, Columnist
Vanguard Actually Is Good at What It Does
The low-cost fund provider has upended the investing world. That's something to laud, not dismiss.
Let me say this about that.
Photographer: Ken Cedeno/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Unless we are constantly vigilant, too many things in print pass without comment and are accepted as true. And so it is with a weary heart that I am compelled to offer a counterpoint to a recent argument that takes issue with Vanguard Group Inc.'s business model.
Before we get into the details, a few disclosures: I am a fan of low-cost investing. The Vanguard Effect has been called by my Bloomberg Intelligence colleague Eric Balchunas “a private-sector wealth-transfer machine [that] has saved average investors $1 trillion.” I personally own a variety of Vanguard funds, as do my clients. I like Vanguard a lot.