Local corporates are joining the international trend to greater use of money-market funds, according to Stanlib, one of the country’s leading providers of cash-management services to business.
The global move to money-market funds has been highlighted in a United Kingdom survey that reveals almost 50% of British corporates now regularly use this vehicle. The finding by the Association of Corporate Treasurers reflects a big increase on previous years and mirrors the United States pattern, where corporate money-market usage is practically universal.
“South Africa is catching up,” says Dylan Evans, institutional marketing director at Stanlib with overall responsibility for corporate cash management. “Money-market funds simplify cash management. Their convenience is reflected in their new European nickname, ‘liquidity funds’.”
Money-market funds give corporate treasurers more liquidity than fixed bank deposits (24 hours) plus attractive interest rates normally associated with longer-term fixed deposits.
“The priorities for corporate treasurers are security and yield,” says Evans. “Stanlib finds that some clients wish to confine their investments to the top five South African banks and AA-rated international banks. Others invest in government and parastatal issues and A-rated corporates.
“When it comes to yield versus security, our clients insist on security every time. All counterparties used by Stanlib are investment grade.”
In South Africa, it is not only corporates that use this new breed of “liquidity fund”. Government entities, parastatals, provincial and municipal bodies, universities, medical-aid schemes and retirement funds are all customers. Evans suspects low interest rates may have fed the growth in popularity.
He explains: “The market is hungry for yield. When the best bank-deposit call rates are around 6,75%, the extra 50 basis points offered by money-market vehicles become highly attractive.”
If European and US experience is any guide, the next development in the “liquidity fund” market will be enhanced cash funds. These funds invest a small portion of their assets in longer-dated government bonds, corporate bonds or preference shares.
Says Evans: “Worldwide, the corporate market is awash with cash, which helps explain why yields are so low. If a corporate can take a slightly longer-term view on its cash, as can a medical-aid scheme or retirement fund, then enhanced cash vehicles are the obvious next step. Some treasurers are definitely open to the concept of enhancing yield within strictly controlled risk parameters.”
However, Evans believes the growing success of the more conventional money-market fund is due to risk reduction as much as enhanced yields.
“A money market or ‘liquidity fund’ invests in a spread of counterparties, and at a stroke represents a reduction in risk for a corporate treasurer who previously might have placed deposits with only one or two banks.
“If you are an overstretched treasurer looking for a convenient, user-friendly product with a higher yield at lower risk, the money-market fund is ideal,” says Evans. — I-Net Bridge