Bruce R. Bent
Bruce R. Bent invented the world's first money fund, The Reserve Fund, with Henry B. R. Brown in 1970. This financial product was recognized by the American Museum of Financial History, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, for its importance and impact on the nation's financial history. Whilst wholesale 'money was bought and sold' before the Reserve Fund, Bruce Bent introduced a formal discipline and developed 'rules' for this 'game'. The result is an entire industry now worth more than US$3.0 trillion, serving tens of millions of investors. Mr. Bent graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics from St. John's University in New York.
The original Reserve Fund was designed for zero market risk. The idea was to give investors immediate liquidity and safety for their money above all else. The money market fund was created to provide effective cash management, a dollar back for every dollar invested and beyond that a reasonable rate of return.
In 2001, Bent was the Republican candidate for Nassau County Executive. Before he was chosen as the Republican candidate, he received the endorsement of the Conservative Party and ran with little assistance from the county's Republican Party. Promising to improve the county's financial situation and work for a salary of $1 a year, he lost to Democratic candidate Tom Suozzi.
In the book "One Up on Wall Street," published in 1989, Peter Lynch had written that "there ought to be a monument to Bruce Bent."