Vanguard gets a new chairman

Having announced he was to relinquish the reins well over a year ago, Vanguard's Brennan is to officially hand over on New Year's Day

Courtney Goethals Dobrow 11 December, 2009 | 10:21AM
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Vanguard president and CEO F. William McNabb III will succeed chairman and former CEO John J. Brennan of the $1.3 trillion fund family on January 1, 2010.

The change comes a little more than a year after McNabb formally took over the CEO post from Brennan and is the final step in a transition plan announced in February 2008, said company spokeswoman Amy Chain.

McNabb's tenure so far as president and CEO has been momentous, but often for reasons beyond his control. Since becoming president, the financial system nearly collapsed and the stock market endured one of the worst bear markets in history. Throughout the turmoil, however, Vanguard was just about the only major fund family to get positive inflows in the US. In 2009, the family has seen inflows of more than $10 billion in eight out of the past 11 months, mostly into its bond funds.

In that time, Vanguard also accelerated its overseas expansion by launching index funds and laying plans for subadvised actively managed funds in Europe.

Vanguard selected McNabb, in part because he would provide continuity and help the firm stay the course in rough times. So far, so good. Dan Culloton's article explains why Brennan decided to relinquish the reins back in 2008 and discusses why McNabb was an obvious choice to take over.

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Courtney Goethals Dobrow  Courtney Goethals Dobrow is a fund analyst at Morningstar.

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