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A comment on Study Says World's Stocks Controlled by Select Few. Parent comment

Re:Study Says World's Stocks Controlled by Select Few by iamwil on Saturday August 29, 2009 @07:53AM (#793071)
Aren't some of the mutual funds managed by one person (or a few people?) in a place like Vanguard or Fidelity?

I read 'control' to mean who decided to buy that stock, rather than who put in the money, since the former affects the stock price.

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Re:Study Says World's Stocks Controlled by Select Few by gaius on Saturday August 29, 2009 @08:08AM (#793084)
'Manage' is the right word; an individual with money in a mutual fund has control in the sense that he or she can withdraw the money at any time if they disagree with the fund manager's decision.

Incidentally Vanguard et al have no managers in that sense either - they just track the indices.

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Re:Study Says World's Stocks Controlled by Select Few by bsaunder on Saturday August 29, 2009 @09:16AM (#793137)
they just track the indices

I don't think that's right. Only the specific funds (e.g. the Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFINX)) that say they track the indices do that (and generally charge a lower 'management' fee). Most funds (e.g. the Vanguard Capital Value Fund (VCVLX)) try to beat the indices, charge higher fees and have a range of things they are allowed to buy. There's the control.

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Re:Study Says World's Stocks Controlled by Select Few by e40 on Saturday August 29, 2009 @10:29AM (#793203)
"Incidentally Vanguard et al have no managers in that sense either - they just track the indices."

From the wikipedia page (which lines up with my knowledge): Since its founding in 1975, Vanguard has grown to become the world’s largest pure no-load mutual fund company. While mostly known for its low-cost index funds, Vanguard also offers a variety of low-cost, actively managed mutual funds and a line of exchange-traded funds (originally branded as VIPERs.) Vanguard also provides brokerage services, variable and fixed annuities, educational account services, financial planning, asset management, and trust services.

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Re:Study Says World's Stocks Controlled by Select Few by loltrader on Saturday August 29, 2009 @11:22AM (#793261)
"track the indices"

I believe you mean that their managed funds use an index as a benchmark.

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