1 min readThe SEC’s announcement last week that institutional prime money market funds will soon incorporate floating NAVs, along with potential fees and gates on liquidity during times of stress, ends nearly five years of discordant regulatory deliberations. During that time, Capital Advisors Group has been active in the assessment of money fund risks through our FundIQ®…
2 min readAbstract Greater vigilance is required of today’s treasury investment professionals. Neither bank deposits nor money market funds may be appropriate in the post-crisis, post-regulatory environment. As yields start to rise, cash investment strategy decisions that may have been delayed will require serious consideration. Direct purchases in separately managed accounts may become the primary alternative cash…
1 min readSurvey goal To shed light on treasury departments’ efforts to mitigate liquidity risk in short-term cash investment, debt and forecasting practices. What we’ve learned in 2014 Treasury and financial professionals appear to have begun to control bank exposures Decrease in bank deposits Firms seem to have increased the pace at which they negotiate and renegotiate…
1 min readThe evolution of risk management practices has been impressive over the last quarter century. The industry has gone from risk reports printed on curly fax paper to integrated counter party risk management systems. As practices have evolved, the complexities of risk management have evolved as well. To capture these trends, Capital Advisors Group along with…
1 min readCFOs, treasurers, analysts, and other financial management decision-makers have made in-roads in mitigating risk by increasing restrictions on which banks can hold their uninsured deposits and updating their investment policies frequently. But despite progress in both understanding and managing counterparty risk, many organizations still do not appear to have formal counterparty risk exposure policies or…
1 min readMoney market funds and bank deposits have been traditional sources of liquidity for corporations. However, the unlimited FDIC guarantee on non-interest bearing deposits expired more than a year ago and money market funds have come under scrutiny from both investors and regulators. With the SEC scheduled to announce its final regulatory changes this year, which…
1 min readAbstract Separate accounts may offer greater return and reduced credit risk compared to prime money market funds. By examining current and future liquidity needs and the potential for significant deviations from cash flow projections, corporate treasurers may construct portfolios with direct investments in high-quality credits that satisfy current, future and emergency liquidity needs – and…
1 min readAs 2013 closes and we pen our annual “Three Challenges in the Coming Year” research paper, I thought that a self-evaluation of our previous year’s views would make for an interesting exercise. Last year at this time, we cited acceleration in money fund reform, scarcity of eligible investments and the low rate environment as the…
2 min readAbstract We elaborate on three key challenges for corporate cash investors in 2014: the emergence of new financial regulations, anticipation of a steeper yield curve, and proliferation of innovative products. As a number of financial regulations reach the stage of implementation, short-duration investors will start to feel the impact of regulatory initiatives. Even though higher…
2 min readSummary Opinion Institutional Shareholder Perspective: We commend the Commission for tackling the tremendous task of analyzing mountains of data before putting forth the reform alternatives for public comment. We seek to weigh in on the subject from the perspective of an institutional asset manager. Penny Rounding for Shareholder Activities: We support the mandatory daily disclosure…