Crane Web Access
A press release entitled, "Moody's assigns Aaa-mf rating to HSBC US Dollar ESG Liquidity Fund," tells us, "Moody's Investors Service has assigned an Aaa-mf rating to HSBC US Dollar ESG Liquidity Fund, a new low volatility net asset value money market fund, domiciled in Ireland and managed by HSBC Global Asset Management (USA) Inc. This Fund is classified as Article 8 under the European Union Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation and must, as such, promote environmental or social characteristics. The Fund's primary investment objective will be to maintain the principal and to provide shareholders with daily liquidity with an income which is comparable to US Dollar denominated short dated money market interest rates." Moody's explains, "The Aaa-mf rating reflects Moody's view that the Fund will have a strong ability to meet its objectives of providing liquidity and preserving capital. This view is supported by the model portfolio's high scores for each of the key rating factors, including credit quality, asset profile, liquidity and exposure to market risk. The Fund will invest in a diversified portfolio of short-term securities, instruments and obligations which are of high quality at the time of purchase, with an additional focus on the performance of the underlying issuers on a range of ESG (environmental, social, governance) metrics. HSBC Global Asset Management (USA) Inc., the Fund advisor, determines an ESG score for each issuer in the universe, made up of individual E, S and G scores and weighted based on a proprietary model. The Fund's eligible investment universe will be limited to issuers that score in the top three quartiles based on the aggregate ESG score, while the issuers in the bottom decile for each individual component of E, S and G will also be excluded. The Fund's weighted average maturity will be below 60 days and we expect the Fund to maintain a strong liquidity profile supported by high levels of overnight and weekly liquidity in the portfolio. As a result, we expect the Fund to have a very low exposure to market risk." The release adds, "The rating agency expects the Fund will be managed in line with the model portfolio. However, Moody's notes that if the Fund's investment portfolio was to deviate materially from the model portfolio, the Fund's rating could be changed. The Fund will be launched on 12 October 2022. It will operate under the low volatility net asset value (LVNAV) fund structure domiciled in Ireland and offer a same day settlement. Moody's expects modest shareholder concentration risk during the Fund's ramp-up period to diminish as the Fund grows in size and its shareholder base diversifies. HSBC Global Asset Management (USA) Inc., the fund's investment advisor, is part of the asset management business of HSBC Holdings plc that had $595 billion in assets under management worldwide as of 30 June 2022, of which about $146 billion are invested in liquidity funds."
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Crane Web Access News
Nov 06
The November issue of our flagship Money Fund Intelligence newsletter, which was sent to subscribers Friday morning, features the articles: "Crane 100 Index Hits 3.75%; NY Times: Buy Money Funds," which reviews rise in money fund yields and recent favorable coverage of MMFs; "Q3'26 Earnings Roundup: Digital, Sweeps, Growth," which quotes from the latest bank and brokerage earnings calls; and "UBS, Invesco, Allspring, Van Eck File for Tokenized MMFs," which reviews the latest pending digital money fund launches. We also sent out our MFI XLS spreadsheet Friday a.m., and we've updated our Money Fund Wisdom database with 10/31/26 data. Our November Money Fund Portfolio Holdings are scheduled to ship on Tuesday, Nov. 10, and our November Bond Fund Intelligence is scheduled to go out Monday, Nov. 16. (Note: Please join us for our upcoming Money Fund University, which will take place Dec. 17-18 in Greenwich, Conn.!)
MFI's "Crane 100 Index" story says, "While the Federal Reserve held rates steady at its October 28 meeting, money fund yields continue to digest the last remnants of the Fed's Sept. 16 move. Our Crane 100 Money Fund Index has risen from 3.51% to 3.75% since then, and the market expects rates to again move higher later this year, thus making money funds more attractive."
