The Mutual Fund Industry 60 Years Later: For Better or Worse?

Abstract

The mutual fund industry has undergone tremendous change in the past 60 years. Total assets, number of funds, and fund costs have increased exponentially, whereas both the duration of the funds' portfolio holdings and the duration of their shareholders' holdings have tumbled. The industry's ownership of corporate stocks is at an all-time high, yet mutual fund managers have been noticeably absent from the corporate governance debate. This article details 10 fundamental changes that have taken place in the mutual fund industry since 1945 and finds that, in the aggregate, they have benefited mutual fund managers to the direct and commensurate detriment of mutual fund investors.

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