Below, we list the largest managers of U.​S. money market mutual funds along with their their asset gains over the past year. According to Crane Data'​s statistics, money funds as a whole have increased by $​744 billion, or 28.​6%, in the 12 months ended Aug. 31, 2008. While practically everyone was a winner in this environment, some of the increases are particularly notable. We display the Fund Family, their total money fund assets (​tracked by Crane, in billions of dollars), the 12-​month asset change in dollars (​bils), and the 12-​month change in percent.

Fidelity had by far the largest dollar increase, growing $​105.​3 billion (​32.​9%) to $​425.​6 billion, followed by No. 3-​ranked BlackRock, which grew by $​86.​8 (​50.​2%) billion to $​259.​8 billion, and by No. 5-​ranked Dreyfus, which grew by $​85.​9 billion (​75.​9%) to $​199.​1 billion. Big dollar increases were also seen by JPMorgan (​up $​64.​6 billion to $​267.​9 billion), Goldman Sachs (​up $​64.​5 billion to $​183.​6), and Federated (​up $​52.​9 billion to $​231.​1 billion).

The largest percentage gain among the 25 largest fund families was seen by The Reserve, which was up 113% to $​84.​0 billion. Big percentage gains were also seen by Dreyfus, HSBC (​up 57.​4% to $​32.​8 billion), Goldman Sachs (​up 54.​1% to $​183.​6 billion), UBS (​up 53.​5% to $​56.​7 billion), and BlackRock (​50.​2%).

The 25 Largest Money Fund Families (​total assets, 12-​mo chg, % chg) are: 1) Fidelity ($​425.​7, $​105.​3, 32.​9%); 2) JPMorgan ($​267.​9, $​64.​6, 31.​7%); 3) BlackRock ($​259.​8, $​86.​8, 50.​2%); 4) Federated ($​231.​1, $​52.​9, 29.​7%); 5) Dreyfus ($​199.​1, $​85.​9, 75.​9%); 6) Schwab ($​194.​5, $​36.​1, 22.​8%); 7) Vanguard ($​191.​5, $​20.​6, 12.​1%); 8) Goldman Sachs ($​183.​6, $​64.​5, 54.​1%); 9) Columbia ($​146.​8, -​0.​4, -​0.​3%); 10) Morgan Stanley ($​112.​6, $​25.​4, 29.​2%); 11) Western ($​110.​6, $​19.​4, 21.​3%); 12) Wells Fargo ($​103.​9, $​18.​6, 21.​8%); 13) Reserve ($​84.​0, $​44.​6, 113.​0%); 14) AIM ($​70.​9, $​16.​4, 30.​0%); 15) First American ($​59.​8, $​12.​8, 27.​2%); 16) DWS ($​64.​9, $​11.​1, 20.​7%); 17) Northern ($​63.​4, $​10.​2, 19.​3%); 18) UBS ($​56.​7, $​19.​7, 53.​5%); 19) Evergreen ($​56.​1, $​7.​6, 15.​6%); 20) SSgA ($​43.​6, $​11.​6, 36.​4%); 21) HSBC ($​32.​8, $​12.​0, 57.​4%); 22) Ridgeworth ($​23.​5, $​1.​4, 6.​5%); 23) TDAM ($​22.​6, $​6.​0, 36.​2%); 24) Barclays ($​21.​4, $​3.​7, 21.​2%); and, 25) Lehman/​NB ($​21.​0, $​0.​0, 0.​3%).

See the latest issue of Money Fund Intelligence XLS for a full listing of fund families.

Taxable money market mutual fund yields were flat in August and will remain remain flat for the foreseeable future. Tax-​exempt money fund yields, however, plunged in August after jumping in July. Our Crane Money Fund Average, which is comprised of 900 taxable money market mutual funds, yielded 1.​96% (​7-​day simple) as of Aug. 31, 2008, unchanged from the prior month. The Crane Tax Exempt MF Index, which is comprised of 455 municipal and tax-​free money funds, yielded 1.​35% at the end of August vs. 1.​82% as of July 31.

The Crane 100 Money Fund Index, a benchmark of the 100 largest taxable funds, remained flat at 2.​24% in August. A year ago, the Crane 100 was 5.​01%, and at the start of 2008 the index was 4.​49%. Through August 31, 2008, the Crane 100 shows the following unannualized returns: 0.​19% for 1-​month 0.​55% for 3 months; and 1.​88% for YTD. For the pasy 1-​year it returned 3.​50%. Average annualized returns for money fund investors were 4.​29% over 3 years, 3.​16% for 5 years, and 3.​48% for 10 years. All of these returns are net of fees.

Expense ratios for money funds declined slightly in August. The average expense ratio among the largest money funds, as measured by the Crane 100, was 0.​37% (​annualized) for the latest month. The broader Crane Money Fund Average shows taxable money fund expenses at 0.​47%, while Tax Exempt funds averaged 0.​54%.

Money fund portfolio maturities extended slightly. Our Crane MF Average remained at a 40 day AM (​average maturity), but our Crane 100 Index'​s AM rose from 45 to 47 days. Tax exempt AMs went from 29 days to 30 days. Average maturity measures the duration of fund investments and the length of time, in days, it takes a portfolio to turn over. As you can see, money fund portfolios have an extremely short lifespan.

For more on our Crane Money Fund Indexes and Averages, see the latest issue of Crane Index, Money Fund Intelligence, Money Fund Intelligence XLS, or Money Fund Intelligence Daily. Crane Indexes are also available on Bloomberg Professional -- enter '​ALLX CRNI' for a listing.

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.

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.