The Department of the Treasury announced today that for the next year, it will insure the holdings of any publicly offered eligible money market mutual fund that pays a fee to participate in the program.
The Reserve Management Co. Inc. won’t accept new investors in any of its group of money market funds, the firm said yesterday.
“This is a tough environment to launch a new financial product,” said Neel Kashkari, assistant secretary of the Department of the Treasury, but “never has the market needed this financial product as much as we need it now.”
The move followed the emergency action announced yesterday by the Securities and Exchange Commission temporarily prohibiting short sales of shares of certain financial companies.
Say government $50 billion backstop makes funds more attractive — and makes it tougher for banks to attract deposits.
Legg Mason Inc. has entered into agreements to support three money market funds: Citi Institutional Cash Reserves, Western Asset Institutional Money Market Fund and a fund for offshore investors, CILF U.S. Dollar Liquidity Fund.
Hedge funds and other large investors would have to disclose their short positions under an emergency rule asked for by Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox.
The BNY Mellon’s $22 billion Institutional Cash Reserves fund (ICRF) “broke the buck,” falling in value to $0.991 per share on Sept. 16, Bloomberg reported today.
A ban on the short-sale of financial stocks put into effect today by Britain’s Financial Services Authority today was criticized by the U.S. trade group that represents hedge funds.
Legislation that would set up the Office of Insurance Information within the Department of the Treasury has stalled in the House.
The rocky financial markets of 2008 have taken a toll on hedge funds, with liquidations up and new fund launches down, according to the latest data from HFR Group LLC in Chicago.
Putnam Investments today announced the shuttering of its institutional Putnam Prime Money Market Fund (PPMXX) as of 5 p.m. ET yesterday.
Housing starts fell 6.2% last month from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 895,000 units. That is 33.1% below the figure reported in August 2007, according to a report that the Department of Commerce released this morning.
The nation’s oldest money market mutual fund, The Reserve Primary Fund (RPRXX), fell below $1 in net asset value yesterday because of its exposure to debt from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
MetLife Inc. has some $800 million in exposure to the now-collapsed Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the just-rescued American International Group Inc. and is assessing the recoverability of those investments.
After a weekend of turmoil, shares of American International Group Inc. lost more than half their value in the first hour of trading.
Companies involved in the operation of toll roads, airports and seaports represent a new asset class, according to some industry experts.
Wayne Christian figured the registered representatives of Center, a small town in eastern Texas, could use a business boost. He also thought its pension funds and endowments, which fund scholarships, needed some new investment options.
Clearly, some mutual fund managers saw the writing on the wall.
