Link of The Day
LPL Sees No AI Risk of Cash Sorting
LPL Financial released its Q1 2026 earnings late last week (see the earnings call transcript here), where CFO Matthew Audette comments, "With respect to client cash revenue, it was $460 million, up $4 million as the growth in average cash balances more than offset the full quarter impact of short-term rates.... Overall client cash balances ended the quarter at $59 billion, down $2 billion, primarily driven by record net buying in Q1. Within our ICA portfolio, the mix of fixed rate balances ended the quarter at roughly 60% within our target range of 50% to 75%. Looking more closely at ICA yield, it was 336 basis points in Q1, down 5 basis points sequentially and driven by the full quarter impact from the Q4 rate cuts. As we look ahead to Q2, based on where client cash balances and interest rates are today, we expect our ICA yield to be roughly flat." During the Q&A, LPL was asked about Agentic AI tools and cash balances. CEO Richard Steinmeier comments, "So first off, we don't see an imminent risk to further adviser-led cash sorting from AI. But with respect to cash, while the AI and tokenization angle is new, we've heard variations of this question over time. We are well attuned to the recent developments in the sector and understand the focus on this subject. So you should know we're doing the work, to properly assess the opportunities and risks of reducing our reliance on cash sweep economics over time. And as with everything we do, we must ensure we're delivering a fair value exchange with our advisers and their end investors and understand how any change may impact them or position us with prospective advisers while being cognizant of how our shareholders value predictable recurring earnings rates. However, while the levers are clear, this is grounded in a lot of complex work.... We must ensure that any potential changes would work for them and also how it might intersect with other services we are delivering in the broader value exchange. So maybe to summarize, we're doing the work, which we know is extremely important. However, I would note, it's going to take some time as we work closely with our clients to ensure any potential changes would work for them. We appreciate the question, deeply understand the setup and know that this is top of mind for many of you." Audette adds, "I'll cover client cash, too, because I think everybody would also be interested in how April is shaping up there, too.... I think everybody knows, but ... the seasonality in April, it's typically ... from an organic growth standpoint, one of the lowest months of the year, if not the lowest month of the year. And then on cash balances, you'll typically see one of the larger declines of the year because of seasonal factors." Steinmeier replies to another question on AI risk, "So on why don't we think it's a risk? I think first, in many ways, the behavior you're alluding to has already happened. We've seen sustained yield seeking over time and cash allocations today are already at historical low levels. And cash is around $5,000 per account, which has been hovering there for nearly 2 years consistently, barring slight seasonal movements. So the system has been adjusting. And what we tend to see is incremental evolution, not step function change first. Second, we've always provided advisers with an abundance of options for managing yield sensitive cash on behalf of their clients. And so we think that this set of offerings, most advisers have adopted that into their practices themselves. And so we don't see behavioral change necessarily occurring, whether a tool be available or not available." For more on AI and cash sweeps, see our recent Crane Data News stories: "Ameriprise Says Core Cash Flat, Questions on AI Tools During Q1'26 Call" (4/29/26), "Raymond James Call Responds to 'Agentic AI Cash Sweep Optimization'" (4/24/26), "Barron's on Schwab AI Sweeps Worries" (4/21/26), "Earnings: JP Morgan Talks AI Cash Allocation Tool; BNY on Tokenization" (4/20/26), "Schwab Says AI a Tailwind, Not a Threat to Cash Sweeps on Q1 Update" (4/17) and "Morgan Stanley Q1 Call: AI & Sweeps" (4/16).
