I've got a quick and very remedial question, and this seems as likely a place to get a knowledgeable answer as any. I kind of blindly plunk down my portfolio cash into a money market fund and forget about it. I somehow stumbled across an article from last summer that singled my exact money market fund out as an example of a "ticking time bomb" and pinned the blame on its exposure to SIVs.

The 85 page annual report spends considerable time explaining to me that it's a virtual lock any investment I make in this vehicle will be worth nothing by next week... maybe sooner. The list of holdings is 8 pages of fine print detailing specific short term paper they're invested (all of which appears to be paying considerably higher rates than my fund returns to me). I have no ability to decipher all this, and wonder if there's any risk here that I'm not aware of. My aim with a money market fund is to have a liquid, safe place for cash that pays me a reasonable interest rate. It's liquid... it pays some interest... is it safe? I think so, but I really can't judge that myself. Apparently the ARSs that many of my companies hold cash in were considered safe... until they weren't.

Does anybody have any thoughts? Any ideas for sizing up any potential risk?

Thanks in advance.
kevin

At the end of the third quarter last year my fund was invested in...

Fixed Rate
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45.9% Corporate paper and other corporate obligations
25.5% CDs
01.9% bank notes
00.6% promissory note

Variable Rate
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15.9% variable rate obligations