C. Warren Goldring -- Canadian Mutual Fund visionary passes away.

One of the Canadian mutual fund industry's forefathers, C. Warren Goldring, passed away today at 81 years of age.

Along with Allan Monford, he combined assets of small Canadian investors in order to gain access to the New York Stock Exchange. They named the fund American Growth Fund, which would later become the name for the entire fund family, the ninth largest mutual fund firm in Canada with an assets under administration of $34.5 billion. The year was 1957, and it was the first time the small Canadian investor had been given access to the US market. For all my issues with mutual funds, Goldring, himself, brought about an early foreshadowing of a more empowered Canadian investor. It is a sad day for Canada's retail investment industry.

Below is a picture (courtesty of AGF.com) of C. Warren Goldring with AGF's current President and CEO, his son, Blake Goldring, at American Growth Fund's 50th anniversary in 2007.

Sources: Canadian Press, AGF.com