BNY's digital asset ecosystem, a global, scalable platform integrating tokenization, distribution, and custody to help power the future of financial markets. Built on BNY's Digital Transfer Agency capability, BLIQUID by BNY connects directly to the firm's underlying transfer agency recordkeeping infrastructure, supporting on-chain ownership records, transfer processing and reconciliation to off-chain." Stephanie Pierce, Deputy Head of BNY Investments, comments, "BLIQUID by BNY gives clients an entirely new way to put cash to work, combining the speed and efficiency of a digitally native structure with the security and reliability our clients count on. This is a meaningful step forward in how we help clients access liquidity in an increasingly digital world and demonstrates how BNY connects traditional finance with next generation market infrastructure." BNY explains, "Unlike earlier tokenized fund structures that relied on 'digital twins' of traditional shareholder records, the fund's shares are issued natively on-chain. Transactions, including mints, burns, transfers and fees, are visible and auditable on-chain, allowing investors to verify holdings and performance, and on-chain infrastructure supports the settlement and distribution of tokenized funds, reducing reliance on certain traditional processing handoffs. Peer-to-peer token transfers are available 24/7 between allow-listed wallets with subscriptions and redemptions supported in both fiat and stablecoin all within the BNY ecosystem." The release adds, "Initially at launch, BLIQUID by BNY will be available on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains, with additional networks expected over time. Eligible investors that have a digital wallet maintained for them by digital custody providers, Anchorage Digital or BitGo Bank & Trust, N.A., or directly by BNY, can invest in the fund. Consistent with the broader BNY Investments Dreyfus liquidity suite, it is anticipated that BNY’s LiquidityDirect platform will support investments in the fund, delivering the same intuitive experience, institutional scale, and rich functionality clients use today, now extended to tokenized money market funds."
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 July 31) includes Holdings information from 55 money funds (down 20 from a week ago), or $3.644 trillion (down from $4.773 trillion) of the $8.289 trillion in total money fund assets (or 44.0%) 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 July 13 News, "July MF Portfolio Holdings: Assets Flat; Repo Jumps, Treasuries Plunge.”) Our latest Weekly MFPH Composition summary shows Government assets dominating the holdings list with Treasuries totaling $1.685 trillion (down from $2.146 trillion a week ago), or 46.3%; Repurchase Agreements (Repo) totaling $1.292 trillion (down from $1.679 trillion a week ago), or 35.5%, and Government Agency securities totaling $420.8 billion (down from $513.1 billion a week ago), or 11.5%. Commercial Paper (CP) totaled $120.5 billion (down from $186.9 billion a week ago), or 3.3%. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) totaled $49.8 billion (down from $100.8 billion a week ago), or 1.4%. The Other category accounted for $37.5 billion or 1.0%, while VRDNs accounted for $37.9 billion or 1.0%. The Ten Largest Issuers in our Weekly Holdings product include: the US Treasury with $1.685 trillion, Fixed Income Clearing Corp with $415.2B, the Federal Home Loan Bank with $262.1B, JP Morgan with $129.9B, Federal Farm Credit Bank with $96.4B, Citi with $96.4B, BNP Paribas with $81.6B, Wells Fargo with $79.1B, RBC with $70.9B and Goldman Sachs with $52.3B. The Ten Largest Funds tracked in our latest Weekly include: JPMorgan 100% US Trs MM ($342.4B), JPMorgan US Govt MM ($331.9B), Fidelity Inv MM: Govt Port ($275.4B), Goldman Sachs FS Govt ($272.6B), State Street Inst US Govt ($197.4B), Morgan Stanley Inst Liq Govt ($197.3B), Fidelity Inv MM: MM Port ($162.6B), Dreyfus Govt Cash Mgmt ($158.4B), Fidelity Inv MM: Treas Only ($134.6B) and First American Govt Oblg ($129.6B). (Let us know if you'd like to see our latest domestic U.S. and/or "offshore" Weekly Portfolio Holdings collection and summary.)
Money Fund Yields Retake 3.50%
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) were up 3 bps to 3.50% on average during the week ended Friday, July 31 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after going unchanged the week prior. Fund yields have rebounded slightly in recent weeks, but they are down from a recent high of 5.20% in November 2023. They should remain flat in coming days (and weeks) unless and until the Fed moves rates higher. Yields were 3.49% on 7/31/26, 3.47% on 6/30 and on 3/31, 3.58% on 12/31/25, 4.13% on 6/30/25 and 4.28% on average on 12/31/24. MMFs averaged 5.20% on 12/31/23. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 723), shows a 7-day yield of 3.40%, up 2 bps in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were up 2 bps at 3.61% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were up 2 bps at 3.48%. Treasury Inst MFs were up 3 bps at 3.48%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.25%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.22% and Prime Retail MFs yield 3.38%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were down 14 bps to 2.13%. Money market mutual fund assets hit an all-time record high of $8.404 trillion on July 6, according to our Money Fund Intelligence Daily. But assets have decreased $809 million in the week through Friday, and they've decreased by $61.4 billion in July month-to-date (through 7/31). MMF assets increased by $58.6 billion in June, $208.6 billion in May, 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 last July. Weighted average maturities were at 38 days for the Crane MFA and 40 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (7/31), just 158 money funds (out of 834 total) yield under 3.0% with $190.5 billion in assets, or 2.3%, while the vast majority (676) of funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($8.098 trillion, or 97.7%). No funds yield over 4.0%. Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.29%, after falling 1 bp ten weeks prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of July 31, 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.
Barron's Likes Short Treasury ETFs
This weekend's Barron's tells investors to favor long-term Treasury bills over money market funds. The article, "Look What the Fed Did to the Bond Market This Week," tells us, "The Federal Reserve may get around to raising its short-term interest rate target later this year, but short-term bond yields already reflect that eventuality. Investors and savers can boost their yields without adding much risk by shifting out of money-market funds. But to what, exactly? Extending to longer-term securities adds significant risks without commensurate returns.... Still, there are some bargains to be had—namely among shorter-term Treasuries." It explains, "Given the futures market's forecast—which is probably the best guide, given Warsh has eschewed forward guidance -- the two-year Treasury at about 4.25% already reflects the likelihood of two Fed hikes later this year and early 2027. That yield also represents a meaningful pickup from the three-month Treasury bill, at 3.75%, and money-market funds such as the Fidelity Government Money Market fund, with a seven-day SEC yield of 3.32%." The Barron's piece adds, "A number of low-cost exchange-traded funds cover the one-to-three-year corner of the Treasury market. Among the largest are Vanguard Short-Term Treasury, iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond, Schwab Short-Term Treasury, and State Street SPDR Portfolio Short Term Treasury. They sport ultralow expense ratios of three basis points (0.03%), except the iShares ETF, which charges 15 basis points. At the same time, shorter-term bonds provide nearly as much yield as lengthier maturities, and with significantly lower risk from rising interest rates. (Bond prices move inversely to interest rates.) A recent report from Janus Henderson shows the U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year index (the benchmark of the aforementioned ETFs) has a duration of about two years, compared with about six years for the U.S. Aggregate Index. (Duration is a measure of a bond’s price sensitivity to interest rate changes.)"
