Retiring Vanguard CIO Gus Sauter Looks Back

[stratton]

From Index Universe.

Retiring Vanguard CIO Gus Sauter Looks Back

Now, with his retirement just days away, Sauter can boast of presiding over one of the most profound transformations in the history of finance. For one, Vanguard is now the biggest mutual fund company in the world, with $2.3 trillion in assets under management. More to the point, the ETF—the ultimate indexing vehicle—is the fastest-growing piece of Vanguard’s business, and to hear the mild-mannered Sauter tell the tale to IndexUniverse’s U.S. Editor-in-Chief Drew Voros and Managing Editor Olly Ludwig, his role in fostering the growth of Vanguard’s ETFs stands among his proudest achievements.

Paul

[jjbiv]

Great read! Thanks for posting. I found it interesting that most of Gus' new investments are going into ETF share classes of Vanguard funds.

[Stryker]

Gus Sauter was interviewed a few days ago in the Miami Herald. I didn't post the link because I felt that at least one or two parts might be deemed political. There was an answer he gave to one question that concerns me about young investors in North America though.

Q: What mistakes have you made with your own investment portfolio?

A: Being too conservative when I first started investing as a young man. At that age, you have a long time horizon and should probably be more aggressive. I think that's a mistake a lot of young investors are making today. The data show that 20-somethings are much more conservative than 20-somethings were 10 years ago. That will make it difficult for them to reach their retirement goals.

[ofcmetz]

Thanks for posting that link. I enjoyed the read. Lots of nice nuggets of wisdom in there.

[chaz]

Gus Sauter was good for Vanguard.

[Index Fan]

I like Sauter's investment philosophy:

There are three cornerstones to my beliefs, and I think Vanguard’s beliefs as well. The first is to think long-term, to establish a strategic plan and then stick with it. And particularly stick with it when it’s most difficult to do so, because that’s when it matters most.

...The second principle is to maintain broad diversification. Too frequently, investors try to focus on the segment of the market that they think will outperform.

...The third principle is maintaining exposure to low cost investments.

[stratton]

I like Sauter's investment philosophy:

There are three cornerstones to my beliefs, and I think Vanguard’s beliefs as well. The first is to think long-term, to establish a strategic plan and then stick with it. And particularly stick with it when it’s most difficult to do so, because that’s when it matters most.

...The second principle is to maintain broad diversification. Too frequently, investors try to focus on the segment of the market that they think will outperform.

...The third principle is maintaining exposure to low cost investments.

Activities like that are for the 5% "fun money" category if you have one. Leave the base asset allocation alone.

Paul

[abuss368]

I enjoyed that interview. Thank you for posting.

[fundtalker123]

My understanding is they don't get paid too well at Vangard (if that is actually true, thank you!). But he probably indexed his portfolio (unless they don't practice what they preach?), so he's probably ok if he limits his withdrawls per year to 3%. He could earn some money part time, shoveling the neighbor's (broker from Goldman) driveway, that would enable him to have some earned income to contribute to an IRA.

[jj]

Thank you for posting, I almost missed this article.

Happy retirement Gus Sauter!

[livesoft]

Did the article say how many corporate boards or pension fund boards he will be a member of at $100K+ each a year for a few days of work?

[Fallible]

Thanks for the link. Having invested with Vanguard and read about Gus Sauter since '89, I've always thought of him as a loyal company man who stayed his own man, an uncommon feat in the blood sport of high finance.

[umfundi]

Did the article say how many corporate boards or pension fund boards he will be a member of at $100K+ each a year for a few days of work?

Why does that matter?

Keith

[livesoft]

Because he won't really be retired and will still have influence where it counts.