It continues, "The New York Times writes, 'A Simple Way to Benefit From Rising Rates: Buy Money Market Funds.' The Jeff Sommer column states, 'Rising interest rates have wreaked havoc this year in financial markets. Yet they are an unambiguous boon in one unheralded arena: money market funds, where the higher rates almost immediately funnel more money to investors without major complications. This is a big exception to the other major effects of rising rates, which have made plenty of negative headlines because they are a drag on the economy, a burden for people seeking mortgages and a punishing hurdle for stocks.'"
We write in our "Q3'26 Earnings" article, "J.P. Morgan Chase led off the latest batch of Q3'26 quarterly bank and brokerage earnings calls. (See the JPM earnings call transcript here.) CFO Jeremy Barnum says during the Q&A, 'There's obviously been a lot of focus on the Smart Cash solution.... There have been a couple of releases of personal agents this quarter, which have really gotten a bunch of attention.... The way we think about that from our perspective is that, on the one hand, it's nothing new. But that doesn't mean that we're complacent about it.... It's really the intersection of two things that we've been talking about for a long time -- one is yield-seeking flows. Obviously, we deal [with that] today and have dealt with all the various rate cycles with a lot of competition from yield-seeking flows.'"
It states, "Barnum continues, 'Our strategy remains focusing on primary bank share, not chasing every dollar of yield-seeking money. So that doesn't mean that competitive pressure isn't real. It just means it's not particularly new. The other piece is competition from fin-techs who are innovating and providing great customer experiences, and we've also been talking about that for a long time.... I think we really like our hand in no small part because of the sort of multiple decades of investment in the branch network, the value proposition, and not least trust that our customers have in us.'"
Our "UBS, Invesco, Allspring" article says, "Money fund managers continue to file for new tokenized money market funds and share classes. UBS Asset Management filed with the SEC for the UBS Select 100% US Treasury Onchain Fund and the UBS Liquid Reserves Fund Onchain Shares. Invesco, Allspring and VanEck have also all recently filed for new U.S. tokenized MMFs. The first prospectus states, 'The fund is a money market fund and seeks to maintain a stable price of $1.00 per share. To do this, under normal circumstances, the fund invests exclusively in a diversified portfolio of high quality, US Treasury money market instruments and ... cash. Money market instruments generally are short-term debt obligations.... The fund invests in securities through an underlying master fund.'"
The story continues, "It explains, 'Shares of the fund are issued in tokenized form, meaning that ownership of each share is recorded as a token on the applicable blockchain through smart contracts that conform to token standards that vary by blockchain. Smart contracts are computer programs that are designed to perform functions including 'minting' (the creation of new token balances) and 'burning' (the removal of token balances from circulation), as well as to impose restrictions preventing unauthorized transfers to unregistered wallets, and to enable the clawback of tokens under certain circumstances. These smart contracts are designed, deployed, and maintained by the Transfer Agent. Together with a traditionally maintained (i.e., 'offchain') register that contains shareholders' personal identifying information, these records form the fund's official shareholder register.'"
MFI also includes the News brief, "Assets Up in Oct.; Hit Records in Nov." It says, "Crane Data's MFI XLS shows money fund assets up $65.4 billion in October to $8.362 trillion. MMF assets jumped $78.6 billion in the week through 11/4 to a record $8.447 trillion, according to MFI Daily. Separately, ICI's latest weekly 'Money Market Fund Assets' report shows assets surging $114.5 billion to a record high $8.016 trillion, the first time this series has broken over $8.0 trillion. MMFs are up $481 billion, or 6.4%, over the past 52 weeks (through 11/4/26). YTD, assets are up $282 billion, or 3.7%."
Another News brief, "Federated Hermes' Deborah Cunningham," asks, "Why is Capital Leaving Money Market Funds as Rates Rise?" She writes in an opinion piece on Reuters, 'Against that backdrop of rising rates, you might have expected capital to flood into money market funds (MMFs). But, in fact, total MMF assets decreased by $45.45 billion to $7.89 trillion, as of the week ending Sept. 30, according to the ICI.... This reflects the fact that not all cash-like instruments reprice at the same speed. [W]hen the Fed raises its policy rate, yields across overnight markets, government auctions and floating-rate securities can adjust almost immediately. Yet the yield on a money market fund usually takes longer to catch up.'"
