At Least 10 Fund Companies Sign Up for Money Market Guarantee

So far, more than 10 mutual fund companies are signed up for the Treasury's $50 billion guarantee program for money market funds, including BlackRock, Charles Schwab, Dreyfus, Evergreen, Federated, First American, Invesco AIM, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Putnam, TCW, and Legg Mason's Western Asset Management. Other fund companies are expected to sign on before the deadline today, according to the New York Times.

The program, which is open to all publicly offered U.S. money market funds that pay a fee to participate, insures investors' holdings for three months, although it may be extended through Sept. 18, 2009, according to the Treasury.

The guarantee applies only to balances held as of September 19. It doesn't apply to investors in the Reserve Primary Fund, which broke the buck on September 16, then froze accounts. On Monday, Reserve Management Corp. announced it will liquidate the fund.

According to the WSJ, asset managers who say they're still considering the plan include:

• American Century, which is likely to participate but hasn't made a final decision

• Fidelity Investments and Oppenheimer Funds

• Alpine Woods Capital Investors

• Vanguard Group