Link of The Day
OFR's "Sizing the U.S. Repo Market"
The U.S. Treasury's Office of Financial Research published a brief titled, "Sizing the U.S. Repo Market, which states, "According to new data collected by the OFR, the U.S. repurchase agreement (repo) market averaged about $12.6 trillion in daily exposures in Q3 2025, a number that is about $700 billion larger than previous estimates. The repo market is one of the world's largest and most important short-term funding markets, providing funding for securities dealers and serving as a cash management tool for banks. Despite this fundamental role, this market has historically had limited transparency." The update explains, "Following the 2008-09 financial crisis, regulators implemented measures to enhance market visibility by collecting both balance sheet and transaction-level repo data. To eliminate a data gap within the largest market segment, in December 2024, the Office of Financial Research (OFR) launched a collection initiative focused on transaction-level data for non-centrally cleared bilateral repo (NCCBR). With the data fully on board as of July 2025, researchers can now produce a transaction-based estimate of the U.S. repo market's size for the first time, marking a significant advancement in financial market transparency." It continues, "Of the $12.6 trillion in daily average exposures in Q3 2025, $4.4 trillion was centrally cleared by the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation with another $3.1 trillion settled on Bank of New York Mellon's (BNY's) tri-party platform (excluding centrally cleared). NCCBR accounted for the remaining $5.0 trillion." The piece tells us, "The OFR's data on the U.S. repo market has increased over time as data gaps have been closed.... Data on tri-party repo settled by BNY are collected by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and available from 2015. Data on cleared repo segments (from the OFR cleared repo collection) are available beginning in 2018. From 2021-24, use of the Federal Reserve's overnight reverse repo facility (ON RRP) first increased and then declined. The OFR's new NCCBR collection occurred in two phases. The first phase of the collection began in December 2024 and includes data collected from SEC registered broker-dealers. The second phase that began in July 2025 includes a broader set of financial institutions. The OFR's unique data offers rich detail on repos for each market segment, including information on counterparties, rates, tenor, and underlying collateral. In Q3 2025, 69.4% of repo exposures were collateralized by U.S. Treasuries.... The mix of collateral varies by segment. In Q3 2025, U.S. Treasuries collateralized 88.9% of exposures in the cleared repo segments, but only 61.8% of NCCBR exposures and just over half (52.6%) of the exposures in tri-party." The article adds, "Data from the OFR NCCBR collection are intended to be incorporated into the OFR's Short-term Funding Monitor (STFM), which provides daily data on a wide range of U.S. repo market transactions."
The Investment Company Institute's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report shows money fund assets jumping by $86.8 billion to $7.654 trillion after increasing by $45.5 billion to $7.567 trillion last week (the previous record high). Assets have risen in 9 of the last 11 weeks, and 17 of the past 20 weeks. MMF assets are up by $883 billion, or 13.0%, over the past 52 weeks (through 12/3/25), with Institutional MMFs up $525 billion, or 12.9% and Retail MMFs up $358 billion, or 13.3%. Year-to-date, MMF assets are up by $804 billion, or 11.7%, with Institutional MMFs up $487 billion, or 11.8% and Retail MMFs up $316 billion, or 11.6%. ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets increased by $86.82 billion to $7.65 trillion for the eight-day period ended Wednesday, December 3.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds increased by $81.79 billion and prime funds increased by $2.78 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds increased by $2.25 billion." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs increasing $69.7 billion and Retail MMFs increasing $17.1 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $6.289 trillion (82.2% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.218 trillion (15.9%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $146.8 billion (1.9%). It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds increased by $17.12 billion to $3.05 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets increased by $12.10 billion to $1.92 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $3.61 billion to $995.31 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $1.41 billion to $133.90 billion." Retail assets account for 39.9% of the total, and Government Retail assets make up 63.0% of all Retail MMFs. They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds increased by $69.70 billion to $4.60 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets increased by $69.69 billion to $4.37 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $828 million to $222.48 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $834 million to $12.89 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 60.1% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 94.9% of all institutional MMF totals. According to Crane Data's separate Money Fund Intelligence Daily series, money fund assets have increased by $63.4 billion to a record $8.046 trillion month-to-date in December (as of 12/3). Assets increased by $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. MMFs fell by $24.4 billion in April, but rose $2.8 trillion in March, $94.2 billion in February and $52.8 billion in January. They jumped $110.9 billion last December. 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.
