Form N-MFP: The Money Market Fund Holdings Report

Key Takeaways

• Form N-MFP is the monthly portfolio holdings report every registered money market fund must file with the SEC.
• The filing is due no later than the fifth business day of each month, current as of the prior month-end.
• Most fund holdings filings are public, but Form N-MFP data is released to the public 60 days later.
• Investors and analysts use it to judge a fund's liquidity, credit quality, and exposure to a single issuer.

What It Is

Form N-MFP is a structured data report that money market funds file under Rule 30b1-7 of the Investment Company Act of 1940. A money market fund is a mutual fund that invests in very short-term debt and aims to hold a stable share price, usually one dollar.

Every registered open-end fund regulated as a money market fund, including each series within a fund family, must file the report monthly. The data is submitted in a machine-readable format so the SEC can aggregate it across the whole industry rather than reading thousands of separate documents.

The Intuition

Money market funds promise safety and instant access to cash, so a sudden wave of redemptions can force a fund to sell assets at a loss and "break the buck," meaning its share price falls below one dollar. That happened in 2008 and triggered emergency government support.

Regulators wanted a near real-time window into what these funds actually hold so they could spot building stress before it becomes a crisis. Form N-MFP is that window. By collecting standardized data every month, the SEC can see which funds are crowded into the same issuers, how much matures within a week, and where credit risk is concentrated.

How the Form N-MFP Money Market Fund Filing Works

A fund files Form N-MFP no later than the fifth business day of each month, with the data current as of the last business day of the prior month. The form is divided into general fund information and a detailed schedule of every portfolio security.

For each holding the fund reports a long list of fields, including:

• Issuer name and the security's CUSIP or Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)
• Category of investment, such as Treasury debt or commercial paper
• Total principal amount held and its current value
• Maturity dates used to measure interest-rate and liquidity risk
• Whether the security counts toward daily or weekly liquid assets

The fund also reports portfolio-level figures such as the weighted average maturity, the percentage of assets that are daily and weekly liquid, and net shareholder flows. The SEC reviews this data continuously, but it does not publish each filing right away. The information becomes public 60 days after the month-end it covers, which protects funds from having their exact positions front-run while still giving the market eventual transparency.

Worked Example

Suppose a prime money market fund holds 200 million dollars in assets at the end of April. On Form N-MFP it would list each position line by line. One line might show 15 million dollars of commercial paper issued by a single bank, due in 12 days. Because that matures in more than 5 business days, it would not count toward the fund's weekly liquid assets, though a 4-day Treasury bill on another line would. Sorting holdings into those liquidity buckets is exactly what the form forces the fund to get right.

The fund then reports that, say, 35 percent of assets are weekly liquid and the weighted average maturity is 28 days. An analyst reading the June release of that April data can see whether the fund has enough near-cash to meet a redemption spike. If weekly liquid assets had dropped sharply month over month, that trend would stand out across consecutive filings.

Common Mistakes

1. Assuming the data is current. Form N-MFP is published with a 60-day lag. By the time you read it, the fund's holdings may have changed. Use it to study patterns and structure, not to react to today's market.

2. Confusing it with a fund's prospectus or annual report. Form N-MFP is regulatory data filed monthly. It is far more granular and frequent than the shareholder reports a fund mails you.

3. Ignoring the liquidity fields. The headline yield matters less than the daily and weekly liquid asset percentages. Those numbers tell you whether the fund can survive a run.

4. Treating all money market funds as identical. Government funds, prime funds, and municipal funds carry very different credit and liquidity profiles. The form reveals those differences if you read the holdings.

5. Overlooking issuer concentration. A fund spread thinly across many issuers is sturdier than one with large positions in a handful of names. The line-item detail in Form N-MFP makes that concentration visible.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Form N-MFP money market fund report in simple terms? It is the monthly Form N-MFP money market fund report that a fund files with the SEC listing every security it holds. The report shows the fund's holdings, maturities, and how much of its money is in near-cash assets.

How does Form N-MFP affect investment decisions? It lets you check a fund's liquidity and credit quality before trusting it with your cash. You can compare the weekly liquid asset percentage and issuer concentration across funds rather than relying only on the advertised yield.

What is a real-world example of Form N-MFP being useful? After the 2008 crisis, regulators lacked timely data on fund holdings. Form N-MFP was created so that, in a future stress event, the SEC can see across all funds which issuers and maturities are crowded.

How can investors use Form N-MFP effectively? Read the filing across several months to spot trends rather than a single snapshot. Focus on the weekly liquid asset ratio and the largest issuer positions, since those drive how a fund behaves in a redemption wave.

How is Form N-MFP different from a fund prospectus? The prospectus describes a fund's strategy and rules in plain language and rarely changes. Form N-MFP is granular regulatory data filed every month showing the actual securities held.

Sources

1. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. "Form N-MFP." https://www.sec.gov/files/formn-mfp.pdf
2. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. "Money Market Funds: Staff Responses to Questions about Information Filed on Form N-MFP." https://www.sec.gov/rules-regulations/staff-guidance/investment-management-information-guidance-updates/money-market-funds-staff-responses-questions-about-information-filed-form-n-mfp
3. Federal Register. "Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Extension: Form N-MFP and Rule 30b1-7." https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/06/06/2022-12018/submission-for-omb-review-comment-request-extension-form-n-mfp-and-rule-30b1-7
4. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. "Money Market Fund Reform." https://sec.gov/rules/2010/02/money-market-fund-reform

Disclaimer

This article is educational content only and is not financial advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. Consult a licensed advisor before making investment decisions.