Administration October 8, 2008

Fidelity, Vanguard, T. Rowe Price to Use Treasury Guarantee

October 8, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Fidelity Investments, Vanguard Group and T. Rowe Price Group said they are joining the U.S. Treasury Department's guarantee program for money market funds.
Reported by

The Wall Street Journal reports that this means all the major fund families will participate in the program (See Hartford to Participate in Money Market Guarantee Program ). Other late holdouts were Nationwide Funds and Van Kampen Investments, which said on Monday that their money-market funds will join the program. Wednesday is the deadline for funds to join.

“Fidelity and the trustees believe that it is in the interests of our fund shareholders to participate in the program,” Fidelity spokesman Adam Banker said in a statement, according to the WSJ. “Even though it is highly unlikely that the insurance will be needed for any of our funds, we expect the program to reassure our investors that their money-market funds will continue to provide safety and liquidity for their cash investments.”

Vanguard said the program should provide a “shot of confidence” to money market fund investors, according to the news report.

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