Irish Funds Posts Tokenisation Paper
Another press release, "Irish Funds Publishes New Paper: Mind the Gap – Operational Considerations for the Tokenisation of Irish-Domiciled Funds," explains, "The accelerating pace of digital innovation is reshaping the investment landscape, and fund tokenisation is emerging as a transformative development for the industry. Irish Funds has released a new paper, Mind the Gap: Operational Considerations for the Tokenisation of Irish-Domiciled Funds, exploring the practical steps and challenges involved in bringing tokenised funds to market." The release says, "Tokenisation offers significant potential to enhance transparency, efficiency, and accessibility across fund and asset management. What was once limited to pilots and proofs of concept has now evolved into real-world adoption. In fact, global tokenised real-world assets (RWA) exceeded $36 billion in 2025, a remarkable increase from near-zero just a few years ago—driven by major asset managers launching tokenised products." It adds, "As the industry continues to evolve, collaboration between market participants, regulators, and technology providers is critical to bridge operational gaps and unlock the full value proposition of fund tokenisation. Irish Funds remains committed to supporting its members and the wider industry on this transformative journey. Irish Funds extends its gratitude to the Digital Assets Working Group and the Irish Funds Council for their invaluable contributions." The full paper says, "Ireland is a leading EU domicile for fund products notably in the money market funds (MMFs) space, in private asset strategies and has been at the forefront of innovation for exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Ireland offers a robust regulatory framework, global distribution reach, and operational expertise. Tokenisation, through the use of DLT, presents a transformative opportunity for funds by enabling faster settlement, enhanced transparency, and unlocking innovative and new functionality opportunities. For ETFs, tokenisation can streamline trading and improve liquidity, MMFs may benefit from real-time cash management and automated compliance, while private asset funds can unlock greater liquidity of traditionally illiquid assets and all may benefit from future expanded utility."
Weekly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings
Crane Data published its latest Weekly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings statistics Tuesday, which track a shifting subset of our monthly Portfolio Holdings collection. The most recent cut (with data as of November 28) includes Holdings information from 54 money funds (down 6 from a week ago), or $3.452 trillion (down from $3.846 trillion) of the $7.982 trillion in total money fund assets (or 43.2%) tracked by Crane Data. (Note: Our Weekly MFPH are e-mail only and aren't available on the website. See our latest Monthly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings here and our November 13 News, "Nov. Money Fund Portfolio Holdings: Treasuries Jump; Repo Inches Down." ) Our latest Weekly MFPH Composition summary shows Government assets dominating the holdings list with Treasuries totaling $1.674 trillion (down from $1.892 trillion a week ago), or 48.5%; Repurchase Agreements (Repo) totaling $1.220 trillion (down from $1.267 trillion a week ago), or 35.3%, and Government Agency securities totaling $329.5 billion (up from $327.9 billion a week ago), or 9.5%. Commercial Paper (CP) totaled $109.9 billion (down from $173.4 billion a week ago), or 3.2%. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) totaled $47.3 billion (down from $85.8 billion a week ago), or 1.4%. The Other category accounted for $35.9 billion or 1.0%, while VRDNs accounted for $35.6 billion or 1.0%. The Ten Largest Issuers in our Weekly Holdings product include: the US Treasury with $1.674 trillion, Fixed Income Clearing Corp with $407.2B, the Federal Home Loan Bank with $188.0B, RBC with $95.0B, JP Morgan with $94.7B, BNP Paribas with $84.8B, Federal Farm Credit Bank with $84.0B, Citi with $78.7B, Wells Fargo with $68.1B and Bank of America with $42.0B. The Ten Largest Funds tracked in our latest Weekly include: JPMorgan US Govt MM ($328.3B), JPMorgan 100% US Treas MMkt ($280.9B), Goldman Sachs FS Govt ($278.9B), Fidelity Inv MM: Govt Port ($261.6B), State Street Inst US Govt ($202.1B), Morgan Stanley Inst Liq Govt ($191.4B), Fidelity Inv MM: MM Port ($166.8B), Dreyfus Govt Cash Mgmt ($159.0B), Allspring Govt MM ($142.0B) and First American Govt Oblg ($121.0B). (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 Increase to 3.78%
