Investor Cash Allocation Remains at a Record Low

Data recently released by the Investment Company Institute reveal yet another month in which investors' allocation to cash fell again, to another record low. Needless to say, this data doesn't quite fit with the "cash on the sidelines" argument.

In the below chart we show total equity mutual fund and ETF assets as a percent of total money market assets (blue line) and also just total equity mutual fund assets as a percent of total money market assets (red line). The previous two peaks in equity mutual fund assets as a percent of total money market assets occurred in the 2.6-2.7x range. Today equity mutual fund assets are 3x money market assets and have leapt all the way to 3.75x when we include ETF assets.