In this blog article we will talk about a truly revolutionary broker which is called Vanguard, one of the “Big Three” asset management companies.
Vanguard has been a pioneer in developing new investment methods which are totally in the interest of investors all over the world. Their company is owned by their shareholders and it is their shareholders that profit from all of their operations.
In contrast to most other brokers, this results in no conflicts of interest, which means that Vanguard is able to offer very low costs and fees for their customers. They also offer an extremely broad range of investments.
The Vanguard Group was founded in the United States on May 1, 1975 by John C. Bogle. The company was founded to offer mutual funds to all investors. In 1976 they pioneered a new investment type by launching the world’s first index fund.
Vanguard is one of the largest investment management companies in the world, specializing in low-cost funds, long-term investing, and financial advisory services. It manages over $12 trillion in assets globally.
The Vanguard Group understands that low costs matter a lot, since all costs slowly but gradually “eat” your investing profits. This is why they are dedicated to offer the lowest costs and fees in the entire industry. Their average expense ratio is about 0,07%, compared to the industry average of about 0,44%.
Vanguard is the largest provider of mutual funds globally, and they offer all different kinds of funds such as index funds, mutual funds, bond funds and mixed funds. They are also the second largest provider of Exchange-Traded Funds.
They also offer retirement accounts such as IRAs and 401(k) plans. They serve both individuals and employers.
On top of all that they also offer financial advisory services, even automated advisory services, fixed income products such as CDs and money market funds, and lots of educational services and research.
Vanguard has been such a revolutionary investment company that they got the term “The Vanguard Effect” named after them. This means that many competitors were forced to lower their fees and index fund investing has grown massively since 1976.
It is important to note that they are one of the best companies for long-term investing and building wealth over decades. They are not focused on speculation or day-trading!
Their founder John C. Bogle is also the writer of many investing books. We highly recommend you to buy and read his book The Little Book On Common Sense Investing. In this book he explains the reasons why he has developed the world’s first index fund and why it is a really good idea to invest in index funds yourself!