Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Investor Protection
- The Cambridge Handbook of Investor Protection
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Continuity and Change in Investor Protection
- Part I Institutionalization and Investor Protection
- 1 The Financialization of Corporate Governance
- 2 “Public” Mutual Funds
- 3 The Overlooked Effects of Passive Management
- 4 Retail Investor Protection and Empowerment: Reflections from the European Union
- 5 Which Investors to Protect?
- Part II The Scope of Investor Protection Regulation
- Part III The Regulation of Market Professionals
- Part IV Alternative Regulatory Regimes
- Index
2 - “Public” Mutual Funds
from Part I - Institutionalization and Investor Protection
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 October 2022
- The Cambridge Handbook of Investor Protection
- The Cambridge Handbook of Investor Protection
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Continuity and Change in Investor Protection
- Part I Institutionalization and Investor Protection
- 1 The Financialization of Corporate Governance
- 2 “Public” Mutual Funds
- 3 The Overlooked Effects of Passive Management
- 4 Retail Investor Protection and Empowerment: Reflections from the European Union
- 5 Which Investors to Protect?
- Part II The Scope of Investor Protection Regulation
- Part III The Regulation of Market Professionals
- Part IV Alternative Regulatory Regimes
- Index
Summary
The rise of mutual funds has been a defining trend in finance. Unlike many financial innovations, they have greatly improved the financial well-being of retail investors, many of whom invest in mutual funds to save for retirement.2 Over the last forty years, the bulk of retail investors have shifted from owning stocks directly in companies to holding them through these financial intermediaries.3 This is a foremost example of economic theory impacting behavior and bettering peoples’ lives. Finance theory teaches the value of a diversified portfolio. Mutual funds offer diversification otherwise unobtainable to typical investors. Finance theory also teaches that investors, on average, cannot earn returns in excess of the market.4 Through passively managed funds (i.e., index funds), investors can own a portfolio that simply tracks an index of securities. This frees them from fruitless stock-picking and the unnecessary fees finance professionals charge for it.5
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of Investor Protection , pp. 40 - 59Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022