Research and Analysis

Beyond the News: Strong Growth in Public Funds Assets, But What's Next?

By Marty Margolis on January 23, 2025

State and local government investment assets grew by nearly 14% in the 12 months ended September 30, 2024, according to recently released Federal Reserve data. The growth rate is far higher than the overall pace of economic growth or the rate of growth in tax revenue in this period and seems to be a result […]

Research Note: Commercial Paper Market Should be More Resilient After Money Fund Reforms

By Marty Margolis on December 3, 2024

Commercial paper is a core holding of many state and local government investment portfolios. It provides a yield boost to separately managed portfolios and prime-based local government investment pools. The commercial paper market is a bit finicky: If you are a buyer there is little flex: you generally receive the rate posted by issuers. If […]

The Next Chapter: Three Post-Election Policy Moves that Should Command Your Attention

By Marty Margolis on November 14, 2024

With the election over, here is a quick flyover of three policy moves that could alter the playing field for state and local government investors: Crypto. Years of hype. rocketing (and volatile) returns on some crypto assets and pressure from the tech industry have brought crypto to the main stage, even if their utility in […]

Research Note: Why Some investors May Choose an LGIP in a Declining Interest Rate Market

By Marty Margolis on October 1, 2024

Cash has been king for the past three years as rising interest rates boosted LGIP and money fund returns and depressed returns on longer duration investments like short term Treasury notes. Now that the Federal Reserve has shifted its policy to reducing rates there is a view that keeping large cash balances in an LGIP […]

New Research Report Details the Role of State-Sponsored Local Government Investment Pools as the Foundation of a $900 Billion Industry

By Marty Margolis on July 24, 2024

A new research report by the Public Funds Investment Institute details the role of state treasurer-sponsored local government investment pools as a foundation of the $900 billion industry that provides money market-like investments to state and local governments. State treasurers in 32 states offer these funds and their assets total nearly $700 billion. Local-sponsored LGIPs with an estimated $200 billion […]

Cash and Short-Term Portfolios Had Strong Returns in the First Half of the Year

By Marty Margolis on July 9, 2024

The PFII Investment Dashboard has been updated through quarter-end and reflects a couple of interesting market dynamics. The 1-3-year model portfolio yield to maturity of 4.95% at the end of the quarter reflects this. The model portfolio also benefitted from holding corporate obligations. Thirty percent of the portfolio is invested in investment grade credit which […]

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Key metrics and trends in the public funds investment market.