Investors are parking cash at a pace that would make a valet jealous. US money market fund assets hit $8.281 trillion as of May 28, a $66 billion jump in a single week, according to Crane Data LLC.
The numbers behind the rush
Of the $66 billion weekly inflow, roughly $41 billion landed on a single Thursday during month-end portfolio rebalancing. Year-to-date inflows now total $172 billion through the end of May. Money market fund assets have grown by 112%, or $4.4 trillion, since pandemic-era lows in 2020.
The seven-day average yield on money market funds stood at 3.34% by late May. That number matters because it represents a virtually risk-free return that competes directly with longer-duration bonds, equities, and crypto yield products. When you can earn 3.34% doing essentially nothing, the bar for riskier investments gets a lot higher.
The Fed factor and inflation anxiety
