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Crane Data published its latest Money Fund Intelligence Family & Global Rankings yesterday, which ranks the asset totals and market share of managers of money funds in the U.​S. and globally. The August edition, with data as of July 31, shows continued moderate asset decreases for the majority of money fund complexes in the latest month, and over the past three months, but assets have been virually flat over the past year. (​These "Family" rankings are available to our Money Fund Wisdom subscribers.) Schwab, Northern, Franklin, and BofA were some of the few that showed gains in July, rising by $​1.​4 billion, $​1.​4 billion, $​1.​3 billion, and $​1.​3 billion respectively, while Goldman Sachs, BofA Funds, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and SSgA led the increases over the 3 months through July 31, 2014, rising by $​6.​6B, $​4.​3B, $​2.​5B, $​1.​9B, and $​1.​8B, respectively. Money fund assets overall decreased by $​21.​8 billion in July, decreased by $​29.​5 billion over the last three months, but fell by just $​2.​4 billion over the past 12 months (​according to our Money Fund Intelligence XLS).

Our latest domestic U.​S. money fund Family Rankings show that Fidelity Investments remained the largest money fund manager with $​404.​7 billion, or 16.​5% of all assets (​down $​440M in July, down $​3.​9B over 3 mos. and down $​14.​9B over 12 months), followed by JPMorgan'​s $​231.​2 billion, or 9.​4% (​down $​7.​0B, down $​9.​2B, and up 2.​1B for the past 1-​month, 3-​months and 12-​months, respectively). Federated Investors ranks third with $​196.​9 billion, or 8.​0% of assets (​down $​5.​0B, down $​13.​7B, and down $​23.​4B), BlackRock ranks fourth with $​181.​6 billion, or 7.​4% of assets (​down $​2.​7B, down $​10.​4B, and up $​35.​4B), and Vanguard ranks fifth with $​171.​3 billion, or 7.​0% (​up $​495M, down $​797M, and up $​148M).

The sixth through tenth largest U.​S. managers include: Schwab ($​159.​6B, 6.​5%), Dreyfus ($​153.​4B, or 6.​2%), Goldman Sachs ($​135.​0B, or 5.​5%), Wells Fargo ($​108.​5B, or 4.​4%), and Morgan Stanley ($​101.​4B, or 4.​1%). The eleventh through twentieth largest U.​S. money fund managers (​in order) include: SSgA ($​82.​0B, or 3.​3%), Northern ($​75.​9B, or 3.​1%), Invesco ($​59.​3B, or 2.​4%), BofA ($​48.​0B, or 2.​0%), Western Asset ($​40.​1B, or 1.​6%), UBS ($​37.​2B, or 1.​5%), First American ($​36.​6B, or 1.​5%), Deutsche ($​33.​1B, or 1.​3%), Franklin ($​19.​7B, or 0.​8%), and RBC ($​18.​7B, or 0.​8%). Crane Data currently tracks 74 managers, down one from last month.

Over the past year, BlackRock showed the largest asset increase (​up $​35.​4B, or 24.​7%; note that most of this is due to the addition of securities lending shares to our collections), followed by Goldman Sachs (​up $​6.​9B, or 4.​9%), and Morgan Stanley (​up $​6.​7B, or 7.​2%). Other gainers since July 31, 2013, include: BofA (​up $​5.​9B, or 13.​9%), SSgA (​up $​5.​6B, or 7.​4%) American Funds (​up $​4.​0B, or 30.​0%), and JPMorgan (​up $​2.​1B, or 0.​9%). The biggest declines over 12 months include: Federated (​down $​23.​4B, or -​10.​6%), Fidelity (​down $​14.​9B, or -​3.​6%), UBS (​down $​11.​6B, or -​22.​4%), and Deutsche (​down $​9.​0B, or -​21.​4%). (​Note that money fund assets are very volatile month to month.)