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) increased by 2 bps to 3.78% on average during the week ended Friday, November 28 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after falling 2 bps the week prior and 3 bps two weeks prior. Fund yields should move lower in coming days as they digest the remainder of the Fed's Oct. 29 25 bps rate cut (and then move lower again if we get a cut on Dec. 10). Yields were 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, 4.10% on 5/31, 4.13% on 4/30/25, 4.14% on 3/31/25 and 4.28% on average on 12/31/24. MMFs averaged 4.75% on 9/30/24, 5.10% on 6/28/24, 5.14% on 3/31/24 and 5.20% on 12/31/23. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 679), shows a 7-day yield of 3.68%, up 2 bps in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were up 4 bps at 3.90% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were up 3 bps at 3.79%. Treasury Inst MFs were up 1 bp at 3.72%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.49%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.49% and Prime Retail MFs yield 3.69%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were up 13 bps to 2.44%. Assets of money market funds rose by $71.8 billion last week to $7.982 trillion, according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. MMF assets hit a record high of $7.982 trillion on November 28. Month-to-date in November (through 11/28), MMF assets have increased $132.8 billion, after increasing by $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September, $132.0 billion in August, $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June, $100.9 billion in May, decreasing $24.4 billion in April, increasing by $2.8 billion in March, $94.2 billion in February, $52.8 billion in January, $110.9 billion in December and $200.5 billion last November. Weighted average maturities were at 39 days for the Crane MFA and 40 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (11/28), 125 money funds (out of 789 total) yield under 3.0% with $154.1 billion in assets, or 1.9%; 631 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($7.378 trillion, or 92.4%), 33 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($450.8 billion, or 5.6%) and following the recent rate cut there continue to be zero funds yielding 5.0% or more. Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.32%, after falling 1 basis point two weeks prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of November 28, shows no changes over the past week. Three of the 10 major brokerages tracked by our BSI offer rates of 0.01% for balances of $100K (and lower tiers). These include: E*Trade, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
DWS Tax-Ex Port Svc Liquidates
A filing for the DWS Tax Exempt Portfolio - Service Shares tells us, "Upon the recommendation of DWS Investment Management Americas, Inc. (the 'Advisor'), the investment advisor for DWS Tax-Exempt Portfolio (the 'Fund'), the Board of Trustees of Cash Account Trust has authorized, on behalf of the Fund, the termination and liquidation of Service Shares, a share class of the Fund (the 'Class'), which will be effective on or about November 25, 2025 (the 'Liquidation Date'). Accordingly, the Fund will redeem all outstanding Class shares on the Liquidation Date. The costs of the liquidation, including the notification to shareholders, will be borne by the Fund but reimbursed by the Advisor, after taking into account applicable voluntary or contractual expense caps then in effect by the Advisor to waive or reimburse certain operating expenses of the Fund." It explains, "Shareholders who elect to redeem their Class shares prior to the Liquidation Date will receive the net asset value per share (normally, $1.00) on such redemption date for all Class shares they redeem. Shareholders whose Class shares are redeemed automatically on the Liquidation Date will receive the net asset value per share (normally, $1.00) for all Class shares they own on the Liquidation Date." For more on recent liquidations, see these Crane Data News stories: "MassMutual U.S. Govt MMF Liquidates" (9/26/25), "DWS CAT Tax-Exempt Svc Liquidating" (9/23/25), "Ramirez Liquidates Money Fund; Weekly Holdings; ICI Holdings Summary" (4/16/25), "ICI: Money Fund Assets Break Over $6.5 Trillion; BNY Liquidates Muni MF" (10/25/24) and "Dreyfus Files to Liquidate Cash Management Prime Inst MMF, Tax Exempt" (5/13/24).