Assets Fall for Third Straight Week
The Investment Company Institute's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report shows money fund assets falling by $11.0 billion to $7.626 trillion. MMFs fell $5.6 billion the previous week, and they fell by a massive $175.8 billion two weeks prior, the largest weekly drop ever. (The second largest drop ever was also tax related, $125.4 billion during the week ended April 16, 2025; the third largest was $121.3 billion the week of Sept. 17, 2008; and the fourth largest was $112.0 billion the week ended April 17, 2024.) Assets hit a record high $7.856 trillion six weeks ago. MMFs have risen in 23 of the last 32 weeks and 31 of the past 41 weeks. MMF assets are up by $718 billion, or 10.4%, over the past 52 weeks (through 4/29/26), with Institutional MMFs up $503 billion, or 12.4% and Retail MMFs up $215 billion, or 7.5%. Year-to-date in 2026, MMF assets are down by $107 billion, or -1.4%, with Institutional MMFs down $94 billion, or -2.0% and Retail MMFs down $12 billion, or -0.4%. ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets decreased by $10.98 billion to $7.63 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, April 29, the Investment Company Institute reported.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds decreased by $8.02 billion and prime funds decreased by $5.23 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds increased by $2.26 billion." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs decreasing $6.6 billion and Retail MMFs decreasing $4.4 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $6.261 trillion (82.1% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.221 trillion (16.0%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $144.7 billion (1.9%). It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds decreased by $4.44 billion to $3.07 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $4.95 billion to $1.95 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $1.59 billion to $984.94 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $2.10 billion to $132.18 billion." Retail assets account for 40.2% of the total, and Government Retail assets make up 63.6% of all Retail MMFs. They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds decreased by $6.55 billion to $4.56 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $3.06 billion to $4.31 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $3.64 billion to $235.88 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $157 million to $12.52 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 59.8% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 94.6% of all institutional MMF totals. According to Crane Data's separate Money Fund Intelligence Daily series, money fund assets have decreased by $129.1 billion to $8.063 trillion month-to-date in April (as of 4/29), assets hit a record high on March 18 of $8.280 trillion. (Our asset series previous record high, $8.276 trillion, was set on 3/17/26.) Assets decreased by $49.3 billion in March, increased $99.5 billion in February, $32.9 billion in January, $126.3 billion in December, $132.8 billion in November, $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September and $132.0 billion in August. They rose $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June and $100.9 billion in May, but fell by $24.4 billion last April. Note that ICI's asset totals don't include a number of funds tracked by the SEC and Crane Data, so they're almost $400 billion lower than Crane's asset series.
BNP Launches EUR Govt Money Fund
A statement titled, "BNP Paribas Asset Management announces launch of new Money Market Fund: BNP Paribas InstiCash EUR Government CNAV SICAV," tells us, "BNP Paribas Asset Management is pleased to announce the launch of the BNP Paribas InstiCash EUR Government CNAV SICAV, a AAA-rated Money Market fund that offers investors a cash management solution targeting capital preservation. The fund's sovereign-backed assets aim to provide structural resilience, making it an attractive option for investors seeking a low-risk solution for their day-to-day cash management." The release continues, "The BNP Paribas InstiCash EUR Government CNAV SICAV is a public debt constant net asset value money market fund that invests at least 99.5% of its assets in public debt instruments. The fund targets minimal volatility of its NAV, providing both a stable NAV at 1.00 EUR and a variable NAV, combined with high daily and weekly liquidity buffers and amortised cost valuation method. It seeks to achieve a return in EUR in line with prevailing money market rates, over a 1-day period, while aiming to preserve capital and maintain a high degree of diversification." Marc Fleury, Head of Liquidity Solutions at BNP Paribas Asset Management, comments, "The launch of the BNP Paribas InstiCash EUR Government CNAV is a significant addition to our €170 bn Liquidity Solutions range. We are excited to offer investors a product that combines active management of rate and credit duration.... There continues to be investor appetite for high-quality, low-risk solutions for day-to-day cash management. The CNAV fund can potentially provide a safe haven for investors seeking to preserve capital and maintain liquidity." Note: This fund and European money market funds are not available for purchase by U.S. investors. See our latest Money Fund Intelligence International for information on European money market funds and mark your calendars for our next European Money Fund Symposium, which will be held Sept. 24-25 in Paris, France.
