The Capital Group Companies

The Capital Group Companies is one of the world’s largest investment management organizations with assets in excess of $1.4 trillion under management.Fact|date=December 2007 It comprises a group of investment management companies, including Capital Research and Management, American Funds, Capital Bank and Trust, Capital Guardian, and Capital International. As measured by assets under management, Capital rivals Fidelity Investments, a figure the company will not confirm because it eschews publicity. [See section 'The secret world of a $750bn fund manager' in [http://news.independent.co.uk/business/analysis_and_features/article61601.ece The Independent] ] The firm was founded in 1931 by Jonathan Bell Lovelace.

The Founding Years

Jonathan Bell Lovelace was raised in Southern Alabama by a family who was in the timber business. He initially studied to become an architect at what was then Alabama Polytechnic (Currently Auburn University). After college, he enlisted in the military, working on a project that pioneered anti-aircraft artillery. [Ellis, Charles D.: Capital:The Story of Long-Term Investment Excellence, pages 12-13. John Wiley Press, 2004. ] Lovelace worked with E.E. MacCrone & Company, eventually becoming a partner. In 1929, Lovelace believed the stock market to be wildly overvalued and sold his stake in the company. In 1931, he founded an investment firm, Lovelace, Dennis & Renfrew, what would eventually become the Capital Group Companies. The early company was a model of efficiency, with communications between Los Angeles and New York being hugely expensive.

Overview

Capital Group is headquartered in Los Angeles, California and has over 9,000 associates in 20 office locations around the globe, including offices in London, Geneva, Toronto, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Mumbai and Singapore. The company also has a large newly built campus in Irvine, California, making it one of the largest employers in that city. Its families of mutual funds include "American Funds" and "Capital International Funds." On the institutional side, Capital manages money for pensions, governments, and other entities worldwide. It also manages money for wealthy individuals and engages in private equity investments. One of its subsidiaries, Capital International, was responsible for the construction of the MSCI stock market indices.

The American Funds, managed by the Capital Group Companies, is the largest family of mutual funds in the US, followed by The Vanguard Group and Fidelity Investments. At the beginning of June 2007, the American Funds had roughly $1.3 trillion in assets under management.

The LA Business Journal recently voted the Capital Group among the top places to work in the Greater Los Angeles area. [cite web|date=June 19, 2006| url =http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleTOC&specialReportId=9000080&articleId=111562 | title = Inside the Top Five Best Places to Work: No. 3: The Capital Group| publisher =ComputerWorld | accessdate =2006-06-19]

References

External links

* [http://www.capgroup.com/ Capital Group website]
* [http://www.americanfunds.com/ American Funds website]
* [http://www.capitalinternationalfunds.com/ Capital International Funds website]
* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471567043 "Capital: The Story of Long-Term Investment Excellence"] (John Wiley & Sons, 2004) (ISBN 0-471-56704-3) by Charles D. Ellis. Book profiling the Capital Group Companies.