The Investment Company Institute's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report shows money fund assets jumping by $45.5 billion to $7.567 trillion after decreasing by $15.7 billion to $7.522 trillion last week (and reaching a record high of $7.536 trillion the week prior). Assets have risen in 8 of the last 10 weeks, and 16 of the past 19 weeks. MMF assets are up by $892 billion, or 13.4%, over the past 52 weeks (through 11/25/25), with Institutional MMFs up $530 billion, or 13.2% and Retail MMFs up $362 billion, or 13.6%. Year-to-date, MMF assets are up by $717 billion, or 10.5%, with Institutional MMFs up $418 billion, or 10.1% and Retail MMFs up $299 billion, or 10.9%. ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets increased by $45.51 billion to $7.57 trillion for the six-day period ended Tuesday, November 25.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds increased by $41.22 billion and prime funds increased by $3.66 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds increased by $641 million." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs increasing $43.7 billion and Retail MMFs increasing $1.8 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $6.208 trillion (82.0% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.215 trillion (16.1%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $144.5 billion (1.9%). It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds increased by $1.83 billion to $3.03 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets increased by $1.37 billion to $1.91 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $230 million to $991.71 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $689 million to $132.49 billion." Retail assets account for 40.1% of the total, and Government Retail assets make up 63.0% of all Retail MMFs. They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds increased by $43.69 billion to $4.53 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets increased by $39.85 billion to $4.30 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $3.89 billion to $223.31 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $48 million to $12.05 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 59.9% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 94.8% of all institutional MMF totals. According to Crane Data's separate Money Fund Intelligence Daily series, money fund assets have increased by $108.6 billion to a record $7.958 trillion month-to-date in November (as of 11/25). Assets increased by $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September and $132.0 billion in August. They rose $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June and $100.9 billion in May. MMFs fell by $24.4 billion in April, but rose $2.8 trillion in March, $94.2 billion in February and $52.8 billion in January. They jumped $110.9 billion in December, $200.5 billion last November. Note that ICI's asset totals don't include a number of funds tracked by the SEC and Crane Data, so they're almost $400 billion lower than Crane's asset series.
FDIC Says Deposits Inch Higher in Q3
A press release, entitled, "FDIC-Insured Institutions Reported Return on Assets of 1.27 Percent and Net Income of $79.3 Billion in Third Quarter 2025," comments, "The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) ... released the results of its latest Quarterly Banking Profile, a comprehensive summary of financial results based on reports from 4,379 insured commercial banks and savings institutions. In the third quarter 2025, insured depository institutions reported a return on assets (ROA) ratio of 1.27 percent and aggregate net income of $79.3 billion, an increase of $9.4 billion (13.5 percent) from the prior quarter. Strong net interest income growth and a reduction in provision expense, primarily related to last quarter’s large bank acquisition, drove the quarterly increase in earnings." It says, "The industry reported a quarterly increase in net interest income (up $7.6 billion, or 4.2 percent), as interest income accelerated more than interest expense. The net interest margin (NIM) increased by 9 basis points to 3.34 percent, which is above the pre-pandemic average of 3.25 percent.1The community bank NIM of 3.73 percent increased 10 basis points from the prior quarter, increasing for the sixth consecutive quarter, and is above the pre-pandemic average of 3.63 percent." The release continues, "Domestic deposits increased $92.2 billion (0.5 percent) from second quarter 2025, rising for a fifth consecutive quarter. Estimated uninsured domestic deposits drove the increase, up $88.6 billion (1.1 percent) from the prior quarter." It adds, "The Deposit Insurance Fund Reserve Ratio Increased 4 Basis Points to 1.40 Percent: In the third quarter, the Deposit Insurance Fund balance increased $4.8 billion to $150.1 billion. The reserve ratio increased 4 basis points during the quarter to 1.40 percent.... The total number of FDIC-insured institutions declined by 42 during the third quarter to 4,379. During the quarter, four banks were sold to uninsured institutions and 38 institutions merged or consolidated with other banks."
