Taiwan Bogleheads 2015 conference



The Taiwan Bogleheads 2015 Annual Conference was held on March 28 at the GIS NTU Convention Center. Two-hundred-seventy Bogleheads attended the meeting. Five speakers shared their investing experiences and insights with the assembled audience.

Announcement
The conference announcement was made in a February 17, 2015 posting on the Greenhorn Blog and in a February 18, 2015 Bogleheads forum conversation,"Bogleheads 2015 Annual Conference - Taiwan".

Agenda
The conference included a pre-registration power point demonstration, the registration, five speaker presentations, coffee breaks, and a question and answer session. The conference room and registration desk are pictured below.

Pre-registration and registration
Before the meeting began, a powerpoint file of thirty slides was displayed. The slide presentation explored the history of index funds, the origin of Vanguard, and the pioneers of index investing-John Bogle, Charles Ellis and Paul Samuelson.

The speakers
Five speakers addressed the conference: Mr. Chen, Mr. Xiao, and Mr. Chang. In addition two speakers from Vanguard addressed the conference: Jackson Loi and Brian Roberts.

Mr. Chen
The first speaker was Mr. Chen (Penname: Greenhorn). He was the organizer of the event and is the author of three investment titles and has translated "The Investor's Manifesto" into traditional Chinese. He deeply believes in the power of indexing and asset allocation.

His speech began with his early investment experience. After reading “Bogle on Mutual Funds”, he was convinced that index funds are the best way to invest. However, when he looked at the list of mutual funds in Taiwan, he was frustrated to find that there were almost no index funds. It was impossible for investors in Taiwan to build a globally diversified indexing portfolio with local investment vehicles.

He solved this problem by gaining direct access to index funds and ETFs in the United States. After investing with Vanguard for almost nine years, he noticed a very sharp contrast between mutual fund companies in Taiwan and Vanguard. And the difference stems from the main purpose of asset managers.

Most mutual fund companies are run for the sole purpose to make the most money from mutual fund investors. There are very few mutual companies that are run to bring the largest share of market return to their clients. And Vanguard is one of those rare exceptions.

Low-cost index funds protect investors from the devastating effect of high cost and asset allocation keeps the temptation of market timing at bay. Together, they form the foundation of a solid and sound investment plan.

Mr. Xiao
Mr. Xiao, penname 怪老子, is a famous financial writer in Taiwan. He has three investment titles. His first book "Investment Principles You Should Know When You Get Your First Paycheck." is a long-time best seller.

Mr. Xiao shared with the audience how to design a retirement portfolio. The main challenge is to generate a relative stable stream of income from unstable financial markets. He also explained the concept of Monte Carlo Simulation. This simulation can test if the retirement portfolio has a high success rate.

Mr. Chang
The third speaker was Mr. Chang. He has over twenty years of investing experience. At first, he used active funds. After learning the idea of indexing, he converted to the passive camp. He shared with the audience the transition of his thinking, and explained how to suppress the desire for above-market returns.



Vanguard representatives
After the coffee break, the fourth speaker, Jackson Loi, Vanguard's Head of Institutional Business, Hong Kong and Taiwan, gave a speech about the “Vanguard Case for Indexing in Asia.” Mr. Jackson stated that the principles of indexing work in every market, Asian markets are no exception. Index funds are a powerful tool for investors everywhere. He explained the global operation of Vanguard, its burgeoning business and the massive assets gathered by index funds and ETFs in recent years.

The fifth speaker was Brian Roberts, the Senior Products Manager of Portfolio Review Department at Vanguard. He talked about the disciplined approach Vanguard employs to evaluate active managers. Low-costs and a long-term perspective are principles that apply both to active and passive investing. Vanguard does a good job in managing these active assets.



Coffee breaks, gift signings, and Q&A session
After these five speeches, there was a forty-minute coffee break. The group enjoyed desserts and conversations with like-minded investors. We prepared big thank-you cards for attendees to sign. These cards will be sent to Mr. Bogle.

The last session was a Q&A. Five speakers took questions from the audience.

Gallery: memorabilia
This year we distributed thermos bottles to each attendee. On the surface of the bottle is the inscription “In Indexing We Trust”, which we use as the slogan of this event. ‎