The book describes the developments that caused mutual funds to go from a virtually unknown financial product in the 1920s to the largest financial industry in the world today. It covers the formation of the first mutual funds in the roaring ’20s; how the 1929 stock market crash, a disaster for most financial institutions, spurred the growth of mutual funds; the establishment in 1934, over FDR's objection, of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency that regulates mutual funds; enactment of the Revenue Act of 1936, the tax law that saved mutual funds from extinction; passage ... More

The book describes the developments that caused mutual funds to go from a virtually unknown financial product in the 1920s to the largest financial industry in the world today. It covers the formation of the first mutual funds in the roaring ’20s; how the 1929 stock market crash, a disaster for most financial institutions, spurred the growth of mutual funds; the establishment in 1934, over FDR's objection, of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency that regulates mutual funds; enactment of the Revenue Act of 1936, the tax law that saved mutual funds from extinction; passage of the Investment Company Act of 1940, the constitution of the mutual fund industry; creation of money market funds, which totally transformed the U.S. financial system; the accidental development of 401(k) plans, which revolutionized the way Americans save for retirement; and the late trading and market timing abuses, the greatest scandal ever in the history of the fund industry. The author was personally involved in developments over the past forty years, and much of the book is a personal narrative regarding the people and events that have shaped the mutual fund industry.