A journey through the Index Revolution from the man who started it all
Stay the Course is the story the Vanguard Group as told by its founder, legendary investor John C. Bogle. This engrossing book traces the history of Vanguard - the largest mutual fund organization on earth.
Offering the world’s first index mutual fund in 1976, John Bogle led Vanguard from a $1.4 billion firm with a staff of 28 to a global company of 16,000 employees and with more than $5 trillion in assets under management. An engaging blend of company history, investment perspective, and personal memoir, this book provides a fascinating look into the mind of an extraordinary man and the company he created.
John Bogle continues to be an inspiring and trusted figure to millions of individual investors the world over. His creative innovation, personal integrity, and stubborn determination infuse every aspect of the company he founded. This accessible and engaging book will help you:
- Explore the history of some of Vanguard’s most important mutual funds, including First Index Investment Trust, Wellington Fund, and Windsor Fund
- Understand how the Vanguard Group gave rise to the Index Revolution and transformed the lives of millions of individual investors
- Gain insight on John Bogle’s views on values such as perseverance, caring, commitment, integrity, and fairness
- Investigate a wide range of investing topics through the lens of one of the most prominent figures in the history of modern finance
The Vanguard Group and John Bogle are inextricably linked - it would be impossible to tell one story without the other. Stay the Course: The Story of Vanguard and the Index Revolution weaves these stories together taking you on a journey through the history of one revolutionary company and one remarkable man. Investors, wealth managers, financial advisors, business leaders, and those who enjoy a good story, will find this book as informative and unique as its author.
Table of Contents
About Stay the Course xiii
Foreword by Burton G. Malkiel xvii
Part I. The Story of Vanguard 1
Chapter 1 1974:The Prophecy 3
Chapter 2 1945-1965: The Background -Blair, Princeton, Fortune, and Wellington 9
Chapter 3 1965-1974:The “Go-Go” Era, the Aftermath, and the Formation of Vanguard 17
Chapter 4 The Index Fund Revolution: From Birth to Dominance 37
Chapter 5 1974-1981: A New Beginning 53
Chapter 6 1981-1991: Setting the Stage for Future Growth 75
Chapter 7 1991-1996: Preparing for a New Mutual Fund Industry 89
Chapter 8 1996-2006: The ETF Revolutionizes Indexing 107
Chapter 9 2006-2018: The Momentum Continues - Strategy Follows Structure 121
Chapter 10 Caring: The Founder’s Legacy 149
Part II. The Vanguard Funds 163
Chapter 11 Wellington Fund: Vanguard’s Alpha and Omega 165
Chapter 12 The Index Funds 177
Chapter 13 The Windsor Funds 187
Chapter 14 The PRIMECAP Funds 195
Chapter 15 The Bond Funds 205
Chapter 16 Problems and Perspectives 217
Part III. The Future of Investment Management 227
Chapter 17 The Fund Industry Becomes Mutual 229
Chapter 18 The Challenge to the S&P 500 Index Fund 241
Chapter 19 “The Financial Institutions Act of 2030” 249
Part IV. Personal Refl ections 255
Chapter 20 What Really Matters: A Memoir 257
Index 281
Books by John C. Bogle 293
