When you invest in a mutual fund or an exchange-traded fund (ETF), you may wonder: who actually owns the underlying stocks? Is it you, the individual investor, or is it the fund company? This seemingly simple question opens up a broader discussion about the structure of mutual funds and ETFs, how stock ownership works, and the growing influence of fund companies like Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street. Mutual Funds and ETFs: Pooled Investment Vehicles When you invest in a mutual fund or ETF, you are buying shares of the fund itself, not directly buying shares of the individual stocks that the fund holds. These funds are pooled investment vehicles, which means that your money is combined with that of other investors to buy a diversified portfolio of securities, such as stocks, bonds, or a mix of both. In this setup, the fund owns the stocks, not the individual investors. The shares you hold represent a fractional ownership in the overall portfolio of the fund. You don’t own the underlying stocks outright; instead, you own shares in the fund that owns those stocks. For example, if