The Emergence of Universal Owners

THE United States the growth of institutional investors (public and cooperative pension funds, corporate and union pension funds, mutual funds and bank trusts) over the past twenty-five years has concentrated a substantial amount of corporate equity in the hands of a relatively small number of fiduciary institutions.1 This change in the ownership structure from individuals who held about 75 percent of stock in the early 1970s to institutional owners that currently own almost 60 percent of the largest 1,000 U.S. firms reflects the growth of various forms of indirect ownership (e.g., mutual funds) and beneficial claims