A third News brief, "State Street's '3Q:26 Fund Connect: Still Expecting Higher Rates' says, 'It remains the best of times for short-end investors, with overall AUM of $7.9 trillion just marginally off their all-time highs. We suspect higher yields will continue to provide support for the short end and overall market liquidity.... The WAMs of the largest MMF managers have fallen by about 10 days over the summer, providing a relatively neutral maturity base with which to adjust to changing rate expectations.'"
A sidebar, "Schwab Earnings, Blocks AI," says, "Charles Schwab also reported its Q3'26 earnings, and made comments on sweeps, AI and cash sorting. President & CEO Rick Wurster says, 'Clients are ... moving nearly $4 trillion in cash every month to invest, trade, pay bills.... A subset of traders are already using AI to support their trading goals.... As an interesting aside, this group actually holds more cash than other active traders because they are focused on finding their next great investment.'"
Our November MFI XLS, with October 31 data, shows total assets jumping $65.4 billion to $8.362 trillion, after falling $50.8 billion in September, jumping $78.5 billion in August, falling $65.6 billion in July and increasing $49.5 billion in June. They increased $193.2 billion in May, decreased $102.1 billion in April and $56.6 billion in March, but increased $94.0 billion in February. Assets rose $38.5 billion in January, $123.5 billion in December and $129.3 billion last November.
Our broad Crane Money Fund Average 7-Day Yield was up 8 bps to 3.65%, and our Crane 100 Money Fund Index (the 100 largest taxable funds) was up 7 bps to 3.75% in October. On a Gross Yield Basis (7-Day) (before expenses are taken out), the Crane MFA and the Crane 100 averaged 4.00% and 4.01%. Charged Expenses averaged 0.36% and 0.26% for the Crane MFA and the Crane 100. (We'll revise expenses once we upload the SEC's Form N-MFP data for 10/31/26 on Monday, 11/9.) The average WAM (weighted average maturity) for the Crane MFA was 35 days (down 1 day) and the Crane 100 WAM was down 1 day from the previous month at 35 days. (See our Crane Index or craneindexes.xlsx history file for more on our averages.)
Aug 07
The August issue of our flagship Money Fund Intelligence newsletter, which was sent to subscribers Friday morning, features the articles: "Tokenized MMF Launches Proliferate: BlackRock, Aviva," which reviews the latest tokenized money fund launches; "Quarterly Earnings Calls Quiet on Money Fund, Cash News," which discusses Q2'26 earnings discussions on cash, deposits and sweeps; and "Federated's Donahue on MF Market Share, Digital, Rates," which quotes Federated Hermes' latest earnings call. We also sent out our MFI XLS spreadsheet Friday a.m., and we've updated our Money Fund Wisdom database with 7/31/26 data. Our August Money Fund Portfolio Holdings are scheduled to ship on Tuesday, Aug. 11, and our August Bond Fund Intelligence is scheduled to go out on Friday, Aug. 14. (Note: Please join us for our upcoming European Money Fund Symposium, which will take place next month -- Sept. 24-25 in Paris, France!)
MFI's "Tokenized MMF Launches" story says, "A press release, 'BlackRock Expands Tokenized Cash Platform with BSTBL On-Chain Shares and BRSRV,' tells us, 'BlackRock expanded its cash management strategy with the launch of two tokenized money market products: On-Chain Shares of the BlackRock Select Treasury Based Liquidity Fund ('BSTBL') and the BlackRock Daily Reinvestment Stablecoin Reserve Vehicle ('BRSRV'). The new products combine BlackRock's money market capabilities with blockchain-based infrastructure while maintaining the liquidity and stability, investors expect from regulated money market funds.'"
It continues, "Jon Steel, Global Head of Product and Platform for BlackRock Cash Management, comments, 'Cash remains a foundational building block for investors, corporations, and financial institutions. U.S. money market funds have grown to more than $8.4 trillion in assets as investors continue to prioritize liquidity, capital preservation, and the potential for yield. As demand grows for high-quality reserve assets to support stablecoins and other tokenized financial products, these funds provide clients with additional choice in how they access and use money market fund investment solutions across traditional and digital markets.'"
