Money Market News
The SEC proposed "Amendments to Form PF to Require Current Reporting and Amend Reporting Requirements for Large Private Equity Advisers and Large Liquidity Fund Advisers," which would increase the disclosures made by private liquidity funds, we learned from law firm Troutman Pepper. The proposal comments, "The Securities and Exchange Commission is proposing to amend Form PF, the confidential reporting form for certain SEC-registered investment advisers to private funds to require current reporting upon the occurrence of key events. The proposed amendments also would decrease the reporting threshold for large private equity advisers and require these advisers to provide additional information to the SEC about the private equity funds they advise. Finally, we are proposing to amend requirements concerning how large liquidity advisers report information about the liquidity funds they advise. The proposed amendments are designed to enhance the Financial Stability Oversight Counsel's ('FSOC') ability to monitor systemic risk as well as bolster the SEC's regulatory oversight of private fund advisers and investor protection efforts." (See our Nov. 16 News, "SEC: Private Liquidity Funds Dip to $296B in Q1'21; MFI Intl Holdings" for our last recap of Form PF data.)
Last week, Crane Data hosted its Money Fund University annual "basic training" event, which featured two afternoons of online sessions, as well as number of recorded segments. One of the highlights featured J.P. Morgan Securities' Teresa Ho presenting the "Instruments of the Money Markets Intro." She gave an overview of the money markets, reviewed the major securities owned by money market funds, and presented an overall supply outlook. (Note: Crane Data Subscribers and Money Fund University Attendees may access the Powerpoints and recordings via our "Money Fund University 2022 Download Center.")
The Securities and Exchange Commission's latest monthly "Money Market Fund Statistics" summary shows that total money fund assets rose by $122.9 billion in December to a near-record $5.215 trillion, the 2nd highest monthly total on record (behind May 2020). The SEC shows that Prime MMFs declined by $20.5 billion in December to $816.3 billion, Govt & Treasury funds increased $144.4 billion to $4.304 trillion and Tax Exempt funds decreased $1.0 billion to $94.2 billion. Gross yields were higher while net yields were flat to higher in December. The SEC's Division of Investment Management summarizes monthly Form N-MFP data and includes asset totals and averages for yields, liquidity levels, WAMs, WALs, holdings, and other money market fund trends. We review their latest numbers below. (Note: Thanks again to those who attended and supported our recent Money Fund University! Crane Data Subscribers and MFU Attendees may access conference recordings and materials in our "Money Fund University 2022 Download Center.")
Allspring, the new name for the Wells Fargo Funds, recently hosted a webinar entitled, "On the Horizon: Recent Fed and SEC Updates and What It Means for Investors," which featured Allspring's Jeff Weaver, Laurie White, Brian Jacobsen and Yeng Butler. The description tells us, "All eyes were on Washington as we closed out the year, with several significant proposals and updates announced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Federal Reserve (Fed). Join our panel as they discuss what it means for investors. Topics will include: accelerated Fed tapering and rising rate expectations; recent developments from the SEC's proposed money market reform; and macro developments that prompted market and regulatory changes and the implications on investor's portfolios." We quote from the money fund heavy segments below. (Note: Thanks to those attending and supporting our Money Fund University, which continues this afternoon from 1-3pm. Crane Data Subscribers and MFU Attendees may access conference materials and recordings via our "Money Fund University 2022 Download Center.")
Please join us for Crane's Money Fund University, which takes place online Thursday and Friday afternoon (1/20-21) from 1-4pm EST. MFU is a "basic training" course in the money markets that includes access to the live webinar, handouts and a number of pre-recorded sessions. Money Fund University is designed for those new to the money market fund industry or those in need of a concentrated refresher on the basics. The event also focuses on hot topics like money market fund regulations, money fund alternatives, offshore markets, and other recent industry trends. Registrations ($250) are still being taken, and the agenda is available here. (Note: Crane Data Subscribers and MFU Attendees may access conference materials and recordings via our "Money Fund University 2022 Download Center.")
BlackRock reported its Q4'21 earnings Friday, which says the advisor expects fee waivers to cease as we get into 2022. CFO Gary Shedlin comments, "For the fourth quarter, BlackRock generated revenue of $5.1 billion and operating income of $2.1 billion, up 14% and 11%, respectively, from a year ago.... Fourth quarter base fees and securities lending revenue of $4 billion was up 17% year over year, primarily driven by 11% organic base fee growth and the positive impact of market data on average AUM, partially offset by higher discretionary money market fee waivers versus a year ago and strategic pricing investments over the last year."