When "​offshore" money fund assets -- those domiciled in places like Dublin, Luxembourg, and the Cayman Islands -- are included, the top 10 managers match the U.​S. list, except for BlackRock moving up to No. 3, Goldman moving up to No. 4, and Western Asset appearing on the list at No. 9. (​displacing Wells Fargo from the Top 10). Looking at these largest Global Money Fund Manager Rankings, the combined market share assets of our MFI XLS (​domestic U.​S.) and our MFI International ("​offshore), we show these largest families: Fidelity ($​410.​7 billion), JPMorgan ($​354.​3 billion), BlackRock ($​297.​5 billion), Goldman Sachs ($​214.​9 billion), and Federated ($​206.​3 billion). Dreyfus ($​178.​2B), Vanguard ($​171.​3B), Schwab ($​159.​6B), Western ($​132.​7B), and Morgan Stanley ($​120.​4B) round out the top 10. These totals include offshore US dollar funds, as well as Euro and Sterling funds converted into US dollar totals.

In other news, our August 2014 MFI and MFI XLS show that both net and gross yields remained at record lows for the month ended July 31, 2014. Our Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds covered by Crane Data (​currently 841), remained at a record low of 0.​01% for both the 7-​Day and 30-​Day Yield (​annualized, net) averages. (​The Gross 7-​Day Yield was also unchanged at 0.​13%.) Our Crane 100 Money Fund Index shows an average yield (​7-​Day and 30-​Day) of 0.​02%, also a record low, down from 0.​03% a year ago. (​The Gross 7- and 30-​Day Yields for the Crane 100 remained unchanged at 0.​16%.) For the 12 month return through 7/​31/​14, our Crane MF Average returned a record low of 0.​01% and our Crane 100 returned 0.​02%.

Our Prime Institutional MF Index yielded 0.​02% (​7-​day), the Crane Govt Inst Index yielded 0.​01%, and the Crane Treasury Inst, Treasury Retail, Govt Retail and Prime Retail Indexes all yielded 0.​01%. The Crane Tax Exempt MF Index also yielded 0.​01%. (The Gross Yields for these indexes were: Prime 0.​18%, Govt 0.​10%, Treasury 0.​06%, and Tax Exempt 0.​13% in July.) The Crane 100 MF Index returned on average 0.​00% for 1-​month, 0.​00% for 3-​month, 0.​01% for YTD, 0.​02% for 1-​year, 0.​04% for 3-​years (​annualized), 0.​06% for 5-​year, and 1.​62% for 10-​years.

In other news, ICI released its latest "​Money Market Fund Assets" report, which showed money funds increasing for the second week in a row (​up $​23.​3 billion in 2 weeks). It says, "Total money market fund assets increased by $​10.​51 billion to $​2.​58 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, August 13, the Investment Company Institute reported today. Among taxable money market funds, Treasury funds (​including agency and repo) increased by $​8.​15 billion and prime funds increased by $​2.​93 billion. Tax-​exempt money market funds decreased by $​570 million." Year-​to-​date, money fund assets have declined by $​141 billion, or 5.​2 percent.

The release continues, "Assets of retail money market funds increased by $​1.​22 billion to $​906.​60 billion. Among retail funds, Treasury money market fund assets increased by $​220 million to $​202.​88 billion, prime money market fund assets increased by $​1.​33 billion to $​517.​03 billion, and tax-​exempt fund assets decreased by $​340 million to $​186.​69 billion. Assets of institutional money market funds increased by $​9.​30 billion to $​1.​67 trillion. Among institutional funds, Treasury money market fund assets increased by $​7.​93 billion to $​714.​58 billion, prime money market fund assets increased by $​1.​60 billion to $​884.​46 billion, and tax-​exempt fund assets decreased by $​240 million to $​71.​80 billion."

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Preparations are being made for our 2nd annual Crane'​s European Money Fund Symposium, which will be held Sept. 22-​23, 2014 at the Hilton London Tower Bridge in London, England. Crane Data has attracted 20 sponsors for the event so far, and we expect our second "​offshore" money fund conference to again be the largest gathering of money fund professionals outside the U.​S. European Money Fund Symposium features an unmatched speaking faculty, including many of the world'​s foremost authorities on money funds in Europe and worldwide. We review the latest conference agenda and details below. (​Visit www.​euromfs.​com to register, or contact us to request the PDF brochure or for more details.)

