FILE PHOTO: An employee walks past a company logo at Northern Trust offices in London, Britain August 1, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville
BOSTON (Reuters) – Northern Trust Corp’s decision to liquidate a $1.8-billion prime money market fund was seen as an outlier event by industry analysts on Wednesday, but one that could portend more problems depending on how the economy fares.
Money has rushed back into prime funds since the sector suffered major withdrawals in March, according to figures from researcher Peter Crane. Total prime fund assets stand at $1.1 trillion, with less than $1 billion of net customer withdrawals for the year to date.
One fund that has not seemed to benefit from the comeback is Northern Trust’s (NTRS.O) Prime Obligations Fund (NPAXX.O) which recently had close to $4 billion in assets.
In filings on Monday, the company said its fund board determined to liquidate and terminate Prime Obligations around July 10, and return money to shareholders, with the action…