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 April 24) includes Holdings information from 74 money funds (up 12 from a week ago), or $4.508 trillion (up from $4.135 trillion) of the $8.013 trillion in total money fund assets (or 56.3%) 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 April 13 News, "April MF Portfolio Holdings: T-Bills Inch Higher, Repo Falls, Agencies Flat.") Our latest Weekly MFPH Composition summary shows Government assets dominating the holdings list with Treasuries totaling $2.014 trillion (up from $1.904 trillion a week ago), or 44.7%; Repurchase Agreements (Repo) totaling $1.632 trillion (up from $1.482 trillion a week ago), or 36.2%, and Government Agency securities totaling $466.0 billion (up from $409.0 billion a week ago), or 10.3%. Commercial Paper (CP) totaled $164.9 billion (up from $149.3 billion a week ago), or 3.7%. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) totaled $102.9 billion (up from $77.3 billion a week ago), or 2.3%. The Other category accounted for $72.3 billion or 1.6%, while VRDNs accounted for $56.3 billion or 1.2%. The Ten Largest Issuers in our Weekly Holdings product include: the US Treasury with $2.014 trillion, Fixed Income Clearing Corp with $550.3B, the Federal Home Loan Bank with $269.5B, JP Morgan with $176.2B, Citi with $125.1B, Federal Farm Credit Bank with $115.4B, RBC with $115.2B, BNP Paribas with $102.3B, Wells Fargo with $84.0B and Bank of America with $64.5B. The Ten Largest Funds tracked in our latest Weekly include: JPMorgan US Govt MM ($320.6B), JPMorgan 100% US Trs MM ($303.9B), Goldman Sachs FS Govt ($261.9B), Fidelity Inv MM: Govt Port ($258.0B), Morgan Stanley Inst Liq Govt ($204.3B), State Street Inst US Govt ($188.8B), BlackRock Lq FedFund ($180.8B), BlackRock Lq Treas Tr ($177.5B), Federated Hermes Govt ObI ($177.3B) and Fidelity Inv MM: MM Port ($163.3B). (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 Flat at 3.47%
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) were unchanged at 3.47% on average during the week ended Friday, April 24 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after increasing 1 bp the week prior. Fund yields haven't been below 3.5% since November 2022, and they are down from a recent high of 5.20% in November 2023. They should remain flat in coming days (and weeks) since the Fed left short-term rates unchanged six weeks ago. Yields were 3.58% on 12/31/25, 3.78% on 11/30, 3.90% on 10/31, 3.94% on 9/30, 4.11% on 8/31, 4.12% on 7/31, 4.13% on 6/30, 4.14% on 3/31/25 and 4.28% on average on 12/31/24. MMFs averaged 4.75% on 9/30/24, 5.10% on 6/28/24, 5.14% on 3/31/24 and 5.20% on 12/31/23. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 682), shows a 7-day yield of 3.37%, unchanged in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were unchanged at 3.59% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were unchanged at 3.46%. Treasury Inst MFs were unchanged at 3.43%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.20%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.18% and Prime Retail MFs yield 3.38%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were up 25 bps to 3.01%. Money market mutual fund assets have fallen since hitting a record high of $8.280 trillion on March 18, according to our Money Fund Intelligence Daily. Assets have fallen $50.6 billion in the week through Friday, and they've decreased by $179.4 billion in April month-to-date (through 4/24). MMF assets decreased by $49.3 billion in March, increased by $99.5 billion in February, $32.9 billion in January, $126.3 billion in December, $132.8 billion in November, $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September and $132.0 billion in August. They rose by $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June and $100.9 billion in May. But MMFs decreased $24.4 billion last April. Weighted average maturities were at 43 days for the Crane MFA and 44 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (4/24), just 100 money funds (out of 792 total) yield under 3.0% with $64.7 billion in assets, or 0.8%, while the vast majority (692) of funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($7.948 trillion, or 99.2%). No funds yield over 4.0%. Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.30%, after falling 1 basis point seventeen weeks prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of April 24, 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.