Money Fund Yields Inch Down to 3.75%
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) decreased by 2 bps to 3.75% on average during the week ended Friday, November 21 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after falling 3 bps the week prior and 10 bps two weeks prior. Fund yields should continue inching lower in coming days as they digest the remainder of the Fed's Oct. 29 25 bps rate cut (and then move lower again if we get a cut on Dec. 10). Yields were 3.90% on 10/31, 3.94% on 9/30, 4.11% on 8/31, 4.12% on 7/31, 4.13% on 6/30, 4.10% on 5/31, 4.13% on 4/30/25, 4.14% on 3/31/25 and 4.28% on average on 12/31/24. MMFs averaged 4.75% on 9/30/24, 5.10% on 6/28/24, 5.14% on 3/31/24 and 5.20% on 12/31/23. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 679), shows a 7-day yield of 3.66%, down 2 bps in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were down 1 bp at 3.86% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were down 2 bps at 3.76%. Treasury Inst MFs were down 2 bps at 3.71%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.48%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.47% and Prime Retail MFs yield 3.66%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were up 10 bps to 2.31%. Assets of money market funds rose by $12.1 billion last week to $7.911 trillion, according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. MMF assets hit a record high of $7.931 trillion on November 13. Month-to-date in November (through 11/21), MMF assets have increased $61.0 billion, after increasing by $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September, $132.0 billion in August, $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June, $100.9 billion in May, decreasing $24.4 billion in April, increasing by $2.8 billion in March, $94.2 billion in February, $52.8 billion in January, $110.9 billion in December and $200.5 billion last November. Weighted average maturities were at 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 (11/21), 133 money funds (out of 790 total) yield under 3.0% with $159.5 billion in assets, or 2.0%; 644 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($7.617 trillion, or 96.3%), 13 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($134.1 billion, or 1.7%) and following the recent rate cut there continue to be zero funds yielding 5.0% or more. Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.32%, after falling 1 basis point the week prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of November 21, shows no changes over the past week. Three of the 10 major brokerages tracked by our BSI offer rates of 0.01% for balances of $100K (and lower tiers). These include: E*Trade, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
Paper on Bank Regs, SLR and MMFs
A recent academic paper, "Bank Regulation and Monetary Policy: the Role of Non-Bank Financial Institutions," written by Gara Afonso, Marco Cipriani, and Gabriele La Spada, explains, "Using a quasi-natural experiment, we show that quantitative easing (QE) interacts with bank regulation, impacting the size and portfolio choices of non-banks. In 2021, upon the expiration of the Supplementary Leverage Ratio relief, banks were incentivized to reduce leverage, shedding deposits and reducing the supply of wholesale debt. We show that as a result, money-market funds experienced large inflows and shifted their portfolios toward the Federal Reserve's ONRRP facility. Our results imply that when non-banks can access the central-bank balance sheet, they end up holding a share of central-bank liabilities, draining reserves and affecting the impact of QE through banks. In this paper, we use a quasi-natural experiment to show that quantitative easing (QE) interacts with bank regulation and, by increasing banks' balance-sheet costs, impacts both the size and portfolio choices of non-bank financial institutions." They tell us, "After the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), the Federal Reserve grew its balance sheet sharply to stimulate the economy through QE, increasing bank reserves, deposits, and lever age. Concurrently, US regulators implemented several reforms that penalize banks' balance sheet expansions; the goal of these regulations is to reduce bank risk-taking by curbing bank leverage. The most notable example of these rules is the Supplementary Leverage Ratio (SLR), which sets an explicit limit on the amount of leverage that large banks can take. This regulatory constraint makes balance-sheet expansions more costly for banks; moreover, since the SLR ratio is not risk-weighted, the cost is especially high for balance-sheet expansions associated with safe and low-margin activities, such as intermediation in the market for repurchase agreements (repos) collateralized by Treasuries." The piece says, "Several recent papers have highlighted the importance of banks' balance-sheet costs in explaining arbitrage deviations in asset prices and excess volatility in money-market rates. It is less clear, however, how the interaction of banks' balance-sheet costs with the central bank's balance-sheet policies affects non-bank financial institutions, their portfolio choices, and, in turn, the effectiveness of QE itself. An increase in balance-sheet costs incentivizes banks to reduce their debt. This can have two effects on non-bank financial institutions. First, banks could push their depositors into non-bank financial institutions that are seen as close substitutes to bank deposits, increasing