Brian Chappatta, Columnist

Guess Who’s Defending Active Bond Funds? Vanguard.

The global head of fixed income at the firm known for the indexing revolution says debt pickers can survive, but only if fees keep falling.

February 6, 2019 at 11:00 AM UTC

By Brian Chappatta

Brian Chappatta is managing editor of Bloomberg News' leveraged finance and distressed debt teams. He was previously managing editor and team leader of its wealth group. Before that he was a Bloomberg Opinion markets and finance columnist and a bonds reporter for Bloomberg News.

Don't think of it as passive. Think of it as low cost.
Photographer: Mike Mergen/Bloomberg

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Quick — what’s the first word you associate with Vanguard Group Inc., the $5.1 trillion investing giant? Perhaps it’s “indexing” or “passive,” referring to some of the asset manager’s largest fund offerings, such as its $577 billion Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund or the $154 billion Vanguard Total Bond Market II Index Fund.

John Hollyer, global head of fixed income at Vanguard, would much prefer you use the term “low cost.”