When you’re 98 years old you can say things others can’t, so bravo to Charlie Munger for daring to speak an important but too muffled truth about today’s financial markets. “We have a new bunch of emperors, and they’re the people who vote the shares in the index funds,” Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway partner said Wednesday. “I think the world of Larry Fink, but I’m not sure I want him to be my emperor.” Many CEOs no doubt privately agree.
As Americans have poured savings into exchange-traded and mutual funds, index providers have become the de facto largest shareholders of public companies. Assets under management by Mr. Fink’s company, BlackRock , have doubled to $10 trillion since 2016.