Lotus Taps WisdomTree Money Fund
"Lotus Taps WisdomTree Money Market Fund to Build Yield Floor into DeFi Lending," says a news brief on The Defiant. It tells us, "Pre-launch DeFi lending protocol Lotus has announced that WisdomTree's Treasury Money Market Digital Fund (WTGXX) will serve as part of the reserve framework backing LotusUSD, its core vault token, according a press release shared with The Defiant. The DeFi protocol said the move marks one of the first instances of a money market fund being referenced within a DeFi lending protocol." The article continues, "LotusUSD reserves are composed of USDC and tokenized short-duration U.S. Treasuries. According to the release, WTGXX integration is designed so that lenders earn a baseline yield even at zero utilization, sidestepping the structural problem in standard DeFi lending where returns dry up when borrowing demand is low." It says, "WTGXX currently tokenizes over $857 million in U.S. Treasuries, primarily on Ethereum with a secondary allocation on Arbitrum, and carries a 7-day APY of 3.49%, per data from RWAxyz. The integration is made possible in part by WisdomTree's recently granted Securities and Exchange Commission exemptive relief permitting 24/7 instant settlement of WTGXX shares -- a prerequisite for compatibility with around-the-clock DeFi infrastructure." Maredith Hannon, head of BD for digital assets at WisdomTree, comments, "We are seeing growing interest in connecting regulated financial assets, such as WTGXX, with blockchain-based infrastructure. This momentum reflects broader exploration of how tokenized traditional assets may be used within emerging digital ecosystems."
MMFs Fall Again After Record Drop
The Investment Company Institute published its weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report Thursday, which shows money fund assets falling by $5.6 billion to $7.637 trillion, after the biggest weekly drop in history, $175.8 billion, driven by huge April 15 tax-day outflows. (The second largest drop ever was $125.4 billion during the week ended April 16, 2025; the third largest was $121.3 billion the week of Sept. 17, 2008; and the fourth largest was $112.0 billion the week ended April 17, 2024.) Assets hit a record high $7.856 trillion five weeks ago. MMFs have risen in 23 of the last 31 weeks and 31 of the past 40 weeks. MMF assets are up by $725 billion, or 10.5%, over the past 52 weeks (through 4/22/26), with Institutional MMFs up $509 billion, or 12.5% and Retail MMFs up $216 billion, or 7.6%. Year-to-date in 2026, MMF assets are down by $96 billion, or -1.2%, with Institutional MMFs down $88 billion, or -1.9% and Retail MMFs down $8 billion, or -0.3%. ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets decreased by $5.56 billion to $7.64 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, April 22, the Investment Company Institute reported.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds decreased by $4.26 billion and prime funds decreased by $2.65 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds increased by $1.35 billion." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs decreasing $1.5 billion and Retail MMFs decreasing $4.0 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $6.269 trillion (82.1% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.226 trillion (16.1%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $142.4 billion (1.9%). It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds decreased by $4.02 billion to $3.07 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $2.33 billion to $1.95 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $2.73 billion to $986.53 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $1.05 billion to $130.08 billion." Retail assets account for 40.2% of the total, and Government Retail assets make up 63.6% of all Retail MMFs. They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds decreased by $1.54 billion to $4.57 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $1.92 billion to $4.32 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $82 million to $239.52 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $302 million to $12.36 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 59.8% 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 decreased by $121.1 billion to $8.071 trillion month-to-date in April (as of 4/22), assets hit a record high on March 18 of $8.280 trillion. (Our asset series previous record high, $8.276 trillion, was set on 3/17/26.) Assets decreased by $49.3 billion in March, increased $99.5 billion in February, $32.9 billion in January, $126.3 billion in December, $132.8 billion in November, $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September and $132.0 billion in August. They rose $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June and $100.9 billion in May, but fell by $24.4 billion last April. Note that ICI's asset totals don't include a number of funds tracked by the SEC and Crane Data, so they're almost $400 billion lower than Crane's asset series.
