Money Market Fund Assets Hit Record $7T

Strong inflow into money market funds grew assets by $51 billion last week to reach $7.03 trillion, the Investment Company Institute reported.

In light of continued market volatility, investors appeared to move money into what they see as more stable investments during the week ending Wednesday, March 5, ICI reported.

Within the record $7 trillion, assets of retail money market funds increased by $30.35 billion to $2.84 trillion, and assets of institutional money market funds increased by $20.80 billion to $4.19 trillion, according to ICI.

Included in the inflows, among taxable money market funds, government funds increased by $45.67 billion and prime funds increased by $8.30 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds decreased by $2.82 billion.

“Money market funds remain a popular investment product, having hit a record high of $7 trillion in assets under management,” said ICI’s chief economist, Shelly Antoniewicz, in a statement. “Recent strong inflows may be a response to the spike in volatility in the financial markets we’ve seen lately. With short-term interest rates still at elevated levels historically, money market funds—which pass earned interest on to their shareholders—are relatively more attractive to both institutional and retail investors.”