The Markets March 11, 2025

Money Market Fund Assets Hit Record $7T

In light of continued market volatility, investors appeared to move money into what they see as more stable investments

Reported by

Strong inflow into money market funds grew assets by $51 billion last week to reach $7.03 trillion, the Investment Company Institute reported.

In light of continued market volatility, investors appeared to move money into what they see as more stable investments during the week ending Wednesday, March 5, ICI reported.

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Within the record $7 trillion, assets of retail money market funds increased by $30.35 billion to $2.84 trillion, and assets of institutional money market funds increased by $20.80 billion to $4.19 trillion, according to ICI.

Included in the inflows, among taxable money market funds, government funds increased by $45.67 billion and prime funds increased by $8.30 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds decreased by $2.82 billion.

“Money market funds remain a popular investment product, having hit a record high of $7 trillion in assets under management,” said ICI’s chief economist, Shelly Antoniewicz, in a statement. “Recent strong inflows may be a response to the spike in volatility in the financial markets we’ve seen lately. With short-term interest rates still at elevated levels historically, money market funds—which pass earned interest on to their shareholders—are relatively more attractive to both institutional and retail investors.”

Compliance March 10, 2025

Chavez-DeRemer Confirmed as Secretary of Labor

The full Senate vote came after President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Labor was cleared by the HELP Committee last month.

Reported by

The U.S. Senate voted Monday to confirm Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon as secretary of labor under President Donald Trump. Senate members voted 67 to 32, with the nomination garnering broad support from Senate Democrats. 

Senators Rand Paul, R-Kentucky; Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky; and Tedd Budd, R-North Carolina, voted against Chavez-DeRemer’s confirmation to lead the Department of Labor. Senator John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, did not vote.

“IRI congratulates Secretary Chavez-DeRemer on her confirmation as President Trump’s Labor Secretary,” said Wayne Chopus, IRI’s president and CEO, in a statement. “We look forward to working with her and other Trump Administration officials, Congress, and stakeholders to expand access to workplace retirement plans and facilitate access to protected, guaranteed lifetime income solutions for Americas’ workers and retirees.”

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TIAA issued the following statement: “TIAA congratulates former Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer on her confirmation as U.S. Secretary of Labor. Her leadership comes at a critical moment brimming with the opportunity to improve retirement outcomes for American workers. We look forward to working together with Secretary Chavez-DeRemer, along with leadership at the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), to advance policies and unleash solutions that can enable more American workers to save for and achieve a financially secure retirement, from expanding access to workplace retirement plans to improving every worker’s access to lifetime retirement income.”

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted last month 14 to 9 to advance Chavez-DeRemer to the full Senate. Senators Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire; Tim Kaine, D-Virginia; and John Hickenlooper, D-Colorado, joined Republican committee members to support Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Labor.

At the time, the three Democratic members’ support offset a “no” vote from Paul, who previously criticized Chavez-DeRemer for her support, as a member of the House of Representatives representing Oregon’s 5th congressional district, of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2023, which sought to make it easier for workers to unionize.

However, Chavez-DeRemer said during her nomination hearing that she no longer supports the aspect of the PRO Act that would have overturned state right-to-work laws.

A nomination hearing for Daniel Aronowitz, Trump’s nominee for assistant secretary of labor to lead the Employee Benefits Security Administration, has yet to be scheduled.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations Vince Micone had served as acting secretary of labor since Trump’s January 21 inauguration.

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