FirstFT: $286bn floods into money market funds

Cash market funds are swelling in March as traders pull deposits from banks, in keeping with knowledge supplier EPFR.

In whole, greater than $286bn has flooded into cash market funds up to now in March, making it the largest month of inflows because the Covid-19 disaster, EPFR knowledge discovered.

The most important winners are Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Constancy, with traders pouring money into US cash market funds over the previous two weeks because the collapse of two regional US banks and the rescue deal for Credit score Suisse raised considerations in regards to the security of financial institution deposits.

Right here’s a fast breakdown: Goldman’s US cash funds have taken in almost $52bn, a 13 per cent enhance, since March 9, the day earlier than Silicon Valley Financial institution was taken over by US authorities; JPMorgan’s funds acquired almost $46bn; and Constancy recorded inflows of just about $37bn, in keeping with iMoneyNet knowledge as of Friday morning.

The surge in flows this month helped push total belongings in cash funds to a file $5.1tn on Wednesday, in keeping with analysis from Financial institution of America.

Right here’s what else I’m preserving tabs on right now:

• Taiwan-China go to: Former Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou begins a historic 10-day visit to China right now, marking the primary go to by a sitting or former Taiwanese president to China.

• Finland and Nato: Hungary’s parliament will vote on whether or not to ratify Finland’s bid to affix Nato right now.

• Kamala Harris: US vice-president Kamala Harris is in Ghana for her first cease of a three-nation tour of Africa to deepen ties with the continent amid competitors from China and Russia.

What did you consider right now’s FirstFT? Tell us at firstft@ft.com. Thanks for studying.

5 extra high tales

1. Vladimir Putin plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, marking Moscow’s newest try to make use of the specter of a nuclear conflict to ramp up tensions with the US and Nato over the invasion of Ukraine.

2. Netanyahu sacks defence minister over refusal to again judicial reform. The combat over the bitterly contested proposals, which might considerably weaken the powers of the judiciary, has sparked the largest wave of protests in Israel for greater than a decade and plunged the nation right into a deep political disaster.

3. European ammunition maker says plant growth is dealing with a roadblock to the deliberate growth of its largest manufacturing unit as a result of a brand new knowledge centre for TikTok is using up all the spare electricity within the space.

4. Air India boss Campbell Wilson hails largest turnround effort within the airline’s historical past, as he outlined ambitions to show India into the next major aviation hub following an enormous order for brand new planes.

5. China’s richest county suffers an export droop as US stress hits factories. Taiwanese producers in Kunshan are slicing workers and wages and pushing orders overseas in response to falling exports, which had pushed China’s financial progress by way of the pandemic.

Information in depth

What does SVB’s collapse need to do with wine growers? Quite a bit, truly. SVB’s wine division has been a vital pillar to the wine sector, loaning out greater than $4bn to wineries since 1990 and publishing an annual State of the Wine Business report. When it collapsed, SVB was sitting on $1.2bn of winery loans. Now its purchasers fear about the place their funding will come from as they grapple with larger prices of doing enterprise and the worsening impacts of local weather change.

We’re additionally studying and listening to . . .

• Russia embraces renminbi: Russia has adopted the renminbi as one of many principal currencies for its worldwide reserves, in a uncommon instance of a rustic adopting the renminbi over the US greenback or euro. However it poses risks for Moscow given Beijing’s historical past of abrupt foreign money devaluations.

• Opinion: “The Tip Venture positively found that it’s un-Japanese,” writes FT Asia Enterprise Editor Leo Lewis in regards to the failed enterprise enterprise aimed toward beginning tipping culture in Japan.

• The celeb interview 🎧: This week, Lilah of the FT Weekend podcast compares notes on interviewing with podcaster Sam Fragoso, whose present Discuss Simple options in-depth conversations with some of the biggest names in culture like Cate Blanchett, Judd Apatow, and Noam Chomsky.

Chart of the day

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Suicide amongst these aged between 10 and 19 years outdated within the US surged by 45.5 per cent between 2010 and 2020, in keeping with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention. Whereas the jury continues to be out on a precise purpose why psychological well being has declined amongst youngsters, some lecturers level to a rising physique of analysis that they are saying is tough to disregard: that the proliferation of smartphones, high-speed web and social media apps are rewiring children’s brains and driving a rise in consuming issues, despair and nervousness.

Take a break from the information

How did a hard-hitting model of Scotland’s default lager discover a glamorous second life overseas? Tamlin Magee undertakes a liquid investigation into Italy’s love affair with Tennent’s Additional for FT Magazine’s Italy food and drink special.

Further contributions by Tee Zhuo and Emily Goldberg