BUSINESS

Fact checked by Katrina Munichiello
Reviewed by Samantha Silberstein

Vanguard has a fairly unique structure for an investment management company. The company is owned by its funds; the funds are owned by the shareholders. This means that its shareholders are the actual owners. Unlike most publicly owned investment firms, Vanguard has no outside investors other than its shareholders.

Vanguard’s structure allows the company to charge very low expenses for its funds. The average expense ratio for Vanguard funds was 0.07% at the end of 2024, significantly lower than the industry average of 0.44%.

Key Takeaways

• Vanguard is owned by its different funds, which are owned by its shareholders.
• The company has no other owners than its shareholders, which sets it apart from most publicly traded investment firms. 
• Vanguard Group is the second-largest investment firm in the world after BlackRock.
• It is the biggest issuer of mutual funds worldwide and the second-biggest ETF issuer.

About Vanguard

As of Dec. 31, 2024, Vanguard has $10.1 trillion in assets under management (AUM). Headquartered in Pennsylvania, Vanguard is the largest mutual fund issuer in the world and the second-largest issuer of exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

As of March 31, 2025, Vanguard has 215 U.S. funds and 225 international funds available. The firm boasts more than 50 million investors. It also has one of the largest bond funds in the world, the Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund (VBTLX).

Within the industry, Vanguard is a leader in offering passively managed mutual funds and ETFs.  It is known for its:

• Stability
• Transparency
• Low costs
• Risk management

Important

Some experts believe Vanguard’s structure allows it to avoid conflicts of interest present at other investment management firms. Publicly traded investment management firms must cater to both their shareholders and the investors in their funds. Vanguard does not have outside shareholders, so it can prioritize the needs of investors.

History of Vanguard

John C. Bogle began working for the Wellington Management Company in 1951. Through his years at the company, he held various positions before becoming an executive and eventually president.

Following a dispute with a merged company in 1974, Bogle formed a new company called The Vanguard Group of Investment Companies. He named the new company Vanguard after a British ship because he admired the leadership theme it embodied.

Bogle created the First Index Investment Trust in 1976, now known as the Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFIAX). Although the fund’s growth was initially slow, it took off. By the 1980s, other mutual funds began copying his index investing style.

Bogle created Vanguard and molded it into a place where retail and individual investors could turn to build wealth without needing the services of a broker and the expenses charged by them. His vision was low-cost investing and transparency for non-institutional investors.

Vanguard now has some of the largest index funds in the business. It offers funds aimed at achieving a variety of investment goals, including:

• Retirement savings
• Dividends
• Value investing

Advantages and Disadvantages of Index Investing

Like any other investment strategy, investing in index funds comes with both pros and cons. All investing involves risk; knowing what risks are associated with index funds can help you decide if they are the right investment choice for you.

Advantages

Lower fees: Index funds can charge lower fees because, with few exceptions, they track an index that is only changed if a stock listed on the index no longer meets the criteria for being listed. This means index funds are passively managed and don’t need as much attention as those that don’t track indexes.

Easy for new investors: New investors with limited capital, knowledge, and time benefit from index funds because there is no need to analyze stocks to find ones that suit them. Stocks on indexes have already gone through rigorous evaluation and weighting. Investors can easily read through the prospectus and reports and find funds that fit their interests and goals.

Less expensive: Index investing is less expensive than many other investment options. Apart from fees, index funds have much less turnover than actively managed funds. This keeps the investors from having several taxable events and racking up capital gains without cashing in their stocks.

Diversity: These funds can provide diversity that funds full of hand-picked stocks may not. Index funds let you hold stocks from hundreds of companies rather than focusing on a few from one industry or company.

Beat actively-managed funds: Passively managed funds beat those that are actively managed because of the associated fees and additional costs. Short-term returns may not always be higher with index funds, but active fund managers fail to beat benchmark indexes most of the time. For example, just over half of active funds underperformed the S&P 500 over a one-year period. That number jumps up to over 91% over 10 years.

Disadvantages

Limited returns: The returns for an index fund are limited to those of the underlying index because index funds attempt to mimic the returns of their benchmark.

Lack of reactive ability: Because you’re investing in a fund that mirrors an index, you cannot act on undervalued or overvalued stocks within the fund.

Risk for short-term investors: Short-term investors are exposed to downside risk with index funds. Investors who don’t invest in index funds for the long term might see decreased returns or even losses. Most index funds are best for long-term buy-and-hold strategies.

Limits personal strategies: Index fund investing tends to limit the investment strategies you’re exposed to. Your strategies are limited to those of the fund and index managers unless you have included the index fund as part of your overall strategy.

Pros

• Lower fees

• Easy for new investors

• Less expensive

• Diversity

• Beat actively-managed funds

Cons

• Limited returns

• Lack of reactive ability

• Risk for short-term investors

• Limits personal strategies

Who Is the Major Shareholder of Vanguard Group?

According to the Vanguard Group, the company is owned by its member funds, which are owned by the fund shareholders. Thus, the fund shareholders are the owners of Vanguard.

Is Vanguard Owned by Its Investors?

Vanguard is owned by its member funds, which are owned by fund shareholders. Therefore, someone who has purchased shares of a Vanguard fund is a Vanguard owner. Vanguard does not have outside shareholders.

What Companies Does the Vanguard Group Own?

Vanguard’s owners are its funds’ shareholders. If a fund holds shares of a company, then that fund and the fund’s shareholders are owners of the company whose share is held. So, Vanguard doesn’t own any companies; the fund’s shareholders do.

The Bottom Line

Index funds are a practical investing strategy for many investors. Mutual funds and ETFs that track indexes have very low costs. They must ensure that their holdings generally reflect and track the index’s performance. This results in lower fees for investors; in Vanguard’s case, it also gives them ownership of the company, helping them invest.

The stocks listed on broad indexes such as the S&P 500 are chosen by skilled investment professionals. This means that index fund investors are receiving and benefitting from professional investment advice by passively tracking indexes without even talking to an advisor.