Another reason for the funds’ growth has been their yield advantage over bank deposits. After the Federal Reserve raised its Fed funds rate target to 4.75 percent-5 percent over the last year, the average rate at money funds is 4.5 percent and trending toward 5 percent, compared to less than 1 percent for bank deposits, said Deborah Cunningham chief investment officer of global liquidity markets at Federated Hermes.The debt ceiling is the maximum amount the U.S.
Fitch Ratings warned in February that the potential for investor redemptions and volatility in Treasury-only money market funds – as opposed to prime and government money market funds, which have other sources of funding – would rise if investors believed the government were to default. Runs on money market funds have been rare. In 2008, a large money market fund that was over-exposed to commercial paper issued by failed bank Lehman Brothers suffered a run on assets, forcing its net asset value to fall below $1, a term known as “breaking the buck.”Some portfolio managers are avoiding Treasury maturities that could see volatility around the so-called X-date, after which the U.S. may no longer be able to pay all its obligations, said Crane of Crane Data.