We write in our "Quarterly Earnings" article, "The latest quarterly earnings season has been lighter than usual with mentions of money market funds and 'cash.' On Charles Schwab's Q2'26 Summer Business Update, CFO Michael Verdeschi tells analysts, 'Bank deposit account fees grew 35% year-over-year due to continued improvement in the net yield, other revenue was up 32% versus 2Q 2025, with stronger trading volumes as well as typical second quarter seasonality.... Client cash followed typical seasonal trends, including tax payments in April. While strong equity markets lifted sentiment and supported elevated trading activity, transactional sweep cash increased by $24.2 billion in 2Q, largely driven by demand for long-short strategies as well as organic asset gathering. Beyond the growth related to long-short, client cash trends remain strong with year-to-date underlying cash performing better than our initial expectations coming into the year.'"
The story continues, "During the Q&A, he responds on rates, 'Keep in mind that we'll have to see how the rate path plays out. Right now we were assuming one hike. That hike was for the December meeting so you're not seeing that incremental pickup in 2026. If that hike were to occur it's going to be impacting the financials in 2027. No, we feel good about the net interest margin expansion that we've seen so far. If rates resume a hiking pattern, you'll see even more expansion <b:>`_…. We continue to see cash build organically as well. `Again, we've seen growth in the first half of the year despite the seasonality of Q1 and Q2.'"
Our "Federated's Donahue" article says, "Federated Hermes CEO Chris Donahue comments on their Q2'26 earnings call, 'Total money market assets decreased by $7.9 billion or about 1%. Money market funds decreased by $2.9 billion or 1% from Q1, yet were up almost $32 billion or 7% year-over-year. After ending 2025 at a record high of $508 billion, money market fund assets have decreased slightly over the first half of the year to $500 billion at the end of Q2. Money market separate accounts decreased by about $5 billion or 3%, similar to last year's Q2 decrease of $5.8 billion.'"
It states, "Donahue continues, 'Still, these assets were up about $10 billion or 6.4% year-over-year at the end of Q2. Money market separate account assets are impacted by the liquidity levels of the large state pools that we manage and typically peak with tax collections at year-end through mid-April before decreasing in Q2 and Q3. Our estimate of money market mutual fund market share, including sub-advised funds, was about 6.7% at the end of Q2, down from 6.9% at the end of Q1.'"
MFI also includes the News brief, "MMF Assets Drop in July, Dip Back Below $8.3 Trillion." It says, "Our MFI XLS shows MMF assets falling $65.6 billion in July to $8.290 trillion, after hitting a record $8.404 trillion in June. ICI's 'Money Market Fund Assets' shows MMFs rebounding $55.4 billion to $7.909 trillion in the latest week (ended 8/5)."
Another News brief, "BNY Debuts BLIQUID Tokenized MF," says, "A release, 'BNY Investments Launches Its First Native Blockchain Product, BLIQUID by BNY,' states, 'BNY Investments Dreyfus ... announced the launch of BNY Dreyfus On-Chain Liquidity Fund, one of the first digitally native, SEC-registered 2a-7 money funds.'"
A third News brief, "Bloomberg: Money Funds Shorten," tells us, "Bloomberg writes that, 'Money Funds Keep Cash Closer as Fed Leaves Markets Guessing.' The article tells us, 'Money market funds are shifting toward ultra short-term holdings and away from assets with even modest interest-rate risk as uncertainty grows over the Fed's policy path and the near-term outlook for rates. The weighted average maturity of fund holdings has fallen to 40 days from 45 days in mid-May, according to Crane Data. Managers have directed more cash into overnight repurchase agreements and short-dated securities, while increasing allocations to floating-rate agency and Treasury debt. Exposure to T-bills has edged lower even as the government ramps up issuance.' See also, Reuters' 'US money market funds turn defensive with Fed rate outlook uncertain.'"
