Who Sells When Index Funds Buy? Corporates, New Paper Says

  • Firms are biggest seller of shares in response to index demand
  • Latest study spotlights the macro impact of the passive boom

Corporations have been more proactive by selling their shares in droves to meet relentless demand from these trillion-dollar giants.

Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg
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It’s no secret that the index-fund revolution is shaking up Corporate America, as the likes of BlackRock and Vanguard Group become ever-more dominant investors in the world’s biggest companies.

Yet far from being innocent bystanders, corporations have been more proactive throughout this investment shift than many on Wall Street may realize — by selling their shares in droves to meet relentless demand from these trillion-dollar giants.