President Peter Crane comments, "Crane Data'​s first European event, held last September in Dublin, attracted 100 attendees, sponsors and speakers, and our latest U.​S. Money Fund Symposium attracted almost 500. We expect our London event to be even bigger and better than Dublin. European Money Fund Symposium offers "​offshore" money market portfolio managers and professionals, investors, issuers, dealers, regulators and service providers a concentrated and affordable educational experience, as well as an excellent and informal networking venue. Our mission is to deliver great conference content at an affordable price. With the recent passage of the SEC'​s Money Fund Reforms and pending regulatory changes in Europe, we expect that there will be a lot to talk about."

The Day One morning Agenda for Crane'​s European Money Fund Symposium includes: "State of MMFs in Europe & IMMFA Update" with Jonathan Curry, Chairman, IMMFA and Susan Hindle Barone, Secretary General, IMMFA; "Regulations in Europe: Bullet Dodged?" with Dan Morrissey of William Fry and Paul Wilson of SWIP; "Senior Portfolio Manager Perspectives," moderated by Yaron Ernst of Moody'​s Investor'​s Service and featuring Debbie Cunningham of Federated Investors, Joe McConnell of J.​P. Morgan Asset Mgmt, and Jennifer Gillespie of Legal & General I.​M.

The afternoon of Sept. 22 features: "MM Securities: New Sources of Supply," moderated by Laurie Brignac of Invesco and featuring Kieran Davis of Barclays, David Hynes of Northcross Capital LLP, and Jean-​Luc Sinniger of Citi Global Markets; "Portals, Transparency & Investor Issues," with Greg Fortuna of State Street'​s Fund Connect, Justin Meadows of MyTreasury, and Maryum Malik of SunGard; "Accounting and Floating NAV Issues" with Sarah Murphy and Ken Owens of PwC Dublin; and an "Ireland & IFIA Update" with Kevin Murphy of Arthur Cox.

The Day Two Agenda includes: "MM Strategists Speak: Rates, Regulations, Risks" with Giuseppe Maraffino of Barclays and Vikram Rai of Citi; "Distribution: Major Issues & Client Concerns moderated by Peter Crane with Jim Fuell of J.​P. Morgan A.​M., Kathleen Hughes of Goldman Sachs A.​M., and Kevin Thompson of SSgA; "Recent Ratings Research: Trends & Issues" with Yaron Ernst of Moody'​s; "State of US Money Funds & Rule 2a-​7" with Charlie Cardona of BNY Mellon Cash Investment Strategies, Jane Heinrichs of the Investment Company Institute, and John Hunt of Nutter, McClennen & Fish; "Euro & Sterling MMF Issues" with David Callahan of Lombard Odier I.​M. and Dennis Gepp of Federated Investors (​UK) LLP; "Beyond MMFs: Enhanced Cash Strategies" with James Finch of UBS Global Asset Mgmt, Jason Granet of Goldman Sachs A.​M., and Guyna Johnson of Standard & Poor'​s; "MMFs in Asia & Emerging Markets" with Peter Crane of Crane Data and Andrew Paranthoiene of Standard & Poor'​s; and "Offshore Money Fund Data & Statistics with Crane and Aymeric Poizot of Fitch Ratings.

Sponsors of the event and exhibitors to date include: HSBC Global Asset Management, J.​P. Morgan Asset Management, Moody'​s Investors Service, BofA Global Capital Management, Federated Investors, Standard & Poor'​s, State Street Global Advisors, BNY Mellon Liquidity Funds, Cachematrix, Invesco, R.​P. Martin, MyTreasury, Northcross Capital, Nutter, McClennen & Fish, UBS, Treasury Management International, and Treasury Today. Registration for the 2014 Crane'​s European Money Fund Symposium is $​1,​500 (​or 900 GBP), and registrations are still being accepted. A block of sleeping rooms has been reserved at The Hilton London Tower Bridge, and the conference negotiated rate of L261 (​GBP) single and L272 (​GBP) double are available through August 20th. (Please reserve soon as the hotel is sold out outside of our block and won'​t guarantee the rate beyond Aug. 20.) We hope to see you next month in London!

