We are in week one of the changing of the guard at Vanguard. New CEO Salim Ramji from BlackRock took over on Monday. “Vanguard’s Die-Hard Customers Have a Message for New CEO: ‘The Service is Abysmal,’” wasn’t written by Your Survival Guy, it was a headline in The WSJ.
You know from my Special Report on Vanguard that times have changed at the firm. The company, founded by Jack Bogle and touted by Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report, brought investors a fair shake: low-cost, passive investing.
Today, Vanguard, along with BlackRock and State Street, manage trillions of dollars in the same stocks, mostly the S&P 500. It’s an algorithm before its time: money comes in, and the same stocks are purchased. What happens when Baby Boomers start selling to pay for their retirement life? Everyone out of the boat.
But even if there’s not a mass exodus, what is clear is the need for more service as this ‘pig in the python’ group ages. When it’s nearly impossible to find your statements come tax time, and the IRS changes the RMD rules regularly, don’t think this isn’t on purpose. Of course, it is. The more you need them…is the business model.
Vanguard was never established to be a full service provider. But now it wants to be, and the phone reps know you about as well as perhaps the cashier at your local big box grocery store asking for your loyalty card number. They don’t know you by your voice, understanding immediately who you are. There’s a delay while you sit on hold so they can read your file and then interact with you.
Action Line: Your money deserves respect. When big firms need to get bigger to survive, don’t get lost in the shuffle. When you’re serious about your retirement life, let’s talk. But only if you’re serious.
Originally posted on Your Survival Guy.
