There always seems to be a lot of emotion with these types of questions.Vanguard is lagging its peers with respect to investments in technology, research, user interface, customer service, etc. In other industries, this typically causes a flight of talent to competitors that pay better and are better positioned to survive/thrive. And when talent flees a firm, it typically declines further and may eventually go belly-up (or keel over, in Vanguard’s case).
Which brings me to my question. If this “wrong-way” trend at Vanguard continues to play out, and the fund managers leave for greener pastures, could it affect the future performance of VTSAX/VTI? Specifically, might this fund start to perform worse than its peers (e.g., ITOT, FSKAX, FZROX, etc.)? Should I be diversifying my “total market” fund into other firms/funds that appear better positioned for the future?
Vanguard is going through a massive modernization transition, especially on the technology side. It's a flagship in the industry. Large scale multi-year technical upgrades can be very challenging and that is what they've been in the process of the past few years. It can be hard and messy. They'll get through it. They are very aware of the customer service issues from the past few years as well.
If I'm a Vanguard customer, I wouldn't move money to other funds due to this concern.
Statistics: Posted by markjk — Fri Jan 12, 2024 5:07 am — Replies 73 — Views 3369
