FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Judith W. Price
Manager, Aspen Wye River Campus
The Aspen Institute
410-820-5432 | judy.price@aspeninstitute.org
Jack Bogle, Vanguard Founder, Speaks to Aspen Wye Fellows on “Common Sense Investing”
Queenstown, MD, April 27, 2015 –– John C. Bogle, the founder and long-time chairman of The Vanguard Group, Inc., was the keynote speaker in a dialogue about “Common Sense Investing” on April 16, at Houghton House on the Aspen Institute’s 1,000-acre Wye River campus in Queenstown, Maryland. The event, which drew a capacity audience of Aspen Wye Fellows, was moderated by Centreville resident, Alan Griffith, former vice chair of The Bank of New York.
To view video from the event, visit http://www.aspeninstitute.org/video/jack-bogle-mutual-funds-common-sense-investing-stock-market.
Named by Fortune magazine as one of the investment industry’s four “Giants of the 20th Century,” Bogle built Vanguard in 40 years to be the largest mutual fund organization in the world, with approximately 170 mutual funds and with current assets totaling more than $3 Trillion. The Vanguard 500 Index Fund, the largest fund in the group, was the first index mutual fund, established by Bogle in 1975 in a move that has revolutionized the investment industry.
In response to a question seeking his advice on where investors should currently be focused, Bogle stated, “You can’t guess anything in the short run. In the long run, the stock market is all about the returns earned by American business. Fundamentals are the key—not speculation.”
Expressing his dissatisfaction with the current investment industry, Bogle noted, “Today, the industry is too much marketing and not enough management. We’re trying to get this business to turn more toward being a fiduciary business than a marketing and salesmanship business.” To that end, he is working with the US Department of Labor and the White House Council of Economic Advisors to establish federal standards requiring investment professionals to put their customers’ interests ahead of their own and, according to Bogle, “to have the funds run in the interest of their long-term shareholders.”
In response to an attendee’s question about his opinion on the establishment of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by the Consumer Protection Act of 2010, Bogle replied, “I do not believe in big government but I think that the financial industry, unfortunately, has earned government oversight.”
Bogle has written 10 books on common sense investing. He has received honorary doctorates from 14 universities. TIME magazine named him one of the world’s 100 most powerful and influential people, and Institutional Investor magazine gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as the chairman of the National Constitution Center, Blair Academy, and the Investment Company Institute, and as a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Independence Standards Board.
The Aspen Wye Fellows Program was established in the summer of 2006 as an organization to connect the Aspen Institute’s Wye River campus in Queenstown with Eastern Shore residents who have an interest in becoming more engaged in the critical issues facing our country and the world. The Fellows participate in eight programs and receptions as well as two concerts yearly between September and June on the Wye River campus; monthly book talks at the Aspen Institute headquarters in Washington, DC; other Washington-based events such as the annual Washington Ideas Forum; and summer events at the campus in Aspen, Colorado.
To learn more about the Aspen Wye Fellows, contact Judy Price at judy.price@aspeninstitute.org or by calling 410-820-5432.
Aspen Wye Fellow and Moderator Alan Griffith, left, and Judy Price, Manager, Aspen Wye River campus, right, confer with Jack Bogle before the presentation.
Aspen Wye Fellow and Moderator Alan Griffith, left, in conversation with Jack Bogle
About The Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.
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