A sidebar, "Stablecoin Reserves Recap," says, "Mutual fund news source ignites published, 'Fund Shops Race to Launch Stablecoin Reserve Money Funds,' which tells us, 'Traditional asset managers are rolling out a wave of government money market funds tailored specifically to stablecoin reserves, positioning themselves to capture institutional cash ahead of expected regulatory mandates. Firms including Morgan Stanley, State Street, BNY and Goldman Sachs have launched products over the past several months.'"
Our August MFI XLS, with July 31 data, shows total assets falling $65.6 billion to $8.290 trillion, after increasing $49.5 billion in June and $193.2 billion in May. They decreased $102.1 billion in April and $56.6 billion in March, but increased $94.0 billion in February. Assets rose $38.5 billion in January, $123.5 billion in December, $129.3 billion in November, $141.5 billion in October, $100.4 billion in September, and $129.9 billion last August.
Our broad Crane Money Fund Average 7-Day Yield was up 3 bps at 3.39%, and our Crane 100 Money Fund Index (the 100 largest taxable funds) was up 3 bps at 3.50% in July. On a Gross Yield Basis (7-Day) (before expenses are taken out), the Crane MFA and the Crane 100 averaged 3.75% and 3.76%. Charged Expenses averaged 0.36% and 0.26% for the Crane MFA and the Crane 100. (We'll revise expenses once we upload the SEC's Form N-MFP data for 7/31/26 on Monday, 8/10.) The average WAM (weighted average maturity) for the Crane MFA was 38 days (down 1 day) and the Crane 100 WAM was down 1 day from the previous month at 40 days. (See our Crane Index or craneindexes.xlsx history file for more on our averages.)
Jul 08
The July issue of our flagship Money Fund Intelligence newsletter, which was sent to subscribers Wednesday morning, features the articles: "AFP '26 Liquidity Survey Says Deposits, MMFs, T-Bills Rule," which reviews a recent study on corporate cash allocations; "Money Fund Symposium '26 KeyNote: JPMAM's Chris Tufts," which covers highlights from our recent conference in Jersey City; and "ICI: Worldwide MMFs Record $13.5T in Q1'26; China Jumps," which covers global MMF trends and country rankings. We also sent out our MFI XLS spreadsheet Wednesday a.m., and we've updated our Money Fund Wisdom database with 6/30/26 data. Our July Money Fund Portfolio Holdings are scheduled to ship on Friday, July 10, and our July Bond Fund Intelligence is scheduled to go out on Wednesday, July 15. (Note: Please join us for our upcoming European Money Fund Symposium, which will take place Sept. 24-25 in Paris, France!)
MFI's "AFP Liquidity Survey" story says, "The recently released '2026 AFP Liquidity Survey' tells us, 'Most organizations continue to allocate a large share of their short-term investment balances -- an average of 83% -- in safe and liquid investment vehicles: bank deposits, money market funds (MMFs) and Treasury securities. This result is three percentage points higher than the 80% reported in 2025. The typical organization currently maintains 42% of its short-term investments in bank deposits. This allocation is four percentage points lower than last year (2025) but is 13 percent lower than the 55% reported in 2022.... The figure has not reached a level as low as 42% since 2011.' (See our June 22 News, 'AFP 2026 Liquidity Survey: Increase in Corporate Cash; Stablecoins Tiny.')"
It continues, "AFP writes, 'Current allocations in Government/Treasury money funds are 19.5%, a decrease of 0.9 percentage points from the figure reported in 2025.... Allocation to Treasury securities (including bills and notes) is 12.1%, higher than the 8.7% reported in 2024 but very similar to 12.4% reported in 2024.'"
