Money Market Mutual Fund Resources
Below we list a number of links to websites which may be of interest to money market and mutual fund professionals and investors. If you have a money fund-related website or a link we're missing, please submit it to: links@cranedata.us.
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- Money Fund Families
- Money Fund Portals
- Additional Resources
- Money Fund Basics
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Money Market Mutual Fund Families
Money Fund Trading Portals
Additional Money Fund Resources
Though of course you didn't hear it on any news reports, the Federal Reserve's Commercial Paper Outstanding page showed CP issuance rebounded last week, rising over $18 billion from $1.065 trillion to $1.083 trillion. Foreign CP and Asset-backed CP increased also. The Fed's data show that foreign CP accounts for $34.0 billion of $139.9 billion in nonfinancial CP and $166.8 billion of $515.8 billion in Financial CP. ABCP accounts for $427.4 billion of the total CP outstandings. The Fed's weekly data also show that Tier 1 CP totals $870.3 billion while Tier 2 CP totals a mere $40.0 billion. The Federal Reserve also shows CP Rates. See also, "A nation of risk-takers reverses course, hoards cash"," which says, "Has the modern world ever been willing to earn so little on so much? The amount Americans have in basic savings accounts at banks and thrifts rose to a record $5.1 trillion at the end of May, a jump of $215 billion just since the start of the year. Nobody is parking cash at a bank for the yield. These accounts -- passbook-type vehicles and money market deposit accounts -- are mostly earning less than 1 percent annual interest.... But even as bond portfolios hold a record $2.4 trillion, individuals and institutions still sit with $2.8 trillion in money market mutual funds that pay next to nothing."
We recently noticed website traffic coming from the Investment Company Institute's new "In the News" web page. The page says, "In the News is your daily digest of industry developments, policy issues, and market conditions as reported in the media. Access to the full text of some articles may require registration or a subscription." We suggest mutual fund professionals add this to their "Favorites". We noticed this story yesterday too, "Reserve Yield Plus Investors Petition For 'Equal' Treatment," which says, "More than 160 investors with money in the Reserve Yield Plus Fund (RYPQX) have petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission and a federal court judge, asking that they receive treatment equal to that being given shareholders in the Reserve Primary Fund (RPIXX). Reserve Yield Plus was frozen just after the Primary Fund, a much larger fund also run by Reserve Management Co., 'broke the buck,' or slipped below the $1 per share value that money-market funds strive to maintain." It adds, "A federal judge overseeing the liquidation of the Primary Fund said in an order earlier this month that he expects that $3.4 billion, the bulk of the fund's remaining assets, will be distributed to investors by the week of Jan. 25. After the January payout, Primary Fund investors will have received 98.5 cents."
Standard & Poor's has revamped its website, improving the look-and-feel and navigation. The company also announced today that it has rated the new TDAM Institutional Municipal Money Market Fund AAAm. The release says, "The Fund launched on Nov. 23, 2009, and offers three share classes: the Institutional Class, Institutional Service Class, and the Commercial Class. The rating -- the highest assigned to money-market funds -- is based on our analysis of the Fund's credit quality, market price exposure, and management. The TDAM Institutional Municipal Money Market Fund targets a stable $1.00 net asset value (NAV) and will be invested in a manner consistent with 'AAAm' rated funds. The Fund's investment objective is to seek a maximum level of current income to the extent consistent with liquidity, the preservation of capital, and a stable NAV of $1.00 per share." In other news, see Financial Advisor's "Even After Crash, Many Seek Yield On Cash,", which quotes financial advisor Milo Benningfield, "In low interest-rate environments such as now, too many people forget the primary purpose of cash in their portfolios: to provide a relatively risk-free investment and preserve principal. These investors put themselves at risk of buying something that's too good to be true."
We noticed that the London-based Institutional Money Market Funds Association (IMMFA) has refreshed the look-and-feel of their website located at http://www.immfa.org. The site's description says, "The Institutional Money Market Funds Association (IMMFA) is the trade association which represents the European triple-A rated money market funds industry. Our member funds have over 400 billion Euro in assets under management. IMMFA seeks to promote and support development of this industry by: Ensuring that IMMFA members offer a consistently high quality product to investors, in particular by maintaining a set of best practice standards in its Code of Practice; Informing and influencing policy makers, regulators and authorities regarding money market fund issues; and, Educating investors about the money market fund industry and providing timely data on members' funds." It adds, "All IMMFA members must abide by the Code of Practice and obtain a triple-A rating for their funds." (E-mail Pete for a copy of Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence International, which tracks the "offshore" money fund market.)
FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair talks about Deposit Insurance on YouTube. She says, "As we pass the 100th bank failure of 2009, the FDIC has been receiving more public inquiries about deposit insurance and how it works. I want to take this opportunity to reassure consumers that their insured deposit is absolutely safe.... In 1989, 534 institutions were closed.... We are the Government and our insurance guarantee is backed by the full faith and credit.... Let me say again, no insured depositor has ever lost a penny in insured deposits and none ever will. The FDIC was created specifically for times like these."
ICI's new "Money Market Fund Resource Center" brings together a number of supporting publications for its "Report of the Money Market Working Group," such as the accompanying press release), a "Summary of Recommendations," a FAQ on the Report, a series of Report Fact Sheets (Final Recommendations, Rejected Proposals, and the Role of Money Funds), Background on the Money Market Working Group (including the new "Opinion: Group of Thirty Money Market Proposals Will Harm Investors, Economy"), and a collection of "Background on Money Market Funds" documents. The MMF Resource Center page says, "On March 18, the ICI Board of Governors unanimously endorsed recommendations from the Money Market Working Group concerning new regulatory and oversight standards for money market funds. ICI's governing body called for prompt implementation by all money market fund complexes of those practices recommended in the Report of the Money Market Working Group that do not require prior regulatory action. Among other changes, the recommendations would for the first time require money market funds to meet new mandated daily and weekly minimum liquidity standards. The Money Market Working Group also recommends tightening the portfolio maturity limits currently applicable to money market funds and raising credit quality standards."
See the SEC's "Recent Market Events: Information for Individual Investors: Money Market Funds" for a number of links. It says, "The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy provides a variety of services to address the problems and questions you may face as an investor. Below is information relevant to recent Commission action addressing short selling, money market funds, brokerage accounts, fair value accounting, and other issues."
Treasury's Temporary Guarantee Program for Money Market Funds says, "The U.S. Treasury Department has established a Temporary Guarantee Program for Money Market Funds. Under this program, the U.S. Treasury will guarantee to investors that they will receive $1 for each money market fund share held as of close of business on September 19, 2008. Eligible funds must be regulated under Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, must maintain a stable share price of $1 and must be publicly offered and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Both taxable and non-taxable funds are eligible for this program. To participate in the program, eligible funds must pay a fee and complete the Guarantee Agreement and corresponding documents found on this page. As this program covers all shareholders in a participating eligible fund as of close of business on September 19, 2008, individual investors cannot sign-up for the program."
The Federal Reserve's Statistical Release H.4.1 "Factors Affecting Reserve Balances" is where to find information on the size of the Fed's "Asset-backed commercial paper money market mutual fund liquidity facility," which declined by $10 billion to $70 billion last week, the "Net portfolio holdings of Commercial Paper Funding Facility LLC," which rose $15.8 billion to $265.7 billion, and, starting Thursday evening, info on the just-launched Money Market Investor Funding Facility (MMIFF). We expect usage to be light given the lack of redemption pressure on money market funds as of late.
Yesterday's Wall Street Journal featured a Quiz on "How Well Do You Know... Money-Market Funds?". It says, "Money-market mutual funds are supposed to be dull, but they made headlines this year when they got swept up in the credit crisis. In September, Reserve Primary Fund, one of the oldest money-market funds in the U.S., jolted the financial system when it 'broke the buck,' meaning its investors would get less than 100% of the money they had invested.... It turns out you can't take these funds for granted, so we decided to use this month's quiz to test your knowledge about their history and potential trouble spots. We include tips for finding the safest of what we previously thought was an ultrasafe investment."
We recently learned of a new money fund regulations book, "The Guide to Rule 2a-7: A Map Through the Maze for the Money Market Professional," written by Joan Ohlbaum Swirsky, Esq., of Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP. The book's flyer says, "Rule 2a-7 is a complex, often puzzling array of stringent requirements. This unique Guide will help you understand the impact of the recently troubled market and help you achieve your goals relating to money market fund issues. This Free Guide will help you: Address troubled securities in a money market portfolio; Review new and revised products being offered for investment by money market funds for compliance with Rule 2a-7; Respond to inquiries from the SEC staff relating to money market fund management; and Troubleshoot a money market fund's compliance system." To request a free copy, email rule2a7@stradley.com. Look for more comments from Stradley's Swirsky in the pending November issue of Money Fund Intelligence.