BlackRock: Pressure Valves & Liquidity
BlackRock recently published a "Viewpoint," tiled, "Pressure Valves: Relieving liquidity stress in capital markets." They write, "As a fiduciary helping millions of people around the world save for retirement and access a wider range of investment opportunities, BlackRock firmly believes that strong, well-functioning capital markets are essential to economic growth and financial wellbeing. Strong, resilient market structures are critical to ensuring that capital markets can effectively serve savers, economies and societies by channeling savings into companies, infrastructure, and innovation, creating opportunity for investors and communities alike. Almost two decades have passed since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Today, thanks largely to post-crisis reforms, core financial institutions and capital markets are significantly more resilient. The shift to central clearing and collateralisation of risk in derivatives markets addressed the opacity and counterparty risk exposed during the crisis. Meanwhile, changes to banks' capital and liquidity rules have enhanced the resilience of their balance sheets." BlackRock continues, "These reforms have now been tested through multiple market cycles and withstood the normalisation of monetary policy. But while undoubtedly effective on their own terms, a side-effect has been a shift from counterparty risk to liquidity risk at the system level. Today's market structure hard-wires system-wide demand for cash and market volatility together. Greater use of margin and collateral calls means market participants are better protected from counterparty defaults but instead face the challenge of sourcing liquidity during stressed market conditions. Meanwhile, the banking sector is less able to hold risk, make markets, and move cash through the system. Taken together, this creates a potential imbalance between liquidity demand and liquidity supply." The paper states, "The challenge for policymakers and the financial ecosystem is to preserve the benefits of the post-GFC regulatory settlement, while mitigating the risks it has exposed. But, crucially, measures should not undermine the ability of capital markets to generate growth: seeking resilience by holding ever higher cash buffers reduces returns for end-investors, and means less capital being invested productively into economies. Instead, we see an opportunity to enhance the functioning of markets by developing what we term 'Pressure Valves', making improvements to collateral markets, repo markets, and harnessing the benefits of emerging technologies to upgrade market structures."
Northern Talks Tokenization, Deposits
Northern Trust released its latest earnings report and hosted its Q1'26 call Tuesday. CEO Mike O'Grady comments, "We're also seeing continued interest in our digital asset strategy, particularly in custody, reporting, and servicing of tokenized assets as tokenization moves towards scale. During the quarter, we onboarded five new clients providing custody and other services for tokenized real-world assets, U.S. stablecoins, European money market funds, and carbon credits. Turning to asset management. NTAM made good progress in the first quarter, with strength across liquidity, alternatives, and equities, positioning the business well to meet its 2026 targets." He says, "Within liquidity, we extended our streak to 13 consecutive quarters of positive flows with associated AUM increasing to $350 billion. Importantly, we continued to diversify our funding sources across global liquidity vehicles and third-party platforms while gaining overall market share. We also launched a tokenized share class for our NIF Treasury Instruments Portfolio during the quarter, marking Northern Trust's entry into the digital asset marketplace. By applying tokenization to institutional-grade liquidity strategies, we're offering clients a modern, digital-first way to access money market investments while maintaining our high standards for risk management and service." CFO Dave Fox, tells us, "Deposit levels were higher than expected throughout the quarter as a result of both elevated volatility and general uncertainty in the marketplace. Average deposits were $129 billion, up 8% compared to fourth quarter levels and 11% year-over-year. Within the deposit base, interest-bearing deposits increased by 8% sequentially, and non-interest-bearing deposits increased by 5%, remaining at 15% of the overall mix.... Sequentially, NII was favorably impacted by higher deposit levels, including growth in non-interest-bearing deposits, along with the impact from fixed asset repricing and deposit pricing actions we've taken, which was partially offset by the full quarter's impact from the fourth quarter rate cuts." Asked about deposit growth and large deposits, O'Grady replies, "We had some largely unexpected, extremely large deposits. You've heard me speak in the past about why we keep our capital ratios where we keep them, and we want our balance sheet to be open at all times for our largest clients. Occasionally, some of our clients will do some strategic repositioning, and we want to be in a position to capture those deposits when they do that. They're not core operational deposits. They aren't there for a long period of time, but we want to be able to accommodate them.... At the end of the day, that's really what you saw there was client-driven, specific, very large deposits from just a handful of just really important big clients." Finally, O'Grady says about family offices, "They have significant liquidity, which they are, I'll say, utilizing and moving around quite a bit. It can move from on the balance sheet as deposits into our money market funds or short-term Treasury. It's, I'll say, a pretty active management of liquidity that we do ... on their part and for them.... We have the benefit of having this strong Family Office business, which we've been in for quite a while and have built up the capabilities."
