The Tyranny of the Institutional Investor
The modern investment landscape is dominated by a troubling reality — a staggering 89% of all equities and stocks are owned by institutional investors and the ultra-wealthy elite. This concentration of financial power in the hands of a privileged few poses a grave threat to the principles of a fair and democratic market.
i think it was an episode of Who Makes Cents when they mentioned some historical event long before the so-called "Investors Democracy"--where the media sold americans on the notion that middle class investors, by hooking themselves into the stock market, could have a piece of the pie--when the stock market bell ringing ceremony was celebrating X number of years. so, basically, back when the casino had no pretenses... for the ceremony, the organizers brought a taxidermy bear, a live bull, and a sheep onto the floor of the stock market.
each animal was meant to represent the archetypal investor: the risk-averse bear, the charging bull... and the middle class investor who was, by design, ALWAYS the loser that got torn apart in the struggle, fattening the bull and the bear with its carcass.
this event has been memory holed and stats about "who owns equities and securities" are dismissed behind curtains of privacy. indeed, most middle class investors use institutional investors to do so, but the investigation always stops there. what percentage of those holdings belong to "small/middle class investors"? anyone that can accurately conceptualize Jeff Bezos net worth knows.