The Federal Reserve Board of Governors website will be the place to look this afternoon for the Fed's statement on any change in its bellwether Federal funds target rate. For a history of the Fed funds rate and the Fed's "Open Market Operations" click here. To learn "About the FOMC", or Federal Open Market Committee (the group that sets the rates), go here. For "News & Events" go here. Finally, for an education on the Fed, go to "Fed 101". See also, WSJ's "Fed Rate Cut Means Little to Markets".
New York Fed Releases MMIFF FAQs. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York today released a set of Frequently Asked Questions pertaining to the Money Market Investor Funding Facility (MMIFF). "The MMIFF was authorized by the Federal Reserve Board on October 21, 2008 under Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act to support a private-sector initiative designed to provide liquidity to U.S. money market investors," says the NY Fed. For Money Market Investor Funding Facility: Program Terms and Conditions, click here. In other news, see Bloomberg's "Morgan Stanley Propped Up Money-Market Funds With $23 Billion", which describes the use of "stabilization facilities" to fund money fund redemptions. Other such disclosures are certain to follow.
"What is commercial paper, and why does it matter?" writes the Associated Press. The article describes the CP market and answers questions such as "What exactly is the commercial paper market?" and "What type of companies raise money on the commercial paper market, and what do they do with it?" It also asks, "Besides corporations with extra cash, who supplies the money to the commercial paper market?" AP answers, "Money-market mutual funds and other funds open primarily to institutional investors buy about 60 percent of the commercial paper in the market, according to Peter Crane, president of fund-tracking firm Crane Data." "Money-market funds are the 800-pound gorilla in the commercial paper market," Crane said. "By participating, money funds typically generate a higher yield than from investing in safer government debt such as Treasury bills." Also, see WSJ's "Fidelity, Vanguard Join Treasury Program: Move Will Protect Money Funds; 'Shot of Confidence'".
For those wishing to monitor money fund rating news, we offer the following links: S&P Money Fund Ratings News, Moody's Money Fund Ratings News, and Fitch Money Fund Ratings News. These also include offshore, government investment pool, securities lending and other "near-cash" pool ratings. Recent headlines include: Standard & Poor's assigns AAAf/S1+ to the Manatee County Investment Portfolio and assigns TMI Euro Liquidity Sub-Fund 'AAAf/S1+', and Moody's assigns Aaa/MR1+ to SEI Global Lending Fund.
This recent Vanguard Podcast entitled, "The Fed funds rate and what it means to you", explains the basics of the Fed funds rate and interest rates. It says, "The Federal Reserve has made several cuts to the federal funds rate since the summer of 2007. Joseph H. Davis, Ph.D., Vanguard's chief economist, explains the Federal Reserve's purpose behind making these cuts, how these rate cuts impact other interest rates, and what it all means to investors." He also clarifies the relationship between short-term and long-term interest rates.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has added a new feature, "Fed Funds Data in Dynamic Chart Format". The interactive chart includes the Fed's short-term cash market benchmark daily Federal funds rate target, the effective rate, and the highs and lows. The chart allows you to zoom into a 1-month period or to zoom out to a 5-year view.
While the Federal Reserve Board of Governors sets a "target" rate for Fed funds (which it's expected to cut to 2.0% or 2.5% from 3.0% today), the most important determinant of short-term interest rates (long-term rates, like mortgages, are driven by the market), the actual Fed funds rate may vary slightly from the target based on demand and the calendar.
When the "effective" Fed funds rate is above the target, money tends to move from money market funds into "repo", and when the effective rate is below the target money moves from repo into money funds.
Federated Investors' Debbie Cunningham discusses the basics of money market funds and recent headlines. She says, "While it is possible to lose money by investing in a money market fund, during the more than 30 years that Federated has been managing these funds, the firm's money market funds have always sold and redeemed their shares at the $1.00 net asset value (NAV)". Cunningham adds, "When financial markets turn as volatile as they have been lately, we think investors would do well to consider money market funds - both prime and government, depending on their needs - if they are looking for a place to ride out the storm."
U.S. Department of the Treasury's Daily Treasury Bill Rates. "These rates are the daily secondary market quotation on the most recently auctioned Treasury Bills for each maturity tranche (4-week, 13-week and 26-week) that Treasury currently issues new Bills. Market quotations are obtained at approximately 3:30 PM each business day by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The Commercial Paper Issuers Working Group (CPIWG), a consortium of the largest issuers of direct CP, launched an upgrade of its website at http://www.cpiwg.org yesterday. The new site includes a definition of CP and a chart of outstandings, and includes a history, members list (large industrial and financial firms such as Amex, Chevron, Dow Chemical, GE, GM, and IBM), members area, and more.
