Money market mutual fund assets broke the $8.0 trillion barrier for the first time ever on Monday, Dec. 1, according to our Money Fund Intelligence Daily. Assets have increased by $105.3 billion in the week through Monday (12/1) to a record $8.022 trillion. Money fund assets increased by $132.8 billion in November and rose $39.7 billion the first day of December, and they have increased by $848.3 billion (11.8%) year-to-date in 2025. (Note: Register soon for our "basic training" event, Money Fund University, which takes place Dec. 18-19 in Pittsburgh, Pa., and please join us there for Crane Data's Holiday, and now $8 Trillion, Party!)
MMF 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 by $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June and $100.9 billion in May. But MMFs decreased $24.4 billion in April. Assets increased by $2.8 billion in March, $94.2 billion in February, $52.8 billion in January, and $110.9 billion last December. (Watch for ICI's latest "Money Market Fund Assets" report to show money fund assets hitting yet another record on Thursday when they're published. Note that Crane Data's asset totals include a number of funds tracked by the SEC but not reported to ICI, so our data is about $350 billion higher than ICI's asset series.)
Assets reached the $7.0 trillion level for the first time in November 2024 (See Crane Data's 11/14/24 News, "Money Fund Assets Break Over $7.0 Trillion; S&P on AAA Rated MFs in Q3.") Money market mutual fund assets broke the $6.0 trillion barrier in August 2023. (See Crane Data's 9/28/23 News, "Sept. MFI: Assets Break $6.0 Trillion; Dechert on Reforms; 15 Years Ago.") They rose above $5.0 trillion for the first time in April 2020 (see our 4/30/20 News, "Money Fund Assets Break $5.0 Trillion; Crane Featured in Ignites Piece"), but needed a couple more years to retake that level for good. Assets rose back above $5.0 trillion in October 2021, then again in July 2022. Assets broke the $4.0 trillion level in March 2020 during the Covid asset super-spike. (See our 3/10/20 News, "MMF Yields, Sweep Rates Slide, MFID Assets Hit $4.0 Tril; N-MFP Holdings.")
Money fund assets first rose above $3.0 trillion in January 2008 as the Federal Reserve cut short-term interest rates to near zero, and it took until December 2017 to reclaim the $3.0 trillion level. (Assets declined by over $1.0 trillion from 2008 through 2011, then remained flat for about 7 years after rates bottomed at zero.) Assets rose above $2.0 trillion in 2001 and again in 2006 (Crane Data launched in 2006), and they broke the $1.0 trillion level in 1997 (looking back at ICI annual data). We expect assets to continue higher in coming weeks as funds benefit from MMFs "lag effect" vs. the direct money market, and as funds benefit from the strongest two months of the year (Nov. and Dec.) seasonally.
Bloomberg reported the news Tuesday in its piece, "Money-Market Assets Top $8 Trillion for First Time, Crane Says." The article, written by Alex Harris, explains, "US money-market funds now have more than $8 trillion in assets under management, a milestone for an industry that's skyrocketed in popularity among investors thanks to its lofty yields. The total rose by roughly $105 billion in the week through Monday, putting it at a fresh record, according to Crane Data, a money-market and mutual fund information firm."
She tells us, "Investors have continued to pile into money-market funds even in the face of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate cuts largely due to their superior yields relative to other instruments -- especially bank deposits. The seven-day yield on the Crane 100 Money Fund Index, which tracks the 100 largest funds, was 3.80% as of Dec. 1, according to Crane data. Policymakers cut their benchmark by a quarter-point in September and October, bringing the policy rate to a range of 3.75% to 4%."
Bloomberg quotes Gennadiy Goldberg, head of US interest rate strategy at TD Securities, "Money market funds continue to draw inflows as yields remain highly attractive amid gradual Fed rate cuts. We expect inflows to gradually moderate as rates gradually decline, but historically, yields above 2% should continue to draw inflows into money funds."
The piece adds, "Odds of a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut at the December meeting have increased in the past week after New York Fed President John Williams, sometimes seen as a proxy for the Fed chief, signaled his support for a rate cut after several other policymakers came out leaning against one. Money-market funds tend to attract capital because they typically pass on lower rates to customers more slowly than banks. Plus, institutions and the likes of corporate treasurers tend to outsource cash management during such periods in order to capture yield, rather than grapple with it themselves."
Finally, it says, "This year, more than $848 billion has flooded into the funds, according to Crane data, which tracks the entire money-market industry. Data from the Investment Company Institute, which is released on a weekly basis and excludes firms' own internal money funds, put total assets at $7.57 trillion in the week to Nov. 25."
