Shareholders of Sentinel Investments' Government Money Market Fund saw their money change hands on Friday. Assets from the fund, which closed to new investments on October 12, have been transferred to Reich & Tang's U.S. Government Portfolio of the Daily Income Fund, an unaffiliated money market fund. The compounded funds share similarities in investment strategies and objectives, which reinforced the approval from the boards of both funds.

Investors should see yields raise and expenses shrink, going from 76 basis points to 52 bps, from the shift from the Sentinel's money market fund to the U.S. Government Income Portfolio, according to an SEC filing. Shareholders of the Sentinel Government Money Market Fund's class A and class B funds will receive shares of the institutional service class of the U.S. Government Portfolio. Sentinel is allowing investors who move shares to the Reich & Tang fund to reinvest those shares in other Sentinel funds after November 13, but currently, Sentinel offers no other funds with congruent strategies.

"This innovative solution creates an opportunity for Sentinel to continue to offer a money market fund option to their clients while leveraging the expertise and scale of a proven money fund manager," stated Michael Lydon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Reich & Tang Funds.

Sentinel will continue to provide record keeping and client services for its investors.

"This is not representative of a major trend," said Peter Crane, of Crane Research. "This doesn't indicate that people are getting out of the business, but little treasury funds would be the first to go."  

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