Barron's on Schwab AI Sweeps Worries
Late last week, Barron's wrote, "Schwab Investors Get Spooked by JPMorgan’s AI Strategy. The Big Worry Is Cash Sweeps." The article tells us, "On Charles Schwab's Thursday earnings call, CEO Rick Wurster talked at length about how artificial intelligence can improve efficiency and boost growth. Investors, however, were more focused on AI's potential to disrupt Schwab's reliance on low-yielding sweep cash for a significant chunk of its revenue. Shares of Schwab fell 7.6% on Thursday as investors weighed Schwab's strong first-quarter earnings report against news that JPMorgan Chase was developing an AI cash management tool, which raised the specter of new competitive pressures on clients' cash holdings. Other wealth management stocks also tumbled on Thursday. For example, Raymond James Financial's stock dropped 3.2%. LPL Financial fell 5.7%." It explains, "The latest catalyst for a wealth stock selloff appears to have come from JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon's annual letter to shareholders in which he said that the bank plans to introduce an AI-enabled tool to help clients automatically move money between their checking accounts and high-yielding brokerage products. 'Eventually, AI will allow clients to predict cash flow needs and anticipate upcoming bills, doing their budgeting for them,' he wrote.... Analysts suggest investors are concerned that such AI tools may pressure sweep cash programs at brokerage firms, which move or 'sweep' customers' idle dollars into low-paying bank accounts. The practice helps firms generate net interest income, which is the difference between what they pay customers in interest on their deposits and what the firms earn on interest-bearing assets, such as loans and investments." Barron's adds, "Piper Sandler analyst Patrick Moley doesn't think JPMorgan's AI cash tool will have an impact on sweep cash in the short-term. But it fits with a broader theme about threats that could 'dismantle the frictions that legacy financial intermediaries have historically monetized, and Schwab's reliance on low-yielding sweep cash puts it squarely in the crosshairs,' Moley writes in an April 16 research note.... On Schwab's earnings call, Wurster responded to a question about JPMorgan's AI tool and brokerage cash. Wurster said clients keep some idle cash to be able to pay bills, buy stocks, and as a handy reserve fund. 'There are lots of reasons why we think clients have their cash intentionally allocated and why a big portion of it is on the balance sheet,' he said. Schwab also enables clients to move cash out of sweep accounts to higher-yielding investment products, such as money-market funds. Schwab's money-market funds offer yields as high as 3.62%. The company pays 0.01% on uninvested cash in Schwab brokerage accounts." For more, see our recent Crane Data News stories: "Earnings: JP Morgan Talks AI Cash Allocation Tool; BNY on Tokenization" (4/20/26), "Schwab Says AI a Tailwind, Not a Threat to Cash Sweeps on Q1 Update" (4/17) and "Morgan Stanley Q1 Call: AI & Sweeps" (4/16).
