Major players

Individual investors hold a very small portion of securities on the world, as the vast majority is held by institutions and companies. These organizations influence the direction of the markets just by their dimension, as they can move the offer and demand with their acquisitions and sales.

Due to the democratization of the markets and easy access to securities, today’s major players are investment funds, as they provide multiple funds, segregated from securities, geography, industry, capital distribution, ESG compliance, and many other factors. On this article, we’ll explore the biggest investment funds (by Assets Under Management) and people related to them.

5. J.P.Morgan Asset Management (3.7$ Trillion AUM)

Apart from being the biggest bank in the USA, J.P.Morgan is the number 5 biggest asset manager in the world. Founded in 1974, J.P.Morgan Asset Management is an asset manager based in New York. The firm provides its services to financial intermediaries, individuals, insurance and mutual fund companies. The most relevant investment funds provided by J.P. Morgan are:

• J.P.Morgan Large Cap Growth Fund (OLGAX), invests in stocks, with 119.62bn, founded in 1992, headed by Giri Devulapally, since 2004. Holds 73 securities: 11.2% in NVIDIA, 10.9% in Microsoft, 6.2% in Meta, 4.6% in AMAZON, 4.5% in Apple, 4.1% in Broadcom and 3.6% Netflix.

• J.P.Morgan Core Bond Fund (PGBOX), invests in bonds, with 49.83bn, founded in 1991, headed by Richard Figuly, since 2016. Holds 3657 securities: 42.2% in Treasury bills, 28.6% in Mortgage Agencies and 25.8% in corporate bonds. The credit ratings are 24.2% AAA and 43.8% AA.

• J.P.Morgan Equity Income Fund (OIEIX), invests in stocks, with 43.42bn, founded in 1987, co-headed by David Silberman and Andrew Brandon, both on the fund since 2020. Holds 85 securities: 3.9% in Wells Fargo, 3.0% in Bank of America, 2.5% in Charles Schwab, 2.5% in Philips Morris International, 2.2% in Microsoft, 2.1% in Eaton Corp., 2.0% in Air Products and Chemicals and 2.0% in American Express.

4. State Street Global Advisors (4.7$ Trillion AUM)

State Street Global Advisors is the creator of the first US ETFs, the SPDR. Founded in 1978 in Boston as the asset management arm of State Street Corporation, as a subsidiary of State Street Bank and Trust Company. The largest funds/trusts are the following:

• SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), widely regarded as one of the best funds in the world, representing the 500 biggest US stocks, with 661.2bn, founded in 1993. The objective of the fund is to mimic the markets by following the Standard and Poors’ 500 biggest companies.

• Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK), focused on the technology sector, is the second largest fund managed by State Street, with 84.18bn, founded in 1998, co-headed by Karl Schneider and David Chin since 2017. Holds 70 securities: 16.3% in NVIDIA, 14.2% in Microsoft, 12.4% in Apple, 5.2% in Broadcom, 3.9% in Oracle and 3.71% in Palantir.

• SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), invests in gold bars, with 103.6bn, founded in 2004. It is a Trust under US law, so the participations represent gold in it’s pure value that is stored in physical warehouses.

3. Fidelity Investments (5.9$ Trillion AUM)

Fidelity Management and Research, later renamed Fidelity Investments, is an asset management company based in Bost, was founded in 1946 by Edward Johnson II. CEO Abigail Johnson, granddaughter of founder, and her family and affiliates own a roughly 40% interest in the company. The remainder is owned by current and former executives Their largest funds are the following:

• Fidelity 500 Index Fund (FXAIX), is an index fund that tracks the market through S&P 500 companies, with 681.8bn, founded in 2011, co-headed by Louis Bottari, Peter Matthew, Robert Regan, Payal Gupta and Navid Sohrabi.

• Fidelity Government Money Market Fund (SPAXX), is a mutual fund that manages money market assets, such as treasury bills, municipal bills and corporate short-term bills, with 406.1bn, founded in 2021.

• Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX), is an active-managed mutual fund that invests in securities they believe are not widely regarded by other investors, with 173.4bn, founded in 1967, headed by William Danoff. Holds 358 securities: 18.1% in Meta, 8.9% in NVIDIA, 8.2% in Berkshire Hathaway, 6.2% in Amazon, 5.2% in Microsoft and 3.1% in Netflix.

2. The Vanguard Group (10.1$ Trillion AUM)

Based in Pennsylvania and founded in 1975 by John C. Bogle, is the largest provider of mutual funds and second-largest provider of ETFs. Vanguard is owned by it’s own funds, so in a sense it’s also owned by the customers.

• Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTSAX), which tracks the total US stock market, being it small caps, medium caps or big caps, with 1.9T, founded in 2000, headed by Gerard O’Reilly. There’s an ETF counterpart that tracks the same market, called Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTI). Holds 3540 securities: 6.2% in Microsoft, 6.1% in NVIDIA, 5.1% in Apple, 3.5% in Amazon, 2.7% in Meta and 2.2% in Broadcom.

• Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares (VFIAX), which tracks the S&P 500, with 1.3T, founded in 2000, headed by Michelle Louie.

• Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTIAX), which invests in global equities outside the USA, with 505.7bn, founded in 2010, co-headed by Michael Perre and Christine D. Franquin. Holds 8510 securities: 2.5% in Taiwan Semiconductor, 1.1% in Tencent, 0.9% in ASML, 0.9% in SAP, 0.7% in Alibaba, 0.7% in Nestle, 0.6% in Roche, 0.6% in Novartis and 0.6% in Novo Nordisk.

1. BlackRock Inc. (11.6$ Trillion AUM)

The largest asset manager in the world is BlackRock, founded in 1988 by Larry Fink, Robert Kapito and Susan Wagner. Known for their ETF trademark – iShares -, which they bought from Barclays in 2009. The initial funding was made by Blackstone (alternative investment management company) along with the founders, but later Blackstone sold their stake on BlackRock.

• iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV), which tracks the S&P 500, with 660.4bn, founded in 2000, co-headed by Jennifer Hsui and Greg Savage.

• iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA), which invests in developed markets outside the US and Canada, with 148.8bn, founded in 2012, co-headed by Jennifer Hsui and Greg Savage. Holds 2597 securities: 1.4% in SAP, 1.3% in ASML, 1.1% in Nestle, 1.0% in AstraZeneca, 1.0% in HSBC, 1.0% in Novartis, 1.0% in Roche, 1.0% in Shell and 0.9% in Siemens.

• iShares Core US Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG), which invests in bond markets, with 129.1bn, founded in 2003, co-headed by James Mauro and Karen Uyehara. Holds 12655 securities such as US Treasury Bills and Notes, with 2.4% in AAA score, 73.5% in AA score and 11.9% in A score.

• iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG), which invests in emerging stock markets, with 102.2bn, founded in 2012, co-headed by Jennifer Hsui and Greg Savage. Holds 2673 securities: 9.2% in Taiwan Semiconductor, 4.4% in Tencent, 2.4% in Alibaba, 2.3% in Samsung, 1.2% in HDFC Bank, 1.1% in Xiaomi.

In conclusion

We could name many more asset managers, such as AXA, UBS and others, as there are a plethora of them and the number will continue to grow. These players, due to their dimensions, play a significant part on market moves and their actions and decisions affect every major listed company in the world. Individual investors must be cautious when investing to take account these players tendencies and create strategies in order to keep their portfolio safe.