We write in our "MFS KeyNote" article, "Crane Data hosted its big Money Fund Symposium conference in Jersey City last week, where over 740 money market professionals discussed rates, tokenization, record asset levels and a number of other hot topics in cash. The opening session, 'Keynote: Money Funds Stay Hot (& Cool) in '26,' featured J.P. Morgan Asset Management's Global Head of Portfolio Management Chris Tufts. Responding to the record numbers in Jersey City, Tufts says, 'I think it's a reflection of the run our industry has had over the past five or six years in particular.... I think it speaks to the asset gathering, the relevance of our product, and the fact that money funds have become the default liquidity tool for a wider array of investors over the past several years.' (Note: Materials are available in our 'Money Fund Symposium 2026 Download Center.')"
The story continues, "He explains, 'I think I'd also add that what's new, and pretty exciting for me and probably for most of the people in the room, is that we're not just talking about a safe corner of the market, cash management. We're really as an industry increasingly at the forefront of innovation and how cash and liquidity plug into all things digital. So really this is an innovation conversation this year. That's exciting, and I'm happy to be part of that.'"
Our "Worldwide" article says, "The Investment Company Institute published, 'Worldwide Regulated Open-Fund Assets and Flows, First Quarter 2026,' which shows that money fund assets globally rose by $190.7 billion, or 1.4%, in Q1'26 to a record $13.470 trillion. (The totals would have been $13.742 trillion if Australia and New Zealand had been included.) Increases were led by a sharp jump in money funds in China and Ireland, while the U.S. and the Republic of Korea also showed gains. Meanwhile, money funds in India and Japan were lower. MMF assets worldwide increased by $1.626 trillion, or 13.7%, in the 12 months through 3/31/26, and money funds in the U.S. now represent 57.7% of worldwide assets."
It continues, "ICI's release says, 'Worldwide regulated open-end fund assets, excluding funds of funds, decreased 0.8% to $87.23 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2026. Worldwide net cash inflow to all funds was $931 billion in the first quarter, compared with $1.4 trillion of net inflows in the fourth quarter of 2025. The Investment Company Institute compiles worldwide regulated open-end fund statistics on behalf of the International Investment Funds Association (IIFA), the organization of national fund associations. The collection for the first quarter of 2026 contains statistics from 44 jurisdictions.'"
MFI also includes the News brief, "MMFs Break Record $8.4 Trillion." It says, "Our MFI Daily shows MMF assets jumping $89.6 billion Monday (7/6) to a record $8.404 trillion. The monthly MFI XLS shows assets rising $49.4 billion in June to a record $8.351 trillion. ICI's latest weekly 'Money Market Fund Assets' shows money fund assets jumping $47.7 billion to a record $7.948 trillion."
Another News brief, "Barron's Writes 'Money-Market Funds Are as Appealing as Ever. Just Don't Back Up the Truck.' The article states, 'Money-market funds have a lot going for them right now. Not only do they offer safety from turbulent markets, but investors can also earn an attractive 3.45% yield, according to Crane's index of the 100 largest money-market funds. That's down from 3.58% at the start of the year, but stable for the past few months and quite a bit higher than most investors expected for midyear.'"
A third News brief, "Portfolio Holdings: Assets Jump; Treasuries Surge, Repo Up," says, "Our June Money Fund Portfolio Holdings, with data as of May 31, 2026, show that holdings of Treasuries jumped sharply last month. Money market securities held by Taxable U.S. money funds (tracked by Crane Data) increased by $255.9 billion to $8.225 trillion in May. Treasuries jumped by $218.9 billion (6.9%) to $3.373 trillion, or 41.0% of holdings. Repo rose by $17.9 billion (0.6%) to $2.992 trillion in May, or 36.4% of holdings. Agencies were the third largest segment, and CP remained fourth, ahead of CDs, Other/Time Deposits and VRDNs."
A sidebar, "Fed Z.1: Household Assets Up," says, "The Federal Reserve's latest quarterly 'Z.1 Financial Accounts of the United States' shows that Total MMF Assets increased by $99 billion to $8.290 trillion in Q1'26. The Household Sector, by far the largest investor segment with $5.419 trillion, saw the biggest asset increase in Q1, followed by Other Financial Business (formerly Funding Corps) and Nonfinancial Corporate Business. The Fed's Z.1 numbers also showed noticeable increases for the Exchange-traded Funds and Rest of the World categories in Q1 2026."
