Trillions

'Grab some popcorn and take a front row seat, because Robin Wigglesworth has an astonishing story to tell you'Tim Harford, author of How to Make the World Add Up'A terrific read'Gregory Zuckerman, author of The Man Who Solved the Market'A fascinating journey and a crucial book'Bradley Hope, author of Billion Dollar WhaleFifty years ago, an unlikely group quietly assembled in the financial industry's backwaters, unified by the heretical idea that even the world's best investors couldn't beat the market in the long run. Including economist wunderkind Gene Fama, industry executive Jack Bogle, computer-obsessive John McQuown and former Second World War submariner Nate Most, the group succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.Passive investing now likely accounts for over $26 trillion, equal to the entire gross domestic product of the US, and today is a force reshaping markets, finance and even capitalism itself.Yet even some fans of index funds and ETFs are growing perturbed that their swelling heft is destabilizing markets, wrecking the investment industry and leading to an unwelcome concentration of power in fewer and fewer hands.In Trillions, Financial Times journalist Robin Wigglesworth unveils the vivid secret history of index funds, bringing to life the colourful characters behind their birth, growth and evolution into a world-conquering phenomenon. It is the untold story behind one of the most pressing financial uncertainties of our time.'An easy-to-understand and fun read, full of lively characters and little-known details of how finance really works today' Gillian Tett, US editor-at-large at the Financial Times and author of Anthro-Vision

The simplest, humblest ideas are sometimes the ones that turn the world upside down. Grab some popcorn and take a front row seat, because Robin Wigglesworth has an astonishing story to tell you, Trillions is both entertaining and educational. Wigglesworth explores one of the most important modern-day financial innovations and explains its broad impact on financial markets, investors, global economies and even capitalism. A terrific read and a topic that will become more important as passive investments increasingly dominate markets. Wigglesworth brings what could be a dull topic to full life, As only the incomparable Robin Wigglesworth could do, in Trillions he turns the often obscured history of the investment industry into a rollicking great yarn, replete with admirable heroes, political infighting, fascinating diversions and unexpected triumphs, Very few writers can tell a great story and help us understand a big idea. Robin Wigglesworth is one of those rare journalists who can. His history of the index fund is required reading for anyone who wants to know where the financial markets have come, and where they are going. It's also just a wonderfully engaging romp through the last half century of market news, This is a tour de force. Passive investing has become a bedrock of finance but very few investors understand where and how this practice emerged from and how it is changing markets in a way that impacts us all. Wigglesworth has turned this arcane tale into an easy-to-understand and fun read, full of lively characters and little known details of how finance really works today. Anyone who wants to understand modern investing should read it

Robin Wigglesworth is the Financial Times' global finance corrospondent based in Oslo, Norway. He focuses on the biggest trends reshaping markets, investing and finance across the world. He was previously the FT's US markets editor, spearheading its coverage of financial markets and asset management across the Americas, deputy head of FastFT, capital markets correspondent, and Gulf correspondent. Before joining the FT, he worked at Bloomberg News covering Nordic economics and politics.