Crane Data publishes Money Fund Intelligence and produces the largest annual gathering of money market professionals in the world, Crane'​s Money Fund Symposium. (​We had 495 this past June in Boston.) Our next U.​S. Symposium is scheduled for June 24-​26, 2015 in Minneapolis, Minn., and our next "​basic training" event, Money Fund University is scheduled for January 22-​23, 2015, in Stamford, Conn. Note: Our 2015 European Money Fund Symposium is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 21-​22 in Dublin, Ireland, so mark your calendars.

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The Wall Street Journal writes "​The Safety and the Risk in Ultrashort Bond Funds". It says, "Ultrashort-​term bond funds are a popular haven for investors looking to earn more than the near-​zero yields of money-​market mutual funds -- without locking up their money in a certificate of deposit or taking a lot of interest-​rate risk with longer-​term debt funds. The question now is how these funds will perform when interest rates eventually rise and whether the funds will see an exodus of investors. Investors pumped nearly $​2.​5 billion in net new cash into ultrashort bond mutual funds in the first half of 2014, boosting their assets to $​64.​45 billion, according to Chicago-​based investment researcher Morningstar. That comes after net inflows of nearly $​10.​7 billion and $​9.​5 billion in 2013 and 2012, respectively.... Most observers expect the Federal Reserve to begin lifting short-​term rates sometime next year. Ultrashort funds should be able to reinvest maturing debt at higher yields when rates rise. Still, prices could fall somewhat, unlike those of money funds, which almost always stay at a steady $​1 a share. "​These are not money-​market funds. You could see modest losses," Ms. Bush says. Many investors lost money in the funds in the 2008 financial crisis, when bonds that the funds held defaulted or were downgraded. The average ultrashort fund lost 7.​9% that year, according to Morningstar. But some funds had taken on more risk than investors expected, with holdings in longer-​term debt or mortgage bonds, and some lost more than 30% of their value.... Still, by keeping interest rates artificially low, the Fed has created a scenario in which money may flood out of ultrashort funds, believes Peter Crane of Crane Data, a research firm in Westboro, Mass., that focuses on money-​market funds. The Fed'​s aggressive approach to keeping rates very low drove "​the wrong kind of people" into bond funds from safer money-​market funds, he contends. "​You have all these retirees who just need income," Mr. Crane says. "​They don'​t understand the principal risk." If ultrashort funds suffer a small loss due to rising rates, these investors will be surprised and begin to sell, compounding those losses, he says."

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The August issue of Crane Data'​s Money Fund Intelligence was sent out to subscribers on Thursday. (Sorry about the delay; we had some e-​mail issues Thursday.) The latest edition of our flagship monthly newsletter features the articles: "SEC Passes MMF Reform on Split Vote: Combo is Coming," which discusses the adoption of money market fund reforms by a count of 3-​2; "Chair White'​s Statement on New MMF Reforms," which excerpts SEC Chair Mary Jo White'​s discussion of the reforms; and, "Modest Outflows Expected from Reforms; 3 Questions," which examines the implications of the MMF reforms on fund flows. We also updated our Money Fund Wisdom database query system with July 31, 2014, performance statistics and rankings late last night, and we also sent out our MFI XLS spreadsheet this a.​m. (MFI, MFI XLS and our Crane Index products are available to subscribers at our Content center.) Our July 31 Money Fund Portfolio Holdings data are scheduled to go out on Monday, August 11.

