GlynHolton

Video Friday: The First Mutual Funds

GlynHoltonGlyn Holton interviews Michael Yogg, author of the new book Passion for Reality: The Extraordinary Life of the Investing Pioneer Paul Cabot (Columbia Business School Publishing). Its about Paul Cabot, a pioneer of the mutual fund industry. In 1920s Boston, Cabot cofounded State Street Investment Corporation, one of the first open-ended mutual funds.

Fundamental research and actually visiting the companies he invested in, what a concept. Those first mutual funds may have some lessons for today’s. Interesting to learn of the practices of early funds and fiduciary practices. From GlynHolton.com, a blog about risk.

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4 Responses to Video Friday: The First Mutual Funds

  1. Michael R. Yogg 05/09/2014 at 2:46 pm #

    Writing as the author of Passion for Reality, I’d like readers to know why Paul Cabot is relevant today: putting clients first; rigorous fundamental research; passion for performance; absolute honesty and transparency; outraged by corruption; interest in the welfare of the financial system and the country.

  2. James McRitchie 05/09/2014 at 1:04 pm #

    Thanks for the comment Michael. I thought it was a very interesting interview. We need a few more people like Paul Cabot around today. It is amazing what a few people can accomplish.

    • Glyn Holton 05/09/2014 at 1:54 pm #

      John Bogle contributed a foreword to the book, which is outstanding …. an insider’s view of the history of mutual funds. He actually has some mild criticisms of Cabot’s ethics … Cabot had taken the moral high ground, arguing that mutual fund trustees worked for investors, a role they couldn’t “sell” to someone else. That went by the wayside when Cabot and his partners sold State Street to MetLife. Cabot was human, I suppose …

      Yogg’s book — and Bogle’s foreword especially — highlight with history some serious conflicts of interest in today’s mutual funds.

    • Michael R. Yogg 05/11/2014 at 7:39 pm #

      Thanks James,
      Michael Yogg

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