Company Overview

Vanguard created the first stock index fund in 1976. As of April 2008, they have approximately $1.3 trillion in U.S. mutual funds.  Vanguard offer 130 domestic funds and 40 additional funds in international markets, and serve 21.5 million individual and institutional accounts. They are the number-two fund manager in the United States after Fidelity. Individual-investor advocate John Bogle started Vanguard in 1975 in an effort to create low-cost funds. In keeping with the nautical theme of the company (the Vanguard was Admiral Horatio Nelson’s first ship), Vanguard calls its employees its “crew,” the corporate cafeterias its “galleys,” and so on. John Bogle’s investment strategy has maintained Vanguard as a leader in low-management-fee funds. The company specializes in index funds (it claims to have created the first indexed mutual fund in 1976) and has grown to be the second-largest mutual fund company in the country as investors bet against portfolio managers’ ability to consistently beat the market. The company maintains offices in Scottsdale, Arizona; Charlotte, North Carolina; Melbourne; Brussels; Singapore; and Tokyo in addition to its headquarters location.