The Association for Financial Professionals, a group representing corporate treasurers, published its "2026 AFP Liquidity Survey" last week. (See AFP's press release, "AFP Survey Finds Stablecoins Remain Peripheral to Liquidity Strategies as Cash Reserves Rise.) The cover letter says, "Invesco is once again proud to partner with the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) to sponsor the 21st annual AFP Liquidity Survey Report. This marks the seventh year that Invesco has sponsored this industry-leading exploration into current and emerging corporate cash management trends." Invesco's Laurie Brignac explains, "As highlighted in this year's AFP Survey, the global economy faced numerous challenges and uncertainty from Liberation Day tariffs to continued, and new, geopolitical conflicts." (Note too: For those attending Money Fund Symposium later this week (June 24-26) in Jersey City, we look forward to seeing you! Attendees and Subscribers may access the conference materials via our "Money Fund Symposium 2026 Download Center.")
AFP's Introduction tells us, "To understand current and emerging trends in organizations' cash and short-term investment holdings, investment policies and strategies in the current economic environment, the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) conducted its 21st annual AFP Liquidity Survey in March 2026. The survey generated 309 responses, which are the basis of this report. Results from this survey will provide treasury and finance professionals with critical benchmarks on short-term investment holdings and strategies."
Discussing "Change in Cash and Short-Term Balances Over the Past 12 Months: U.S. and Non-U.S. Cash Holdings," the AFP says, "Forty-six percent of corporate practitioners report an increase in their organizations' cash holdings within the U.S. in the past 12 months (through March 2026) -- 8 percentage points higher than the 38% reported in the 2025 AFP Liquidity Survey Report. The share of those respondents reporting a decrease in their companies' cash holdings within the U.S decreased by two percentage points -- from 16% in last year's survey to 14% in the current survey. These findings suggest organizations are holding onto their cash balances at a higher rate compared to last year. Forty percent of respondents report that there was no significant change in their companies' cash and short-term balances within the U.S. over the past 12 months, lower than the 46% reported last year."
They write, "The distribution of organizations' cash and short-term balances outside the U.S. closely resembles the result in last year's survey. Sixty-two percent of respondents indicate that in the past 12 months their organizations' investments outside the U.S. were unchanged -- slightly lower than the 65% reported last year. Twenty percent report an increase in cash and short-term balances, similar to last year's finding, while 18% of organizations decreased cash and short-term balances outside the U.S., higher than the 15% in last year's report."
AFP's report continues, "Within the U.S., survey results suggest the rate of holding onto cash balances is higher than last year. This could be a result of the current uncertainty in the economic environment due to the geopolitical tensions with Iran that had recently begun at the time this survey was in the field. Only 20% of organizations with investments outside the U.S. utilized offshore deposits to increase yield for cash investments."
The survey tells us, "Changes in cash holdings are driven by various factors. Seventy-nine percent of respondents report that increased operating cash flow has had either a significant impact or some impact on the increase in their organizations' cash holdings in the past 12 months -- a 5-percentage-point increase from the 74% in last year's survey. Other drivers contributing to increased cash holdings at organizations include domestic political/regulatory risks (e.g., U.S. trade policy) -- cited by 49% of respondents, increased debt outstanding/accessed best markets/securitization/factoring/supply-chain finance and global geopolitical risks (each cited by 48% of respondents). Businesses are also building cash due to tariffs imposed on trading partners as noted by 35% of organizations."
It continues, "Over the past year, tariff policies have been unclear. Negotiations aimed to lower tariffs imposed on 'Liberation Day;' this was followed a Supreme Court ruling stating that the International Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA) does not allow the president to impose tariffs on imports. In response, President Trump added a temporary three-month tariff. As a result, businesses are uncertain about their financial impact and are increasing cash reserves as a precaution and lowering expenses."
The survey continues, "Fifty-eight percent of survey respondents indicate that inflation has significantly or somewhat decreased their organizations' cash holdings over the past year, identical to last year's result. Inflationary pressures continue, worsened by Middle East tensions and rising oil prices. Equally, 58% of respondents report increased capital expenditures as a factor in lower cash holdings. Other reasons cited include reduced operating cash flow (49%) and debt repayment (47%)."
AFP writes, "Over 40% of respondents believe U.S. trade policy and tariffs will also affect their organization's cash reserves, reflecting ongoing uncertainty about their impact. Several factors have contributed to the decrease in cash holdings, including foreign exchange fluctuations and the need for upfront cash flow when launching new businesses. Additionally, timing mismatches in cash flows, rising labor costs, and higher interest rates have posed further challenges."
A section titled, "Stablecoin and Tokenized Products," tells us, "Over one-third of respondents are unfamiliar regarding the status of stablecoin/tokenized utilization at their organizations, while 55% are aware but not exploring case use. Only 1% are conducting pilots using stablecoins or tokenized funds, while the remaining 9% are in the process of actively exploring use cases."
It adds, "Stablecoins and tokenized products are new, and most treasury professionals continue to be cautious of them until regulations are clear. The GENIUS Act, passed in July 2025, set a federal framework with 1:1 reserves and banking-like oversight. Regulators such as the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and FinCEN are working on rules, expected to be fully implemented by 2027. Tax and accounting regulations are also pending. Nearly half of all respondents (47%) say that tokenized products or stablecoin will not matter at their organizations in the next three years, while 20% are unsure. Only 7% report that the evolution of stablecoin/tokenized products will be either extremely or very relevant at their organizations in the next three years, while 26% think these products will be moderately or slightly relevant."