ICAP's MyTreasury.com European Money Market Portal Launches. According to the site, "MyTreasury is a multi-product, multi-bank, multi-currency platform designed specifically to meet the treasury management needs of European corporate treasurers. Covering AAA-rated money market funds (MMFs), deposits, short term loans and European Commercial Paper, the platform will offer treasurers full market transparency for all these instruments in USD, GBP and EUR." Look for more on European "portals" in the next MFI.
Municipal Market Advisors (MMA) is a "specialized analytical firm for the municipal bond market". The company published the "Consensus Yield Report" Averages, "a pure 'Aaa' G.O. yield curve for the municipal bond market", and provides commentary on the municipal space.
The Federal Reserve Bank's Weekly Commercial Paper Outstanding Series shows a strong rebound in commercial paper and asset-backed commercial paper. CP rose for the 4th week in a row, increasing by $35.5 billion ($64.4 billion over 4 weeks) to $1.849 trillion, and ABCP rose for the 3rd week in a row, increasing $26.3 billion ($57.4 billion over 3 weeks) to $780 billion. Also, see Bloomberg's "U.S. Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Expands Third Week".
New Jersey-based Financial Sciences Corporation, which provides money market trading, treasury management, securitization, and issuing payment agency services for "multinational corporations and financial institutions", has launched a revamped website at http://www.fisci.com. The company's "ATOM Money Market Trading is uniquely designed to support the specialized processing needs of issuers and dealers of commercial paper, certificates of deposit, and other money market securities."
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System announces website redesign. Just in time for today's interest rate decision, the Federal Reserve has unveiled "a new look and additional features designed to improve usability" on its website at http://www.federalreserve.gov. The homepage now features "Recent Events" and "Features" up top, and offers direct access to a number of popular "Statistical Releases," including "Commercial Paper".
ICI's FAQs on Money Market Mutual Funds. Click here for the Investment Company Institute's new "Frequently Asked Questions About Money Market Mutual Funds", posted to address recent investor concerns.
American Securitization Forum's "An Investors's Guide to Asset-Backed Extendible Notes" explains extendible notes and ABCP. "The guide ... is designed to aid market participants in understanding the structure, the various sources of enhancement, and the specific terms of asset-backed extendible commercial paper structures in a market with growing variety and complexity of such products."
"Instruments of the Money Market" by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is one of the few works available that describes the workings of the money market and various money market securities, such as commercial paper, repos, t-bills, eurodollars, and federal funds. While last updated in 1993, the work, edited by Timothy Q. Cook and Robert K. LaRoche, also contains chapters on "Money Market Mutual Funds and Other Short-Term Investment Pools" and "Options on Money Market Futures".
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Comptroller of the Currency Administrator of National Banks have launched a new website, www.helpwithmybank.gov, to answer questions and to assist national bank consumers with problems. The Comptroller of the Currency "We created HelpWithMyBank.gov with national bank customers in mind," Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan said. "Our goal was to build a site that makes it easier for people to get answers and submit concerns about their bank because we are committed to ensuring fair access to financial services and equal treatment for national bank customers.... It is my hope that we can work with other financial regulators to expand this effort to support all bank customers."
Matrix Settlement and Clearance Services (MSCS) provides "mutual fund clearing and settlement services for banks, trust companies, third party administrators, registered investment advisors, and broker/dealers". The company recently launched an online money fund trading portal, which is profiled in the current (July) issue of Money Fund Intelligence. Matrix is also hosting a conference in Colorado, "Get Connected in Keystone" featuring an "Introduction to Portals Panel" led by portal Program Manager Michael Rice on August 13.
Bankaholic Blog Introduces New "Money Market & Savings Rate Tool". The anonymous web blog, which contains extensive postings about banking deals and specials, has added a table of the top bank savings specials and rates. The site has also added a "Best CD Rates" table.
Institutional Investment Dealer Money Market One, run by cash and treasury guru Lee Epstein, is an "institutional broker-dealer focused exclusively on serving the investment, reporting and compliance needs of publicly-traded and privately held corporations" according to its new website. The boutique institutional dealer specializes in money market and short-term investments.
