Alibaba’s money market fund, Yu’e Bao, has become the largest money market fund in the world. The e-commerce giant's payments affiliate, Ant Financial, moved into fund management when it spotted the amounts of cash growing in its customers’ accounts.
According to the Financial Times, the four-year-old Yu’e Bao fund grew 41 percent in the first quarter, breaking 165 billion US dollars. It surpassed JPMorgan’s US government money market fund, which is worth 150 billion US dollars, to become the world’s largest.
The growth of Yu'e Bao comes as low interest rates put pressure on other money market funds. With over 300 million users, its sheer size allows the fund to offer a better rate of return of nearly four percent.
