NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitch Ratings has assigned the following rating to a tax exempt money market fund managed by Wells Fargo Funds Management, LLC. (WFFM).
--Wells Fargo Advantage National Tax Free Money Market Fund 'AAAmmf'.
The assigned 'AAAmmf' rating reflects the fund's extremely strong capacity to achieve its investment objective of preserving capital and providing shareholder liquidity through limiting credit, market and liquidity risks. The main drivers of the 'AAAmmf' rating are the credit quality, diversification, and liquidity of the portfolio assets and the capabilities and resources of WFFM as investment advisor. As of Aug. 18, 2011, the fund had approximately $4.5 billion in total assets under management.
The Wells Fargo Advantage National Tax Free Money Market Fund seeks current income exempt from federal income tax, while preserving capital and liquidity. The fund pursues its investment objectives by investing in a portfolio of high-quality, short-term municipal obligations that are issued by or on behalf of states, territories and possessions of the U.S. or their political subdivisions and financing authorities. These investments may have fixed, floating, or variable rates of interest, and typically include variable rate demand notes (VRDNs) putable to a third party financial institution in seven days or less, or other municipal bonds/notes. At least 80% of the Fund's net assets are invested in municipal obligations that pay interest exempt from federal income tax and federal alternative minimum tax (AMT). Consistent with Fitch's 'AAAmmf' rating criteria, the fund maintains a high credit quality by investing exclusively in securities rated at least 'A/F1' or equivalent.
The fund seeks to limit interest rate exposure and spread risk by limiting its weighted average maturity to reset date (WAMr) and weighted average final maturity (WAMf) to 60 days and 120 days, respectively, consistent with Fitch's 'AAAmmf' rating criteria. As of Aug. 18, 2011 the fund had a WAMr of 10 days and a WAMf of 10 days.
The fund's additional investment restrictions are aimed at maintaining sufficient levels of daily and weekly liquidity to meet investors' redemption requests. In line with amended Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, which governs the investment activities and operations of U.S. money market funds, the fund must invest at least 30% of total assets in weekly liquid assets. As of Aug. 18, 2011, the fund met the liquidity requirements mandated by Rule 2a-7 and was also in line with the liquidity guidelines outlined in Fitch's rating criteria.
The rating may be sensitive to material changes in the credit quality or market risk profiles of the fund. A material adverse deviation from Fitch guidelines for any key rating driver could cause the rating to be lowered by Fitch. For additional information about Fitch's money market fund ratings guidelines, please review the criteria referenced below, which can be found on Fitch's web site at 'www.fitchratings.com'.
WFFM, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Company, manages the fund's investment operations. As of March, 2010, WFFM had more than $184 billion in assets and employed over 350 investment professionals. Wells Fargo & Company is headquartered in San Francisco and is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and deposits.
Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'.
The sources of information used to assess this rating were the public domain and WFFM.
Applicable Criteria and Related Research:
--'Global Money Market Fund Rating Criteria' (April 4, 2011).
Applicable Criteria and Related Research:
Global Money Market Fund Rating Criteria
http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=614345
ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE.