Institutional investment consultant Marquette Associates posted a commentary entitled, "Money Market Reform and Implications for Institutional Investors." It says, "Marquette expects to see a wave of institutional investors switching from prime MMFs to government MMFs. We also expect to see investment managers who provide institutional prime MMFs launch institutional prime commingled funds in order to retain clients. We expect to see certain prime MMF assets flow to stable value funds as a third alternative. In a normal environment, a prime fund would yield eight to twelve basis points higher than a comparable duration government fund. From our discussions with various money market fund managers, the consensus expectation is for this gap to rise an estimated 25 to 50 basis points because the inflow of investors switching to government funds will boost prices and reduce yields for government funds, while the outflow of investors from prime funds will depress prices and increase yields for prime funds. With regard to liquidity fees and the gating of client redemptions for institutional and retail MMFs (but not government MMFs), Marquette expects MMF providers to refrain from using these mechanisms in normal market environments. They have been established by the SEC as a means to maintain stability should the markets become stressed. Therefore, we expect MMF providers to use these mechanisms only in financial crises like the one we experienced in 2008." It continues, "Marquette recommends that clients engage in a dialogue with their consultants on the best course of action. The four key alternatives for liquid cash investments are: 1. Accept the vNAV of the institutional prime MMF from October 2016 going forward: the NAV of an institutional prime MMF is not expected to vary much over time. 2. Switch from a prime MMF to a government MMF: the reduction in yield for the benefit of the cNAV must be considered in this scenario. However, the government MMF will not impose liquidity fees or client redemption gates. 3. Switch from a prime MMF to a prime commingled fund: this option offers the enhanced yield of a prime fund over that of a government fund, but additional paperwork is involved to participate in a commingled fund. In addition, many of these commingled funds have been newly launched, so fund assets under management and critical mass should be considered. 4. Switch from a prime MMF to a stable value fund: this option offers even greater yield, but has the downside of reduced liquidity, as most stable value funds have put provisions of 24 to 36 months. This means that if a plan wishes to move its assets from one stable value fund provider to another, there are instances when the stable value provider may require the plan to wait 24 to 36 months."

Email This Article




Use a comma or a semicolon to separate

captcha image

Daily Link Archive

2024 2023 2022
April December December
March November November
February October October
January September September
August August
July July
June June
May May
April April
March March
February February
January January
2021 2020 2019
December December December
November November November
October October October
September September September
August August August
July July July
June June June
May May May
April April April
March March March
February February February
January January January
2018 2017 2016
December December December
November November November
October October October
September September September
August August August
July July July
June June June
May May May
April April April
March March March
February February February
January January January
2015 2014 2013
December December December
November November November
October October October
September September September
August August August
July July July
June June June
May May May
April April April
March March March
February February February
January January January
2012 2011 2010
December December December
November November November
October October October
September September September
August August August
July July July
June June June
May May May
April April April
March March March
February February February
January January January
2009 2008 2007
December December December
November November November
October October October
September September September
August August August
July July July
June June June
May May May
April April April
March March March
February February February
January January January
2006
December
November
October
September