US money market funds are taking a shine to Australian banks once again, with National Australia Bank the main beneficiary.Analysis by Fitch Ratings of US prime money market fund holdings shows that the funds' exposure to Australian banks is now equal to 8.9 per cent of fund assets and is at their their highest level in a year.NAB sources 4.5 per cent of its funding from the US money market funds, Fitch said, up one percentage point from the middle of 2012.
Westpac is the only other Australian name to feature in the Fitch list of the 15 largest banks sourcing funding from US money market funds. Investments in short-term Westpac paper represented 2.2 per cent of fund holdings.NAB accounted for 3.2 per cent of fund holdings, Fitch said.