Within the world of corporate governance, there has hardly been a more important recent development than the rise of the ‘Big Three’ asset managers—Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors, and BlackRock. Due to the popularity of index funds and ETFs, these asset managers now represent some of the largest owners of US public companies. And because of their size and corporate governance influence, a robust scholarly literature has identified the promises and perils of Big Three ownership. In a new book chapter, we identify a series of proxies, or shorthand terms, that first appeared in the foundational works in this literature and have become commonplace in both scholarly articles and the financial press. We further show how this shorthand can contribute to misperceptions and confusion.
The first shorthand is the use of the term ‘Big Three’ to refer to three distinct asset managers. Each of the Big Three manage vast amounts of money in indexed products—amounts that have grown dramatically thanks to the rising popularity of index-based investing. However, there are important differences between each asset manager, both in terms of the composition of the assets they manage and their own institutional structure and operations (and our chapter describes these differences in detail). As such, it does not always make sense to lump these institutions together. The focus on these three institutions has also limited scholarly focus in important ways. For example, the term excludes Fidelity, even though it is larger than State Street in terms of AUM and has also benefitted from a steady inflow of investor funds over the past several years.
The second shorthand is to equate the Big Three with ‘passive’ funds. This misperception is widespread, with many papers—including prior work by one of us—studying the Big Three’s governance practices to better understand the incentives of passive fund managers. Although this shorthand can be useful under certain circ*mstances, we show that it has important limitations. After all, each of the Big Three also manage large amounts of active money, and the index funds that they offer are themselves far from hom*ogenous.
This brings us to the final shorthand—the idea that ‘index funds’ are all passive and interchangeable. We explore the limitations of this shorthand by showing that the concept of ‘passive investing’ is undertheorized, and that there is ample diversity across index funds. In other words, just as there are closet indexers, or active funds that are really quite ‘passive,’ index funds vary dramatically in terms of the discretion that is awarded to—and used by—portfolio managers, the fees that are levied, and the trading strategy that is used. As such, the active/passive dichotomy that is used both by scholars and portfolio managers to market their mutual funds obscures important features of this market.
The final section of our chapter discusses the implications of these observations for future scholarship. Taken together, they shed light on conversations about how the rise of ‘passive’ investing affects corporate governance. Beyond scholarly relevance, these observations matter for policymakers seeking to respond to these market developments with legislative action. For example, the INDEX Act, a bill recently introduced in the Senate, would require investment advisers to pass through the votes of ‘passively managed funds,’ defined as any fund that tracks an index or discloses that it is a passive fund or index fund. As we show, this definition sweeps ‘closet active’ funds under its umbrella.
Our analysis also sheds light on other pressing corporate governance conversations, and in particular, those about the growth and appropriate role of large asset managers. We chart these implications in further detail and highlight questions for future research.
Dorothy Lund is Associate Professor of Law at USC Gould School of Law.
Adriana Z. Robertson is the Donald N. Pritzker Professor of Business Law at the University of Chicago Law School.
This post is part of an OBLB series on Board-Shareholder Dialogue. The introductory post of the series is available here. Other posts in the series can be accessed fromthe OBLB series page.
FAQs
Using the Big Three as shorthand for BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street Global Advisors obscures differences and creates misunderstandings about the market. Investors and academics have often referred to BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street Global Advisors as the Big Three asset managers.
Who is the Big 3 fund manager? ›
Within the world of corporate governance, there has hardly been a more important recent development than the rise of the 'Big Three' asset managers—Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors, and BlackRock.
Who are the largest index asset managers? ›
Largest companies
| Rank | Firm/company | AUM (billion USD) |
|---|
| 1 | BlackRock | 9,090 |
| 2 | Vanguard Group | 7,600 |
| 3 | UBS | 5,710 |
| 4 | Fidelity Investments | 4,240 |
16 more rowsThe three largest index fund managers—BlackRock, Inc. (“BlackRock”); State Street Global Advisors, a division of State Street Corporation (“SSGA”); and the Vanguard Group (“Vanguard”)—collectively known as the “Big Three,” own an increasingly large proportion of American public companies.
Who are the big 3 BlackRock? ›
Large asset managers play an outsized role in the corporate governance of the largest U.S. public firms. The Big Three (BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street) collectively manage trillions of dollars of assets and own about a fifth of the average S&P 500 firm.
Which index fund does Warren Buffett own? ›
Warren Buffett has long recommended the S&P 500 index fund and ETF, and through his holding company Berkshire Hathaway, he also owns two of these types of investments: the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEMKT: SPY).
Who are the big three passive investors? ›
This burgeoning passive index fund industry is dominated by BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, which we call the 'Big Three'.
Who owns BlackRock? ›
BlackRock is not owned by a single individual or company. Instead, its shares are owned by a large number of individual and institutional investors. The biggest institutional shareholders such as The Vanguard Group and State Street are merely custodians of the stock for their clients.
Who is the largest ESG fund manager? ›
“BlackRock has been the biggest contributor of inflows into ESG funds over the past five years, including the past couple of years,” said Hortense Bioy, Morningstar's global director of sustainability research.
Who owns BlackRock and Vanguard? ›
Who owns BlackRock? BlackRock is publicly owned, with its shares held by various shareholders, including institutional investors like Vanguard Group and State Street Corporation and individual shareholders. The specifics of these shareholders can change over time.
BlackRock is the world's largest investment manager, with $10 trillion of assets under management. There's a lot of misunderstanding about the companies BlackRock owns and what it does. The company owns several investment management and technology platforms.
How many portfolio managers beat the S&P 500? ›
The SPIVA scorecard found that just 40% of large-cap fund managers outperformed the S&P 500 in 2023 once you factor in fees. So if the odds of outperforming fall to 40-60 for a single year, you can see how the odds of beating the index consistently over the long run could go way down.
Who owns Vanguard? ›
Vanguard set out in 1975 under a radical ownership structure that remains unique in the asset management industry. Our company is owned by its member funds, which in turn are owned by fund shareholders. With no outside owners to satisfy, we focus squarely on meeting the investment needs of our clients.
Who owns 89 of the S&P 500? ›
One of either Blackrock, Vanguard, or State Street is the largest shareholder in 88% of S&P 500 companies. They are the three largest owners of most DOW 30 companies. Overall, institutional investors (which may offer both active and passive funds) own 80% of all stock in the S&P 500.
Is Vanguard the largest shareholder in BlackRock? ›
BlackRock and Vanguard are two of the Big three passive fund asset management firms. The third, State Street, is owned by BlackRock -whose largest shareholder is Vanguard.
Who manages the S&P 500 index fund? ›
The S&P 500 is maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices, a joint venture majority-owned by S&P Global, and its components are selected by a committee.
Who is the godfather of index funds? ›
John Bogle was an investor and founder of the Vanguard Group, one of the largest investment firms in the world. Bogle created index investing, which allows investors to buy mutual funds that track the broader market.
