The Fund history

The Boston Personal Property Trust, formed in 1893, was the first closed-end fund in the United States.

1924: First American open end fund, Massachusetts Investors' Trust in Boston

By 1929 there were 19 open-ended mutual funds competing with nearly 700 closed-end funds.

The ensuing round of 1930's financial legislation laid the groundwork for the contemporary mutual fund industry.

The Investment Company Act of 1940 followed.

The almost exclusive relationship the firm has with The Fund dates back to 1949.

By 1951 there were more than 100 mutual funds in existence, and 150 more funds were added over the next two decades.

At the close of the buoyant late 1960's stock markets, United States mutual funds held an average 87% of their assets in stocks.

1971: Bruce R. Bent established the first money market fund in the United States The Reserve Fund

The mutual fund industry had almost disappeared by the mid-70s, shredded by the 1973-74 stock bear market and plummeting bond prices.

The decade saw John Bogle create a unique mutualized mutual fund firm, Vanguard, in 1975.

John Rekenthaler has been researching the fund industry since 1988.

At the beginning of our tale, in 1998, Star Stock Manager Fund reigned supreme, boasting more assets than the other three funds combined.

Since 2001, such funds in aggregate have collectively faced redemptions, each and every year.

↑ Thomas Middleton (12/9/2003) Mutual Funds:The mutual fund scandal and you

Following the dot-com flameout and 2008 crash, investors became enamored with hedge fund-like strategies that could “make money in any environment.”

The performance profile is as you would expect, too: In 2017's strong rally, the fund racked up a more modest gain than the index.