Our July MFI XLS, with June 30 data, shows total assets jumping $49.5 billion to $8.351 trillion, after increasing $193.2 billion in May, decreasing $102.1 billion in April, $56.6 billion in March, increasing $94.0 billion in February, $38.5 billion in January, $123.5 billion in December, $129.3 billion in November, $141.5 billion in October, $100.4 billion in September, $129.9 billion in August, and $69.0 billion last July.
Our broad Crane Money Fund Average 7-Day Yield was up 2 bps at 3.36%, and our Crane 100 Money Fund Index (the 100 largest taxable funds) was up 2 bps at 3.47% in June. On a Gross Yield Basis (7-Day) (before expenses are taken out), the Crane MFA and the Crane 100 averaged 3.72% and 3.73%. Charged Expenses averaged 0.36% and 0.26% for the Crane MFA and the Crane 100. (We'll revise expenses once we upload the SEC's Form N-MFP data for 6/30/26 on Thursday, 7/9.) The average WAM (weighted average maturity) for the Crane MFA was 39 days (down 3 bps) and the Crane 100 WAM was down 3 bps from the previous month at 41 days. (See our Crane Index or craneindexes.xlsx history file for more on our averages.)
Jun 05
The June issue of our flagship Money Fund Intelligence newsletter, which was sent to subscribers Friday morning, features the articles: "Money Fund Assets Resume Record Run; Yields Bottom," which reviews the latest jump in assets and flattening of yields; "BNY, JPM, BlackRock Launch 'OnChain' Tokenized MMFs," which discusses the latest money fund filings; and "European Regulators Push to Increase MF Liquidity Levels," which covers new U.K. and European proposals to strengthen MMF requirements. We also sent out our MFI XLS spreadsheet Friday a.m., and we've updated our Money Fund Wisdom database with 5/31/26 data. Our June Money Fund Portfolio Holdings are scheduled to ship on Tuesday, June 9, and our June Bond Fund Intelligence is scheduled to go out on Friday, June 12. (Note: Register ASAP for our upcoming Money Fund Symposium, which will take place later this month -- June 24-26 in Jersey City, NJ!)
MFI's "Money Fund Assets" story says, "Money fund assets rebounded strongly in May, rising $193.2 billion to a record $8.292 trillion, according to our Money Fund Intelligence XLS data series. Our Money Fund Intelligence Daily shows money fund assets have increased by another $54.2 billion to $8.346 trillion month-to-date in June (as of 6/4)."
It continues, "According to MFI Daily, assets fell by $108.8 billion in April and $49.3 billion in March. But they increased $99.5 billion in February, $32.9 billion in January, $126.3 billion in December and $132.8 billion in November. MMFs rose $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September and $132.0 billion in August. They rose $63.7 billion in July and $6.7 billion last June."
We write in our "OnChain" article, "BNY Dreyfus filed to launch an 'onchain' tokenized money market fund, while J.P. Morgan recently went live with its OnChain Liquidity-Token MMF. The SEC filing for BNY Dreyfus On-Chain Liquidity Fund, under the Dreyfus Government Cash Management Funds umbrella, says, 'The fund seeks as high a level of current income as is consistent with the preservation of capital and the maintenance of liquidity."
The story continues, "The fund pursues its investment objective by investing in (i) U.S. Treasury bills, notes, or bonds ..., (ii) overnight repurchase agreements collateralized solely by U.S. Treasury securities and/or cash, and (iii) cash. The fund is a money market fund subject to the maturity, quality, liquidity and diversification requirements of Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and seeks to maintain a stable share price of $1.00. The U.S. Treasury securities in which the fund invests have a remaining maturity of 93 days or less or are issued with a maturity of 93 days or less.'"