The latest MFI newsletter'​s lead article comments, "By a vote of 3-​2, the SEC adopted long-​awaited and much discussed reforms for the $​2.​6 trillion money market industry on July 23rd. "​The amendments make structural and operational reforms to address risks of investor runs in money market funds, while preserving the benefits of the funds," stated the SEC in a press release. We distill the SEC'​s 869-​page reform proposal down to the highlights. Chair Mary Jo White, along with Commissioners Luis Aguilar and Daniel Gallagher, voted in favor of the reform package. Commissioners Kara Stein and Michael Piwowar voted in opposition. Here'​s what they adopted."

The article explains, "Floating NAV -- Institutional Prime MMFs (​including Inst Muni MMFs) are required to maintain a floating net asset value for sales and redemptions based on the current market value of the securities in their portfolios rounded to the fourth decimal place. The requirement would result in the daily share prices of the money market funds fluctuating along with changes in the market-​based value of the funds' investments. These funds no longer will be allowed to use the special pricing and valuation conventions that currently permit them to maintain a constant share price of $​1.​00. Also, the U.​S. Dept. of ​the Treasury and the IRS proposed new regulations to allow floating NAV MMF investors to use a simplified tax accounting method to track gains and losses."

Our monthly "​profile" says, "At the Open Meeting of the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 23, the SEC voted to adopt its proposal to reform money market funds. Here are excerpts from Chair White'​s statement." White said: "Today'​s reforms will fundamentally change the way that most money market funds operate. They will reduce the risk of runs in money market funds and provide important new tools that will help further protect investors and the financial system in a crisis. ​Together, this strong reform package will make our financial system more resilient and enhance the transparency and fairness of these products for America'​s investors."

She continued, "Over the last several decades, money market funds have become a critical part of the American economy, providing an important source of short-​term financing for issuers, including American businesses, state and local governments, and other market participants. ​Today, nearly $​3 trillion is invested in money market funds, much of it in institutional prime funds held by investors such as pension funds and corporations. ​Issuers and investors now rely daily on money market funds, and the benefits of such funds are significant."

The August MFI article on `​Modest Outflows Expected from Reforms; 3 Questions asks, "How much money could leave Prime Institutional money funds? How likely is a 30% (​or 10%) liquidity buffer breach (​and how likely will boards be to use gates and fees at these points)? Will the floating NAV actually float? These are what we see as the 3 most important questions fund companies and investors are asking as the money fund industry begins preparing for the SEC'​s Money Fund Reforms in August 2016. We examine these below."

Crane Data'​s August MFI with July 31, 2014, data shows total assets decreasing by $​19.​8 billion (​after decreasing by $​13.​4 billion in June, rising $​10.​9 billion in May, and falling by $​59.​5 billion in April) to $​2.​461 trillion (​1,​238 funds, 10 fewer than last month). Our broad Crane Money Fund Average 7-​Day Yield and 30-​Day Yield remained at a record low 0.​01% while our Crane 100 Money Fund Index (​the 100 largest taxable funds) yielded 0.​02% (​7-​day and 30-​day). On a Gross Yield Basis (​before expenses were taken out), funds averaged 0.​13% (​Crane MFA, unchanged) and 0.​16% (​Crane 100) on an annualized basis for both the 7-​day and 30-​day yield averages. (Charged Expenses averaged 0.​12% and 0.​14% for the two main taxable averages.) The average WAM for the Crane MFA and the Crane 100 were 42 and 45 days, respectively, increasing 1 day from the prior month for the Crane 100. (​See our Crane Index or craneindexes.​xlsx history file for more on our averages.)

Finally, the final agenda was sent out to subscribers for our European Money Fund Symposium, which will take place Sept. 22-​23 in London at the Hilton London Tower Bridge. Though there has been no word from European regulators and the newly elected European Parlaiment has yet to even commence, we expect them to eventually craft legislation similar to the SEC'​s. This will be a main topic of discussion at Euro MFS, along with other issues impacting Euro, Sterling, USD and "​offshore" money market funds domiciled in Dublin, Luxembourg and other European and global financial centers.

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