Broker Dealer Magazine covers the brokerage industry and conducted a cash management survey.
American Beacon Advisors Launches New Website. The revamped site includes a cleaner look and an expanded American Beacon Advisors area with information on American Beacon Select Funds, Offshore Cash Management Portfolios, Enhanced Cash Portfolios, and Separate Account Management.
The Investment Company Institute (ICI) tracks money market mutual fund assets weekly, providing an update every Thursday around 5:00pm. The "Latest Industry Statistical Trends" page also provides monthly asset totals on all mutual funds by category, and also covers ETFs and closed end funds.
The following companies rate money market mutual funds: Fitch Ratings, Moody's Investors Service, and Standard & Poor's (S&P). The money fund areas on their websites provide a wealth of information on the funds they rate AAA, and also provide a number of excellent research pieces on money funds and the money market mutual fund industry.
We noticed today's "Link of the Day" listed among money fund trading portal ICD Funds' Industry Info Website and thought we should include it as well. Click here for The Financial Times Money Rates table which has links to FT PDFs containing US$ LIBOR, Euro LIBOR, CDs, Fed funds, EONIA and more.
The new ICI "2007 Investment Company Fact Book" Section on Money Funds discusses the yield advantage money funds have over bank deposits and the factors behind institutional money fund inflows.
Financial Sciences' ATOM Short-Term Debt Module "tracks short-term debt issues and bank loans and records money market issues placed by dealers and brokers".
The Irish Funds Industry Association represents the mutual fund industry in Ireland, home to the third largest money market fund industry in the world with $375 billion in assets. (Only the U.S., with $2.4 trillion, and France, with $565 billion, are larger.)
Paid and Reinvested Dividends of Money Market Mutual Funds is today's Link. ICI publishes these totals this year, and is preparing to publish the 2006 numbers. We estimate that money fund dividends doubled from 2005's levels to $100 billion for 2006.
The Bond Buyer (which is free this week) reports the launch of website Municipal Bond Research Gateway, a public finance and municipal bond resource from the National Federation of Municipal Analysts.
Crane Data's Money Market Mutual Fund Supermarket Listings, for those looking for online money market trading portal vendors. Most offer a wide selection of money funds and tools for institutional investors.
Crane Data Launches Money Fund "Detail" Pages and Full Listings. Register to browse our full universe of money market mutual fund "profiles".
The U.S. Government's TreasuryDirect website allows individual and institutional investors to purchase Treasury securities electronically and direct from the Treasury. The site also contains Treasury auction calendars, results and more.
Website BankDealsBlog.com hosts discussions of the highest-yielding bank CDs, savings and other deals.
Today's "Money Market Mutual Funds 101: A List of Basic Texts", links visitors to educational web pages. Our Top 5 "Money Fund Basics" Sites include: 1) SEC's "What Is a Money Fund?"; 2) Fidelity's "Why Are Money Funds a Smart Move?"; 3) Wikipedia's "Money Fund" ; 4) Richmond Fed's "Instruments of the Money Markets"; and, 5) InvestorWords' Money Fund Definition.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Economic Education Page offers classes, exhibits (including "Ben Franklin and the Birth of a Paper Money Economy"), and publications to teach about the economy.
Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act of 1940. This is a repeat so readers of today's story can click and search for 'NRSRO' in the text.
ICI Comments on SEC Proposed Revamp of NRSROs and impact on MMMFs
Law firm ReedSmith has a new "Money Market Fund Compliance & Research" page offering funds and investors an excellent resource for Rule 2a-7 and money fund regulations.
Confluence offers "fully automated data management solutions". Its main product, FundStation, does performance measurement reporting for "40% of funds worldwide".
JM Lummis is a money market boutique specializing in time deposits, certificates of deposit, commercial paper and traditional money market instruments.
InvestorWords defines "money market fund" The site contains one of the better financial glossaries.
Salary.com lists California and other state income tax rates. To calculate taxable equivalent yield on a State Tax Exempt fund, divide the tax-exempt rate by (1 - (Federal + State tax rate)).
The Treasury Management Association of New England's TMANE 2007 conference is May 9-11, 2007 in Boston. Texas Treasury Mgmt. Assoc.'s TEXPO conference is March 25-27 in Dallas.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's semiannual testimony to Congress.
Investortools offers money fund portfolio managers a software program named SMART (short maturities analytical reporting tool), which automates Rule 2a-7 compliance.
