They hold shared on behalf of other people, i.e. if someone buys one of their index funds they buy the corresponding shares. They are the on-paper owner of a very large fraction of shares in public companies, but they are a) not the ultimate owners, just agents of the real investors, and b) as a consequence very hands-off in the operation of the businessness. They in general just go along with what the company executives and other, more direct investors want. They have a general stated goal of 'encouraging long-term value for their stockholders', but the most activist thing they've done was contribute to a shuffle in exxonmobile which pushed them to pay a little bit more attention to the environment and climate change, which is if anything the opposite of what people tend to assume they do.
I mean they also send me an email to vote with my fractional S&P 500 shares whenever a shareholder vote comes up, so even if they're the on-paper owner of the shares they seem to pass through the voting rights every bit as much as the direct value and dividends.
rcxdude|7 months ago
BobaFloutist|7 months ago
eddythompson80|7 months ago