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U.S. money market funds struggle as short-term rates near negative territory

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Colby Smith and Joe Rennison
Financial Times, London
Wednesday, June 2, 2021

A sector of the U.S. finance industry that looks after $4 trillion of savings for individuals and businesses has come under severe strain as U.S. markets flirt with negative interest rates.

Money market funds investing in short-term government debt have taken in hundreds of billions of dollars of new money from savers in recent months. But there is stiff competition to tap a dwindling supply of low-risk assets that generate positive returns.

... Dispatch continues below ...


Asante Gold Acquires Key Exploration Land
on Ashanti and Asankrangwa Gold Belts in Ghana

Company Announcement
via Globe Newswire, Omaha, Nebraska
Friday, May 28, 2021

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Canada -- Asante Gold Corp. (CSE: ASE / Frankfurt: 1A9 / U.S. OTC: ASGOF) reports that it has received notice from the Minerals Commission of Ghana that eight highly prospective concessions covering approximately 314 square kilometers have been recommended for transfer to Asante.

These licenses are comprised of the Diaso (104.1 km2), Juabo (59.2 km2), Manhia (18.69 km2), Dunkwa Gyimigya (32.72 km2), Gyimigya (5.52 km2), Agyaka Manso (40.0 km2), Amuabaka (28.86 km2), and Nkronua-Atifi (24.97 km2) prospecting licenses. All licenses are being acquired as issued by the Minerals Commission from Goknet Mining Co. Ltd. pursuant to the terms of agreement with Goknet dated December 28, 2016.

The concessions were variously explored by Canadian exploration juniors Nevsun Resources, Tri-Star Gold, and Golden Rule Resources in the late 1990s and most recently by PMI Gold Corp. (now Galiano Gold) from 2002 through August 2014, when rights to the land were acquired by Goknet. ...

... For the remainder of the announcement:

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/05/28/2238368/0/en/Asante-Gold-Acquires-Key-Exploration-Land-on-Ashanti-and-Asankrangwa-Gold-Belts-Ghana.html


The result has been a squeeze that has driven the yields on some debt below zero, rendering swaths of the industry unprofitable and setting up a challenge for the Federal Reserve, which analysts say may have to weigh in to keep U.S. interest rates positive.

If government money market funds have to keep investing at zero percent, the economics of the industry "breaks down," said Christopher Tufts, global head of portfolio management for JPMorgan Asset Management’s money market business. "I wouldn't be surprised if funds start to limit investor subscriptions or close outright" to new money. 

"It's definitely not a pleasant place to operate at this red-hot moment," said Deborah Cunningham, chief investment officer of global liquidity markets at Federated Hermes, one of the world's largest money market fund managers. "There's really not much value anywhere." ...

... For the remainder of the report:

https://www.ft.com/content/0cff3e60-6591-493c-b85e-2d37d46f47a0

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