Funds -vs- Stocks

Hard to realize this, but the implications are fascinating… there are almost 12,000 mutual funds and ETFs, they own a variety (basket) of stocks based on their style, factor, etc. that I’m sharing in these posts. We got down to as low as 4,000 publically traded stocks…

How is that possible? Stock buybacks, acquisitions, etc. have grown faster than new IPOs, but overall… there is more and more money chasing fewer and fewer stocks, which is one reason Crypto and other ‘alternative’ asset classes are being created for those flows.