The Wall Street Journal's redesigned Markets Center contains the NASD listing of money fund yields, assets and average maturities.
The Federal Reserve's Statistical Release "Selected Interest Rates" gives daily updates on Fed funds, CP, CDs, and more.
Treasury Strategies is a Chicago-based consulting firm that published annual corporate sweep accounts and liquidity studies.
The Glossary of money fund terms on TreasuryPoint, SEI's Trading Platform, is an okay start for beginners. Send other entrants; we're building our glossary!
The IACPM, or International Association of Credit Portfolio Managers is a "professional association dedicated to the advancement of credit portfolio management."
Finistar, which sells FDIC insured, "fixed rate cash management solutions" to community banks and institutions, changed its name to Anova Financial.
The Wall Street Journal's "How Wall Street Sweeps the Cash" says "top brokerage firms are increasingly turning cash sweeps into gold."
The Institutional Money Market Funds Association (IMMFA), a London-based group of 36 offshore money market mutual fund providers, just upgraded its website at http://www.immfa.org.
We've noticed some referrals from the new search site, www.PageBull.com. We couldn't believe how cool and effective it was so we had to mention it.
Standard & Poor's launched a new, revamped website at www.standardandpoors.com. The money fund ratings page may be found here.
Moody's Portfolios of Largest Prime Institutional Money Funds by Analyst Viktoria Baklanova.
The SEC's Form N1-A is used to register mutual funds and includes formulas for calculating current and effective yields (page down to p. 44).
Thomson TradeWeb offers online auctions involving 35 bond and commercial paper dealers.
PNC Financial's Chief Economist Stuart Hoffman posts his monthly National Economic Outlook here.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York "plays a leadership role in monetary policy, financial supervision, and the payments system" according to its site.
Peter Crane writes for European treasury site GT News, "U.S. Money Funds: A Regulatory Success Story".
Chicago Board of Trade's 30 Day Federal Funds Futures estimates future Fed funds levels. Take 100 minus Close to get the expected rate.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Institutional Money Funds as Collateral Program lists the money funds available for options and options on futures collateral.
Treasury Today recently released its annual "Corporate and Institutional Money Funds in Europe 2007" publication. The report is a great primer and resource on AAA-rated money funds in Europe.
The Federal Reserve Board's Open Market Committee sets the Federal funds target rate, the benchmark for short-term interest rates (click for rate history).
The Institutional Money Market Funds Association (IMMFA) is "the trade body representing providers of triple-A rated money market funds" in Europe.
Fitch Ratings added rated money fund "profiles" to www.fitchratings.com and has rated National Municipal Money Fund (Lehman Brothers) AAA/V1+.
The SEC released a new full-text search tool for its EDGAR mutual fund filings database Investment News reported today.
Today's link is Wikipedia's definition of money fund. The free encyclopedia also explains retail vs. institutional funds, and gives some history.
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) launched its new website last week at www.sifma.org. The new trade group is the result of a merger between the Bond Market Association (BMA) and Securities Industry Association (SIA).
Fitch Ratings released new Criteria for Asset-Backed Extendible Notes in Rated Money Funds. The ratings agency says extendibles are liquid and should be booked to expected maturity.
NYSE's "Informed Investor" Questions About Brokerage Sweep Accounts This publication lists questions investors should ask regarding cash "sweep" options in their brokerage accounts.
The Deposity Trust Company (DTC) provides back-end processing and clearing of money market securities and is a member of the Federal Reserve System.
The Commercial Paper Issuers Working Group (www.cpiwg.org) is an organization representing 27 of the largest commercial paper (CP) issuers.
Money Fund Ratings: Standard & Poor's Website shows the most recent fund ratings, ratings methodology, and ratings by domicile.
The Bond Market Association (www.bondmarkets.com) is the trade group representing bond issuers. The site contains a wealth of info on the corporate, treasury and muni markets.
ICI's Frequently asked Questions About Money Market Mutual Funds The ICI (Investment Company Institute) explains the basics of money market funds.
CacheMatrix builds back-end technology for online money market trading portals.
ICI Mutual Fund Fact Book 2006 Investment Company Institute's annual guide to mutual funds.
Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 The SEC's (Securities and Exchange Commission) regulations on money market mutual funds.
Instruments of the Money Market An overview of money markets and money market securities published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
Fidelity's "What Are Money Market Funds?" Fidelity Investments' definition and explanation of money market mutual funds.
Investorwords.com Investorwords.com's definition of money fund.
