Average US prime money fund yield hits one percent

The yield on US prime money market funds held by institutional investors averaged 1 percent, the highest since early 2009, the Money Fund Report said on Wednesday. In recent days, yields on US Treasury bills have been rising on concerns about a possible US default, as federal lawmakers have not reached a deal in raise the government's statutory debt limit, currently at $19.9 trillion. The average yield of institutional money funds, which can invest in riskier corporate debt as well T-bills, was 1.00 percent in the week ended Aug. 1, the highest since the 1.08 percent in the Jan. 13, 2009 week, according to the report, published by iMoneyNet.
The average yield on prime funds for retail investors was 0.66 percent, up from 0.64 percent a week earlier, it said. Among money funds that invest only in Treasury bills and other government-related debt, the yields of funds geared to institutional investors averaged 0.70 percent in the latest week, up from 0.68 percent in the prior week. The yields of retail government-only funds averaged 0.40 percent, higher than previous week's 0.38 percent.