Tradeweb's ICD Portal Client Survey
A press release titled, "Geopolitical Risk Concerns Surge for Corporate Treasurers, According to 2026 Tradeweb ICD Portal Client Survey," tells us, "Tradeweb Markets (TW), a global leader in electronic trading across asset classes, ... announced the results of its 2026 ICD Portal Client Survey, which found that corporate treasurers' geopolitical concerns have surged, alongside increased allocations to money market funds (MMFs) and growing adoption of new technologies. The annual survey, now in its ninth year, was conducted in January 2026 and found that nearly nine in ten respondents (88%) reported moderate-to-high concern around the current geopolitical environment, with almost half (48%) citing 'high concern' -- an 11-percentage point increase from last year's survey." It continues, "Against this backdrop, treasurers are adopting a more defensive investment strategy. In 2026, 27% of firms plan to increase their MMF allocations, compared with just 9% planning to decrease them, reinforcing a broader 'flight to safety' amid macro uncertainty. Cash balance expectations have become more balanced year-over-year -- with 29% of respondents expecting increases and 23% expecting decreases, versus 31% and 18%, respectively, in 2025 -- suggesting corporate treasurers are reallocating liquidity rather than building cash positions." Tom Britton, Head of International Corporate and Global Corporate Product at Tradeweb, comments, "We're seeing a distinct change in how treasurers are managing liquidity amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty. Rather than simply building cash positions, firms are becoming more deliberate in how they allocate it, with a growing focus on instruments that offer stability, transparency and immediate access. In this environment, electronic trading is playing an increasingly important role in helping firms access and manage liquidity more efficiently in real time." The release also says, "At the same time, corporate treasurers are increasingly turning to technology to navigate a more complex trading environment. While fewer than 5% of treasury groups reported investing in crypto or digital assets in 2025, interest in tokenization is clearly on the rise. Tradeweb's 2026 survey found that 25% of respondents are moderately to very interested in tokenized MMFs and 19% in stablecoins, signaling growing appetite for digital asset innovation." Tradeweb's Daniel Staniford adds, "These findings highlight a clear shift in how treasurers are approaching liquidity in an increasingly uncertain world. As geopolitical risk intensifies, treasury teams are prioritizing flexibility, speed and access to liquidity, driving growing interest in innovations such as tokenized money market funds and 24/7 markets. While adoption remains early, this marks a meaningful step toward a more digital, always-on liquidity ecosystem."
MMFs Plunge $175B; Biggest Drop Ever
The Investment Company Institute published its weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report Thursday, which shows money fund assets plunging by $175.8 billion on huge April 15 tax day outflows to $7.643 trillion, the biggest weekly drop in history, after increasing by $8.0 billion the previous week. (The second largest drop ever was $125.4 billion during the week ended April 16, 2025; the third largest was $121.3 billion the week of Sept. 17, 2008; and the fourth largest was $112.0 billion the week ended April 17, 2024.) Assets hit a record high $7.856 trillion four weeks ago. MMFs have risen in 23 of the last 30 weeks and 31 of the past 39 weeks. MMF assets are up by $762 billion, or 11.1%, over the past 52 weeks (through 4/15/26), with Institutional MMFs up $536 billion, or 13.3% and Retail MMFs up $226 billion, or 7.9%. Year-to-date in 2026, MMF assets are down by $90 billion, or -1.2%, with Institutional MMFs down $86 billion, or -1.9% and Retail MMFs down $4 billion, or -0.1%. ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets decreased by $175.81 billion to $7.64 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, April 15, the Investment Company Institute reported.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds decreased by $154.88 billion and prime funds decreased by $16.70 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds decreased by $4.24 billion." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs decreasing $137.7 billion and Retail MMFs decreasing $38.1 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $6.273 trillion (82.1% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.229 trillion (16.1%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $141.1 billion (1.8%). It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds decreased by $38.08 billion to $3.07 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $18.21 billion to $1.96 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $16.80 billion to $989.26 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $3.07 billion to $129.03 billion." Retail assets account for 40.2% of the total, and Government Retail assets make up 63.6% of all Retail MMFs. They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds decreased by $137.73 billion to $4.57 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $136.68 billion to $4.32 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $106 million to $239.44 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $1.16 billion to $12.06 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 59.8% 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 decreased by $105.6 billion to $8.086 trillion month-to-date in April (as of 4/15), assets hit a record high on March 18 of $8.280 trillion. (Our asset series previous record high, $8.276 trillion, was set on 3/17/26.) Assets decreased by $49.3 billion in March, increased $99.5 billion in February, $32.9 billion in January, $126.3 billion in December, $132.8 billion in November, $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September and $132.0 billion in August. They rose $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June and $100.9 billion in May, but fell by $24.4 billion last April. Note that ICI's asset totals don't include a number of funds tracked by the SEC and Crane Data, so they're almost $400 billion lower than Crane's asset series.
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