the size of these non-banks. Second, banks could also borrow less in the wholesale market, including from non-banks, changing the portfolio composition of these non-banks. If non-banks have access to the central bank's balance sheet, they can accommodate the increase in size or change in investment opportunities by investing at the central bank." It adds, "In this paper, we identify these two effects by focusing on a key type of non-bank financial institution, money market funds (MMFs). We do this for two reasons. First, MMFs are both the main non-bank substitutes to bank deposits -- with $4.7 trillion in assets under management (AUM) at the end of December 2021 -- and the main providers of short-term wholesale liquidity to large banks; therefore, when banks' balance-sheet costs tighten, MMFs are the non-bank financial institutions more likely to be impacted. Second, MMFs can invest at the Federal Reserve through the ON RRP, a facility set up to support the implementation of monetary policy; MMFs are the main users of this facility, representing 82% of total usage on average between the facility inception in September 2013 and December 2021. As Figure 1 shows, investment in the ON RRP by MMFs increased dramatically between April 2021 and December 2021, accompanied by a reduction in MMF holdings of private overnight Treasury repos. Indeed, overall ON RRP take-up grew from a few billions at the beginning of April 2021 to $1.9 trillion at the end of December 2021, with 91% of the increase due to MMFs. To identify the impact of banks' balance-sheet costs on the size of the MMF industry, we compare MMFs affiliated with banks subject to the SLR regulation with other MMFs. The former should receive larger investor flows around the end of the relief, as their affiliated banks try to shed depositors to improve their SLR. The reason is twofold: banks have an incentive to keep their clients within the company, and investors have an incentive to stay within the same company to lower their switching costs. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find that in the two quarters around the end of the SLR relief, the AUM of MMFs affiliated with banks subject to the SLR increased more than the AUM of other MMFs by an average of $3.4 billion per fund, for a total of $364 billion."
The Investment Company Institute's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report shows money fund assets decreasing by $15.7 billion to $7.522 trillion after reaching a record high of $7.536 trillion the week prior. Assets have risen in 7 of the last 9 weeks, and 15 of the past 18 weeks. MMFs rose $2.7 billion last week, after increasing $116.4 billion two weeks ago. MMF assets are up by $873 billion, or 13.1%, over the past 52 weeks (through 11/19/25), with Institutional MMFs up $512 billion, or 12.9% and Retail MMFs up $362 billion, or 13.5%. Year-to-date, MMF assets are up by $671 billion, or 9.8%, with Institutional MMFs up $374 billion, or 9.1% and Retail MMFs up $297 billion, or 10.9%. ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets decreased by $15.74 billion to $7.52 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, November 19, the Investment Company Institute reported.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds decreased by $14.14 billion and prime funds decreased by $1.83 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds increased by $224 million." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs decreasing $25.1 billion and Retail MMFs increasing $9.3 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $6.166 trillion (82.0% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.211 trillion (16.1%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $143.9 billion (1.9%). It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds increased by $9.34 billion to $3.03 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets increased by $7.86 billion to $1.91 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $1.15 billion to $991.94 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $331 million to $131.80 billion." Retail assets account for 40.3% of the total, and Government Retail assets make up 62.9% of all Retail MMFs. They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds decreased by $25.09 billion to $4.49 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $22.00 billion to $4.26 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $2.98 billion to $219.42 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $107 million to $12.10 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 59.7% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 94.8% of all institutional MMF totals. According to Crane Data's separate Money Fund Intelligence Daily series, money fund assets have increased by $50.4 billion to $7.900 trillion month-to-date in November (as of 11/19). They hit a record high of $7.931 trillion on November 13, but have dipped since. Assets increased by $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September and $132.0 billion in August. They rose $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June and $100.9 billion in May. MMFs fell by $24.4 billion in April, but rose $2.8 trillion in March, $94.2 billion in February and $52.8 billion in January. They jumped $110.9 billion in December, $200.5 billion last November. Note that ICI's asset totals don't include a number of funds tracked by the SEC and Crane Data, so they're almost $400 billion lower than Crane's asset series.
