Index Money Heist Page

Is the rise of indexing the greatest democratization of wealth in history? Or is it a slow-motion heist where the exits are hidden, the valuations are absurd, and the only winners are the giant asset managers like BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street?

For years, indexing was a joke. "Mediocrity," the active managers sneered. But a funny thing happened on the way to the twenty-first century: the vast majority of active managers failed to beat their benchmarks after fees. Year after year, decade after decade, the S&P 500 crushed star managers. index money heist

The heist began when money started flowing out of expensive active funds and into cheap passive index funds at an accelerating rate. As of 2024, passive index funds (ETFs and mutual funds) now control over in assets, surpassing active funds in the U.S. for the first time. Is the rise of indexing the greatest democratization