Crane Data's latest MFI International shows that assets in European or "offshore" money market mutual funds decreased over the past month to $1.066 trillion, after hitting a record high of $1.101 trillion the prior month. These U.S.-style money funds, domiciled in Ireland or Luxembourg but denominated in US Dollars, Pound Sterling and Euros, decreased by $33.5 billion over the 30 days through 1/13. They're up $2.8 billion (0.3%) year-to-date. Offshore US Dollar money funds are down $8.9 billion over the last 30 days and are down $2.5 billion YTD to $532.0 billion. Euro funds dropped E10.0 billion over the past month. YTD they're down E2.7 billion to E155.6 billion. GBP money funds decreased L9.2 billion over 30 days; they are up by L6.2 billion YTD to L253.3B. U.S. Dollar (USD) money funds (190) account for half (46.7%) of the "European" money fund total, while Euro (EUR) money funds (94) make up 23.1% and Pound Sterling (GBP) funds (123) total 30.2%. We summarize our latest "offshore" money fund statistics and our Money Fund Intelligence International Portfolio Holdings (which went out to subscribers Friday), below. (Note: Please join us for our Money Fund University Online ($250), which takes place online from 1-4pm EST on January 20 and 21. MFU is a "basic training" course in the money markets that includes access to handouts and a number of pre-recorded sessions. Crane Data Subscribers and MFU Attendees may access conference materials and recordings via our "Money Fund University 2022 Download Center.")
The January issue of our Bond Fund Intelligence, which was sent to subscribers Friday morning, features the lead story, "Top Stories & Funds of '21: Record Assets; But '22 Cloudy," which reviews some highlights of the past year and "Worldwide BF Assets Rise to $13.6 Trillion, Led by U.S.," which takes a closer look at bond fund markets outside the U.S. BFI also recaps the latest Bond Fund News and includes our Crane BFI Indexes, which show that bond fund returns rose in December and yields jumped. We excerpt from the new issue below. (Contact us if you'd like to see our latest Bond Fund Intelligence and BFI XLS spreadsheet, or our Bond Fund Portfolio Holdings data. Start making plans too for our Bond Fund Symposium, which will take place March 28-29 in Newport Beach, Calif.)
As we wrote earlier this month (and reprint here), our January MFI issue recognizes the top performing money funds, ranked by total returns, for calendar year 2021, as well as the top funds for the past 5-year and 10-year periods. We present the funds below with our annual Money Fund Intelligence Awards. These are given to the No. 1‐ranked funds based on 1-year, 5-year and 10-year returns, through Dec. 31, 2021, in each of our major fund categories — Prime Institutional, Government Institutional, Treasury Institutional, Prime Retail, Government Retail, Treasury Retail and Tax‐Exempt. (Note: We're still taking registrations ($250) for our upcoming Money Fund University Online, which takes place the afternoons of Jan. 20-21. Crane Data Subscribers and MFU Attendees may visit the "Money Fund University 2022 Download Center" to access conference materials and recordings.)
Crane Data's January Money Fund Portfolio Holdings, with data as of Dec. 31, 2021, show Repo skyrocketing in December and Treasuries inching higher, while every other holding category declined. Money market securities held by Taxable U.S. money funds (tracked by Crane Data) rose by $114.1 billion to $5.086 trillion in December, after rising by $46.4 billion in November and $72.4 billion in October. Assets decreased $26.0 billion in Sept., increased $47.4 billion in August and decreased $89.1 billion in July. They increased by $1.5 billion in June, $30.2 billion in May and $29.1 billion in April. Repo remained the largest portfolio segment, while Treasuries remained in the No. 2 spot. MMF holdings of Fed repo rose to $1.732 trillion. Agencies were the third largest segment, CP remained fourth, ahead of CDs, Other/Time Deposits and VRDNs. Below, we review our latest Money Fund Portfolio Holdings statistics.
Crane Data's latest monthly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings statistics will be sent out Tuesday, and we'll be writing our regular monthly update on the December 31 data for Wednesday's News. But we also uploaded a separate and broader Portfolio Holdings data set based on the SEC's Form N-MFP filings on Monday. (We continue to merge the two series, and the N-MFP version is now available via Holding file listings to Money Fund Wisdom subscribers.) Our new N-MFP summary, with data as of Dec. 31, includes holdings information from 1,019 money funds (down one fund from last month), representing assets of $5.229 trillion (up from $5.134 trillion). Prime MMFs now total $811.8 billion, or 15.5% of the total. We review the new N-MFP data below, and we also look at our revised MMF expense data. (Note: Again, we've cancelled our physical Money Fund University but will host a virtual event on January 20-21. Registration for MFU Online is $250. Click here for the latest agenda and here to register.)
Crane Data's latest monthly Money Fund Market Share rankings show assets were mostly higher among U.S. money fund complexes in December. Money market fund assets increased $104.6 billion, or 2.1%, last month to $5.148 trillion. Assets increased by $164.7 billion, or 3.3%, over the past 3 months; they've increased by $411.6 billion, or 8.7%, over the past 12 months through Dec 31. The largest increases among the 25 largest managers last month were seen by BlackRock, Northern, Federated Hermes, SSGA and Vanguard, which grew assets by $30.7 billion, $18.3B, $16.2B, $10.4B and $6.4B, respectively. The largest declines in December were seen by Allspring, T Rowe Price, AllianceBernstein and Goldman Sachs, which decreased by $5.8 billion, $3.1B, $1.5B and $1.1B, respectively. Our domestic U.S. "Family" rankings are available in our MFI XLS product, our global rankings are available in our MFI International product. The combined "Family & Global Rankings" are available to Money Fund Wisdom subscribers. We review the latest market share totals, and look at money fund yields in December, below. (Note: We've cancelled our physical Money Fund University but will host a virtual event the afternoons of January 20-21. Registration for MFU Online is $250. Click here for the latest agenda and here to register or e-mail us to request the latest brochure.)
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