Senate Trotskyite Has No Idea How Mutual Funds Work

David HarsanyiJuly 13, 2022

Here is Bernie Sanders, the most popular elected Democrat in the nation:

Today, in America, just three Wall Street firms – BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street – manage $22 trillion in assets. These three firms are major shareholders in more than 96 percent of S&P 500 companies. Obscene.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 11, 2022

It seems fairly concerning that the Democrats’ Budget Committee chairman doesn’t understand how mutual funds work or what fund managers do for a living. Of course index funds represent most of the market. But BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street are not “major shareholders in more than 96 percent of S&P 500,” or even “Wall Street” firms. They manage other people’s money and offer advice to tens of millions of investors with 401(k)s and IRAs.

Companies like Vanguard revolutionized investing with index funds, allowing small investors affordable access to the market — democratizing market participation, and funding personal and market growth. The average Vanguard account balance is $92,148; the median balance, $22,217.

Does Bernie want everyone who electronically transfers a few hundred bucks into a fund every month to hire a personal money manager and walk a sack of quarters down to the bank every month? Or does he just want the state to nationalize all retirement funds?

Because, while it’s true that most of these investors won’t be able to parlay their funds into lakefront dachas, it does give them a far better chance than if they relied on their measly return of Social Security. Well, at least, until government-induced inflation destroy everyone’s savings.

David Harsanyi is a senior editor at The Federalist. Harsanyi is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of five books—the most recent, Eurotrash: Why America Must Reject the Failed Ideas of a Dying Continent. His work has appeared in National Review, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Reason, New York Post, and numerous other publications. Follow him on Twitter, @davidharsanyi.