Instead, they do business through the mail, by phone and, increasingly, over the Internet. Unlike Fidelity, which is owned by members of the founding Johnson family, Vanguard is owned by its investors. While banks and insurers are increasingly bidding to acquire successful mutual-fund groups, Vanguard's structure would make an acquisition difficult, said spokesman Brian Mattes. Merrill Lynch Asset Management moved its mutual-fund group from New York to Princeton in the 1970s. The funds inhabit a gleaming glass office park employing 1,300 workers.
Executives commute from New York and Montgomery County.
In all, the area is home to nearly two dozen mutual-fund complexes. That combination made Delaware a haven for the card business just as consumer demand exploded in the 1980s. Banks employ more than 30,000 Delaware workers, up from around 5,000 when the law was passed, according to state banking department figures. The state's most obvious success story is MBNA Corp., which employs 12,000 workers in downtown Wilmington and at suburban office centers outside nearby Newark. MBNA is the nation's biggest independent credit-card issuer, thanks in part to the marketing alliances it has formed with more than 4,000 banks and membership groups.