Our "European" story says, "The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which regulates markets in the U.K., published a policy paper titled, 'Reforms to Money Market Fund Regulations.' It states, 'Money market funds (MMFs) play an important role in the financial system. MMFs are widely used for cash management and provide an alternative or complement to bank deposits for a broad range of investors, including asset managers, insurers, pension funds, large corporates and local authorities. However, recent periods of market stress have highlighted the need to strengthen the resilience of these funds. The Government, together with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England, have worked actively with international partners, including with the European Commission and at the Financial Stability Board, to enhance MMF resilience so these funds are better able to withstand market disruption.'"
It continues, "The post explains, 'As part of this, the Government and FCA committed to reforming the UK Money Market Fund Regulation (MMFR) regime, to ensure the UK’s regulatory framework appropriately supports the resilience of these markets while maintaining our international competitiveness. These reforms mark an important step forward in enhancing the resilience of the wider non-bank financial sector.'"
MFI also includes the News brief, "Bloomberg: 'Dash for Cash Sends Money-Fund Assets to Record $8.3 Trillion.' The article states, 'Investors boosted the total amount in U.S. money-market funds to a record $8.281 trillion as uncertainty surrounding the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path fuels demand for cash-like assets. Some $66 billion rushed into the money-market fund industry in the week ending May 28, according to the latest figures from Crane Data LLC.'"
Another News brief, "Barron's Writes Again on Sweeps," tells us, "The article, 'How AI Could Kill Charles Schwab and the Brokerage Industry's Cash Cow,' says, 'Charles Schwab spent a good chunk of its six-hour-long investor day ... explaining to analysts and shareholders how the company is using artificial intelligence to boost its business. Investors, however, are far more focused on whether AI poses a threat to the substantial profits Schwab derives from so-called sweep cash.'"
A third News brief, "Dreyfus Rebrands as BNY Dreyfus," tells us, "A statement, '`BNY Investments Dreyfus Money Market Rebrand,' says, 'Effective May 29, 2026, Dreyfus money market funds will update names, adding ‘BNY’ to recognize the depth of expertise, technology and history brought by Dreyfus as a vital component of the BNY ecosystem. These are part of the BNY Investments Dreyfus family of funds.' (See also, 'Introducing SPARK Future Shares: A New Way to Align Cash with Client Values.')"
A sidebar, "New UBS Stablecoin Reserves," says, "A filing for the UBS Liquid Reserves Fund explains, 'The fund invests only in certain eligible reserve assets that payment stablecoin issuers are permitted to maintain under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act (the 'GENIUS Act') and any regulations adopted thereunder. These eligible reserve assets include ... cash, securities issued by the US Treasury with a remaining maturity of 93 days or less ... and overnight repurchase agreements.... The fund primarily intends to serve as a reserve asset for stablecoin issuers.... Shares of the fund are expected to be held primarily by one or more stablecoin issuers as all or a portion of the reserve assets that back the outstanding stablecoins issued to their customers.'"
Our June MFI XLS, with May 31 data, shows total assets jumping $193.2 billion to $8.292 trillion, after decreasing $102.1 billion in April, $56.6 billion in March, increasing $94.0 billion in February, $38.5 billion in January, $123.5 billion in December, $129.3 billion in November, $141.5 billion in October, $100.4 billion in September, $129.9 billion in August, $69.0 billion in July, and $10.1 billion last June.
Our broad Crane Money Fund Average 7-Day Yield was down 3 bps at 3.34%, and our Crane 100 Money Fund Index (the 100 largest taxable funds) was down 2 bps at 3.45% in May. On a Gross Yield Basis (7-Day) (before expenses are taken out), the Crane MFA and the Crane 100 averaged 3.70% and 3.71%. Charged Expenses averaged 0.36% and 0.26% for the Crane MFA and the Crane 100. (We'll revise expenses once we upload the SEC's Form N-MFP data for 5/31/26 on Monday, 6/8.) The average WAM (weighted average maturity) for the Crane MFA was 42 days (unchanged) and the Crane 100 WAM was unchanged from the previous month at 44 days. (See our Crane Index or craneindexes.xlsx history file for more on our averages.)