Inside Fidelity's Money Market Team
Fidelity Investments posted a video titled, "Inside Fidelity's Money Market Team," which features Portfolio Managers Joe McHale, Eric Graham and Stephanie Merrin. McHale says, "Hello and thank you for joining us to learn more about Fidelity's taxable money market investment team. As a leader in the money market industry, we pride ourselves on an investment process that's routed in a collaborative team-based approach that prioritizes safety, liquidity, and generating consistent returns. Our co-portfolio management structure, combined with our highly experienced trading, research, and technology teams, help us deliver on our investment strategy. Today I am pleased to introduce Eric Graham and Stephanie Merrin, who along with myself comprise the portfolio management team of our Government money market funds. We'll take some time today to discuss their career experiences and our team's investment approach. Eric, you joined the portfolio management team in March of 2024, but you've been with Fidelity since 2000 in a variety of roles. When you think about your career thus far at Fidelity, which experience do you feel has helped you the most for your current role?" Graham replies, "Thanks, Joe. I try not to assign any one experience as the most beneficial training ground for my current role as a portfolio manager, as I truly believe the benefit lies in the breadth of experience across roles in credit research, trading, and now portfolio management. Each functional role in our group is tasked with evaluating certain sets of risks the portfolios face. The portfolio manager is ultimately responsible for assessing all risk factors, which is why I believe having experience across the different disciplines prepares an individual well for the role." McHale comments, "Thanks Eric, and Stephanie, you joined Eric and I as a co-portfolio manager in January 2025. Can you tell us about your background prior to becoming a portfolio manager and what you think has prepared you most for this role?" Merritt answers, "Sure, Thanks Joe. I spent my early career working for banks. First for a bank treasury where I gained a deep understanding of balance sheet mechanics, liquidity management, and funding strategies. I then moved to sell-side rate sales, where I covered a variety of clients, including government-sponsored entities, banks, and money market funds. This role provided me with invaluable insights into the funding strategies and balance sheet management of the GSEs as well as the asset management practices of money market funds. Those two experiences helped me build a deep understanding of front-end markets across a range of different market participants. Equally important, before becoming a money market portfolio manager, I was a trader for our money market funds. That role allowed me to interact daily with portfolio managers and our portfolios, which gave me an in-depth understanding of our investment process and our shareholder needs." McHale then asks, "Can you talk a little bit about the money market teams investment approach?" Graham comments, "Paramount to our investment philosophy is insuring stability and liquidity for our shareholders while providing them with a competitive risk adjusted return. As you mentioned earlier, we work closely with our research, trading, and technology teams to help us achieve these goals. We collaborate with research to invest within the maturity day and dollar guideline limits aligned with their credit risk assessments across approved counterparties. Additionally, our research team performs in depth analysis on a Federal Reserve and U.S. Banking system, which informs our opinions on the trajectory of U.S. Monetary policy and the effects of its transmission on the banking system and money markets generally." Finally, Merritt adds, "Building off of Eric, we also partner with our Trading Desk, who helps us find opportunities to reinvest regular maturities. Depending on the portfolio, we invest in a combination of overnight investments and short duration government securities, which means we rely both on the government and repo trading desks to help us find the most advantageous investments. Finally, our technology partners provide us with the tools we need to monitor fund attributions, analyze investments, and stress test our funds to ensure ongoing stability and liquidity."
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