The Problem of Twelve: When a Few Financial Institutions Control Everything 2023 | The Council of Institutional Investors | 3 December 2023 | Webinar

In his new book, Harvard Law’s John Coates argues that a handful of large index fund providers and private equity firms exert outsize influence over the U.S. economy. Coates charts the rise of Big Four indexers BlackRock, Fidelity, State Street Global Advisors and Vanguard, which collectively control about 20% of votes at S&P500 companies. He also examines the speedy ascent of private equity giants Apollo, Blackstone, Carlyle and KKR and their success at moving an expanding swath of U.S. companies away from public scrutiny. Coates is the John F. Cogan Professor of Law and Economics and deputy dean of Harvard Law School.