The more recent news stories about Salim Ramji’s hiring as the new CEO of Vanguard refer to the transition as “planned.” A July 11 piece in InvestorDaily is one example, writing:
Salim Ramji has assumed the role of chief executive officer and joined the Vanguard Group’s board of directors, effective 8 July 2024.
Ramji’s appointment was part of a planned transition announced on 14 May 2024.
He succeeds Tim Buckley, who is retiring from the Vanguard Group after more than 30 years of distinguished service, including a highly successful tenure as chairman and chief executive officer.
But stories about Buckley’s departure referred to it as “unexpected,” and he left without naming a successor, which surprised many from a CEO of Vanguard. Barron’s headline referring to Buckley’s choice called it a “Surprise Exit” that “Raises Big Questions for the Investment Giant.”
So, with prodding from Vanguard messaging, history is being rewritten a little when the handover to Ramji is described as a “planned transition.”
Your Survival Guy remembers like it was yesterday when Vanguard forced an unplanned transition on Dick Young and his clients. That was the “Changing of the (Van)Guard.” I wrote to you earlier about this time:
“I’ve been following Dick Young for decades,” you told me yesterday. And it’s a refrain I hear often in my conversations with you. There’s a reason Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report was read by tens of thousands of subscribers every month: you.
You looked forward to the opening stories. You enjoyed hearing about Dick and Debbie’s trips rolling down Main Street America on their Harley Davidsons. You enjoyed reading his tightly packaged investment advice. You saved the letters, underlined them, and shared them with your spouse. The letters were a reminder that simple is sophisticated. That you could do this.
The key to making it work? My favorite three letters in investing: Y-O-U. You know it is time that makes compound interest magical. Time and not blowing your money on the next big thing. You can’t lose your money. Easy to say, harder to do. It requires discipline, and his monthly letter helped keep you on track.
I remember it like it was yesterday. Twenty years ago, I was hanging up from a conversation with a client when Dick told me we were leaving Vanguard as the custodian for our client accounts. Earlier, Vanguard had called and said we could stay, but they were no longer working with outside advisors. Instead, they were looking to grow their advisory business internally using their own funds. The writing was on the wall, and we moved to Fidelity.
Times change. The Vanguard of today is not the Vanguard of the Bogle and Young years. When Dick Young recommended Vanguard, it was not just one head of the three-headed index fund monster (Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street) investors are faced with today.
And yet, the money flows into the big three like lemmings running to a cliff, aimlessly buying along the way. This chase never ends well. And with the new CEO coming in from BlackRock, Mr. Bogle must be rolling in his grave. This is a move to derive new streams of income from you.
Action Line: I’m not being unfair to Vanguard. Times change, and investors need to adjust accordingly. Investors need to pay attention. Dick Young had your back. He still does. When you’re ready to talk about your situation, let’s talk. But only if you’re serious.
