Capital Group Companies

Capital Group is one of the world’s largest investment management organizations with assets of around 1.4 trillion USD under management. It comprises a group of investment management companies, including Capital Research and Management, American Funds, Capital Bank and Trust, Capital Guardian, and Capital International. The firm was founded in 1931 by Jonathan Bell Lovelace.

The founding years

In 1931, Jonathan Bell Lovelace founded an investment firm, Lovelace, Dennis & Renfrew, which would eventually become the Capital Group Companies.

Lovelace was raised in Southern Alabama by a family who was in the timber business. He initially studied to become an architect at what was then Alabama Polytechnic (Currently Auburn University). After college, he enlisted in the military, working on a project that pioneered anti-aircraft artillery. Lovelace worked with E.E. MacCrone & Company, eventually becoming a partner. In 1929, Lovelace believed the stock market to be wildly overvalued and sold his stake in the company.