Brian Chappatta, Columnist

Cash Is King Because It Finally Pays Something

All it takes to draw investors to money-market funds is a positive real return.

June 11, 2018 at 11:30 AM UTC

Brian Chappatta is managing editor of Bloomberg News' leveraged finance and distressed debt teams. He was previously managing editor and team leader of its wealth group. Before that he was a Bloomberg Opinion markets and finance columnist and a bonds reporter for Bloomberg News.

Dust off the money-market funds.
Photographer: Leon Neal/Getty Images

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It’s tempting to look at the wave of cash spilling into U.S. money-market funds and conclude that investors are sheltering themselves from political and economic turmoil around the globe.

After all, the short-term debt funds experienced one of the largest inflows since the financial crisis in the week through June 6, bringing total money-market assets up to an eight-year high of $2.9 trillion, according to Investment Company Institute data. For U.S. government money funds in particular, the assets reached a record $2.27 trillion.