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that the type of money market mutual fund that they had conceived of would be legal in all 50 states. They established the
Reserve Fund to implement their idea, which languished in its first several years, building up $ 250,000 in debts. Early on, individuals and corporations could invest in the fund by putting in as little as $ 1,000. Shares in the fund were $ 100 each, with "dividends" paid as additional fractional shares in the account, keeping the value of each fund share at a constant price. The fund charged a management fee of 50 basis points. Though other banks and investment firms were looking at creating money market funds of their own, Bent and Brown were confident that the enormous size of the potential market and their ability to keep costs low would allow them to compete with their larger competitors.
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could be created that would allow small investors to combine their resources and gain access to the higher yields available from purchasing a pool of CDs and commercial paper. Neither of them knew anything about the intricacies and legalities of opening a mutual fund, but research by Brown confirmed
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in 1970, said in a speech in 2001 that Bent and Brown deserved to win a Nobel prize themselves. Upon hearing of
Samuelson's statement, Brown remarked that he couldn't "say that our 'invention' resulted from any brilliance on our part", continuing that "it was actually a combination of the threat of
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brought much-needed attention to their innovation. By the end of that year they had garnered investments of $ 100 million. The money market fund industry grew by leaps and bounds, becoming an industry that had amassed $ 3.5 trillion in assets by the time of Brown's death in 2008, with the
Reserve
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Bent is credited with having invented the money-market mutual fund in 1970, creating a safe and liquid place for retail investors to park cash. That year he opened
Reserve Primary and his company with partner Henry B. R. Brown, who died in
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The invention of the money market fund by Bent and Brown was credited by the
American Museum of Financial History, an affiliate of the
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A financial history of the United States: From the age of derivatives into the new millennium : (1970 - 2001), Volume III
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50:, where his father worked as an executive for a company that manufactured blast furnaces. After secondary education at
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After his retirement from the financial industry, he joined with partner Chris Gerow in competing in the annual
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He was survived by his wife, Betsey, as well as by two daughters (Elizabeth and
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Sitting around their office in August 1969 and brainstorming, Bent suggested that a
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343:"Co-Inventor of Money-Market Account Helped Serve Small Investors' Interest"
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They turned the corner after an article in the
January 7, 1973, issue of
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Until it was phased out in 1986, a United States banking law known as
297:"Henry B. R. Brown, Who Opened Money Markets to Masses, Dies at 82"
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in a position where he managed the firm's securities investments.
239:"Reserve's Bent May Be Charged by SEC Over Money Fund's Collapse"
194:, who was also a botanist and one of the founders of the
22:(February 13, 1926 – August 11, 2008) was an American
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Money market funds seek to maintain a stable $ 1.00
424:"Money Market Fund Says Customers Could Lose Money"
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377:"Overnight Mutual Funds for Surplus Assets"
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422:Henriques, Diana B. (September 16, 2008).
375:Hershey, Robert D. Jr. (January 7, 1973).
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208:United States Declaration of Independence
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183:on August 11, 2008, at his home in
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80:Inventing the money market fund
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154:bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers
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403:Markham, Jerry W. (2002).
196:New York Botanical Garden
20:Henry Bedinger Rust Brown
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347:The Wall Street Journal
134:Smithsonian Institution
105:certificates of deposit
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204:June 1776 resolution
24:financial consultant
249:on November 3, 2012
429:The New York Times
382:The New York Times
302:The New York Times
185:Leesburg, Virginia
181:abdominal aneurysm
125:The New York Times
94:Glass–Steagall Act
56:Harvard University
459:Henry B. R. Brown
200:Richard Henry Lee
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463:Find a Grave
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483:2008 deaths
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48:Pittsburgh
435:April 30,
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