The March 2008 issue of Crane Data'​s flagship Money Fund Intelligence is now available for download by subscribers. The latest newsletter features the articles: "Corporate Safety Thrust Benefiting Money Funds", which describes the huge shift in cash balances from active to passive investments; "Evergreen Perpetually Tops in Muni Money Market", a profile of the top-​ranked (​5-​year and 10-​year) Evergreen Institutional Municipal Money Market Fund; and, "Canadian Money Funds: Preparing for Takeoff?", a discussion of money funds in Canada. We also update subscribers on the latest SIV and support action news, as well as a number of personnel changes in the money fund industry. MFI is now 30 pages and tracks 1,​300 funds, representing 93% of all money market fund assets.

The lead article examines Treasury Strategies recent results showing a flight away from all liquidity and short-​term investment options save money funds and bank deposits/​sweep accounts. We also look at other recent statistics showing a massive shift away from complexity and direct market investment, which has powered the $​1 trillion cash buildup in money market funds over the past 52 weeks.

Our latest Money Fund Intelligence XLS, which contains data, rankings and percentiles by fund type, has also been posted to http://​www.​cranedata.​com. Our money "​Fund Family" asset rankings now show that No. 1-​ranked Fidelity Investments has surpassed $​400 billion in assets! The Boston-​based company increased its money fund totals by $​12.​8 billion in February and has increased by a stunning $​143.​2 billion, or 55%, over the past 12 months. To request a look at the latest copy, e-​mail us at: sales@​cranedata.​us.

Janus, Morgan Stanley, BGI, CS, Lehman, Putnam Top Ranked in '​07. Crane Data'​s preliminary rankings for 2007 show that Janus Institutional Cash Management Inst will rank No. 1 among all taxable money market funds for calendar 2007 with a return of 5.​35%. Morgan Stanley Inst Liquidity MMP Inst should place a close second with a 5.​34% return, and four funds -- Barclays Inst MMF Inst, Credit Suisse Inst MMF Prime A, Lehman Brothers ILF MMP Inst, and Putnam Prime Money Market I -- all should return 5.​33%, putting them in a tie for third place. Note that DWS Daily Assets Fund Institutional would have ranked No. 1 with a projected 5.​40% return, but we didn'​t start tracking this previously-​restricted fund until last month. Among individual, or "​retail" funds, we project a three-​way tie for No. 1 between DWS Cash Reserves Prime Series Inst, Fidelity Inst MM Port II, and Vanguard Prime MMF with returns of 5.​14%. The average money market mutual fund, as measured by our Crane 100, returned 4.​99% for 2007, the highest level since 2000'​s 6.​18% return. The pending January issue of Money Fund Intelligence will feature full performance rankings for 2007, as well as our usual current yield rankings, where we will cite the official No. 1 ranked funds by category.

Top-​Performing MM Funds Ranked by 1-​Year Returns Through 8/​31/​07. Today, we list the top-​performing money funds tracked by Crane Data and ranked in Money Fund Intelligence XLS) by 1-​year total return as of 8/​31/​07. The No. 1 Prime Institutional Money Fund is Janus Institutional Cash Mgmt with a return of 5.​45%. JCAXX also holds the current No. 1-​ranked 7-​day yield spot (​see table above). The top-​performing fund in our Prime Individual category is Fidelity Inst MM: MM Port II (​FCIXX) with a return of 5.​30%. Alpine Municipal MMF Y ranks No. 1 among Tax-​Free Individual funds with a 3.​63% return, while Lehman Bros Nat Muni MF Res (​LBMXX) ranked first among Tax-​Free Institutional with a 3.​68% return through Aug. 31. No. 1 Institutional Treasury funds included Barclays Treasury Inst and MS Inst Liq Treas (​both 5.​28%), and the No. 1 Institutional Government was Janus Inst Govt MM (​5.​36%). The top Government Individual fund was Vanguard Federal MMF (​5.​17%) and the top Treasury Individual fund was First American Treas Oblig Inv (​5.​02%).

Three-​Way Tie for Year-​to-​Date Leader Among Money Mkt Fund Returns. According to the latest Money Fund Intelligence XLS rankings, three funds are tied for 1st place in YTD (​year-​to-​date) total returns through June 30, 2007. At the half-​year mark, Barclays Institutional MMF Inst, Credit Suisse Inst MMF Prime A, and Morgan Stanley Inst Liq MMP Inst all have returned 2.​65%. American Beacon MM Select, Janus Inst Cash Mgmt Inst, Lehman Bros ILF MMP Inst (​and LB Prime Inst), MS IL Prime Inst, Putnam Prime MM I, and DWS MM Series Inst all trail the leaders by a mere 1 basis point with 2.​64% returns. Our Crane Money Fund Average has returned 2.​42% (​724 taxable funds), while the Crane 100 Money Fund Index has returned 2.​49%. Money market funds have thoroughly outperformed bond funds year-​to-​date in 2007 (​see Sunday'​s "Link of the Day", and are on course to return over 5% in 2007.