Two brilliant minds paved the way for investing in the 20th century -- one a doer, the other a thinker.
Both changed the face of how money is parceled out to various markets, giving rise to a new breed of investor -- the institution.
That's why the editors of Pensions & Investments have chosen these two giants as our persons of the century.
The first, Andrew Carnegie, created the world's first advance-funded pension funds. Half a century later, a brainy young graduate student -- Harry Markowitz -- came up with a novel thesis known as portfolio diversification.
Through their respective contributions, both Andrew Carnegie and Harry Markowitz brought forth the modern pension fund, truly a 20th century invention.
Here, and on pages 34 and 35, P&I celebrates the accomplishments of these 20th century men and a select group of runners-up. They are: Benjamin Graham; Warren Buffett; Edward G. Leffler; George B. Buck Sr.; William L. Fouse; William F. Sharpe; former Sen. Jacob Javits, along with retired U.S. Reps. John Erlenborn and John Dent; and former U.S. Rep. Barber Conable.
We begin with Barry B. Burr's portrait of Mr. Carnegie's contributions, followed by Joel Chernoff's research on, and interview with, Mr. Markowitz.
