Prudential Financial has announced that the retail mutual fund board of directors/trustees for the eligible JennisonDryden and Target mutual funds, and the Prudential Institutional Liquidity Portfolio, extended the funds’ participation in the US Treasury Department’s temporary guarantee programme for money market mutual funds.
The programme, developed in response to recent market volatility and temporary dislocations in credit markets, provides a temporary guarantee to a shareholder in a participating money market fund as of the close of business on September 19, 2008 up to the number of shares owned on that date.
The Treasury Department recently extended the programme until September 18, 2009, to support ongoing stability in the markets. The programme had been set to expire on April 30, 2009.
The temporary guarantee is triggered if a participating fund’s market-based net asset value “breaks the buck” — falls below $0.995 — and the fund is liquidated. Any increase in the number of shares held in an account after the close of business on September 19, 2008, will not be guaranteed.
If the number of shares held in an account fluctuates over the period, investors will be covered for either the number of shares held as of the close of business on September 19, 2008, or the current amount, whichever is less. If a customer closes his or her fund account, any future investment in the fund through a new account will not be guaranteed.
Funds participating in the programme include: MoneyMart Assets; Dryden Money Market Fund; Dryden Government Securities Trust/Money Market Series; Cash Accumulation Trust/Liquid Assets Fund; Target Portfolio Trust/US Government Money Market Portfolio; and Prudential Institutional Liquidity Portfolio/Institutional Money Market Series.
While the programme provides coverage to the accounts of certain investors, each money market fund decides whether or not it wants to sign up. Investors cannot sign up for the programme individually.
