Have you ever heard of Bruce R. Bent? He is an amazing American businessman who invented the world’s first money market fund in 1970. Market funds also known as money market mutual funds that invest in short-term debt securities like the commercial paper and United States Treasury bills, to name a few. These money market funds are widely recognized to be as being safe as the bank deposits and providing a much higher yield. The primary type of customer that should have money market funds are investors. These money market funds are fully appropriate for investors who need the investment to become liquid, have an investment goal with a small time horizon or searching to diversify with a higher conservative investment.
Now on to Bent’s life in which he was born and raised in wonderful Great Neck, New York and attended St. Aloysius School and then acquired his diploma from Great Neck High School. After graduating from high school, Bent was hired as a clerk and carrier for the Great Neck Post Office. Bent served with the Marines and after he would go to St. John’s University and acquire his bachelor’s degree in economics in 1961. Bent was known for being a studious student and always finishing his homework on time so that he had enough time to study about Wall Street and be a part of it.
Bent began his Wall Street career path as a partner at L.F. Rothschild and Company Inc. Then two years later, he started working at T.I.A.A.-C.R.E.F., where he met his future business partner, Henry B.R. Brown. They made their own firm known as Brown and Brent. After the firm was created, Bent had an idea which involved having a mutual fund that could effectively offer rates of return while allowing for zero market risk and that is when market funds came to fruition which gave investors safety and liquidity for their money. Thanks to Bruce R. Bent, the money market fund was deeply recognized by the American Museum of Financial History, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution, for the significance on United States’ financial history.
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