How a pots and pans salesman invented an industry 100 years ago that is now worth $74 trillion
Accessing an investment fund has never been easier. Neobanks like Revolut, N26 and MyInvestor have so streamlined their recruitment process that an 18-year-old can subscribe to a fund on their phone in under 10 minutes. But it wasn’t always like this. When Edward Leffler created the first open-ended, transferable mutual fund 100 years ago in Boston, the investment procedure was much slower, and hardly any protocols or controls existed to ensure that it operated smoothly. Leffler’s creation was revolutionary, and would forever change the way the wider public could get involved in stock and bond investing, a previously inhospitable terrain for the uninitiated. Today, the collective investment industry manages some $74 trillion and is one of the most important players in financial markets worldwide.
And yet, Leffler is barely a footnote in many accounts of financial history. He was not an academic or legal expert, but rather, a salesman of pots and pans. After achieving considerable financial success, the Wisconsin businessman of Swedish descent was dazzled by the buoyant market for stock sales that emerged in the interwar period.
