Vanguard is mission-driven to ensure that every product and service we offer can contribute to our clients’ investment success.
Vanguard isn’t owned by shareholders. It’s owned by the people who invest in our funds.1 Our structure drives us toward our goal of offering the best possible advice, investments, and retirement services, as well as insights that clarify investing.
A client-focused approach
Video transcript:
Matthew Brancato: An enduring investment idea is one that over the long term improves the chances that an investor will be able to realize their goals. It's good to just start and think about what it is that makes a product enduring in nature and how that separates from the idea of a fad.
Molly Concannon: The questions we ask when launching a product are, one is there an enduring investment merit? We want to launch products that have proven to have and if there's economic rationale for real returns. Two. We look at our business strategy. Three, we look at the needs and preferences of our clients, and four we look at our investment capabilities.
Matthew Brancato: It's one of the areas that we spend a lot of time on is the existing product lineup. So we're not always looking for the next big thing that we think is going to generate a lot of profitability for the firm because that's not how we're organized. That's not who we are.
So from a philosophical standpoint, we really try to keep client needs and preferences at the center of product design, and we carry that all the way through how we steward assets in the context of the ongoing management of our product lineup.
There are aspects of our product lineup that have not changed and will not change. Things like diversification, low cost, focus on the long-term areas like that are really core to who we are and will not change.
Molly Concannon: It's what will make our client successful and given Vanguard structure and our alignments with clients. If our clients are successful, that will make Vanguard successful. That's a real differentiator when you compare Vanguard to competitors.
Low-cost products and services to meet long-term investment goals
Investor-first advisory services
Investors’ long-term success is tied to both the investments they use and the advice they receive. We believe advice should be tailored to investors’ needs, put their interests first, and be offered at a reasonable and transparent all-in fee.
High-quality investments
Because our investors are our owners, we can focus on the long term rather than quarterly results. And we can consistently pass along economies of scale and lower the cost of investing, so our owners keep more of their potential returns.
Effective retirement services and tools
Vanguard helps individuals, institutions, and financial advisors meet the challenges of retirement. We help individuals with everything from getting started on the road to retirement to generating sustainable income once they get there. We offer companies world-class retirement plans to help them attract and retain employees. And we help advisors serve the retirement needs of individuals and small businesses.
Insights that clarify
Vanguard shares its perspectives through both long-form research, which is generally intended for investment professionals, and short-form commentaries intended for a wide audience of investors and industry participants. We seek, through our communications, to help investors make better investment decisions, to provide context on economic and financial market trends, and to be an effective advocate for improvements in the investment industry.
1 Vanguard is investor-owned, meaning the fund shareholders own the funds, which in turn own Vanguard.
Notes:
All investing is subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest.
Vanguard’s advice services are provided by Vanguard Advisers, Inc. (“VAI”), a registered investment advisor, or by Vanguard National Trust Company (“VNTC”), a federally chartered, limited-purpose trust company.
The services provided to clients will vary based upon the service selected, including management, fees, eligibility, and access to an advisor. Find VAI’s Form CRS and each program’s advisory brochure here for an overview.
VAI and VNTC are subsidiaries of The Vanguard Group, Inc., and affiliates of Vanguard Marketing Corporation. Neither VAI, VNTC, nor its affiliates guarantee profits or protection from losses.
