RIP: Financier John Bogle
 

I'm not sure how many fans Mr. Bogle had at a guitar forum, but I couldn't let his passing yesterday go without a mention. He was a legend in the investment world... one of the most innovative men of his era. He is credited with doing more for the average investor than anyone in history. He probably had more to do with the typical American becoming a stock market investor than any other. He revolutionized the mutual fund industry by perfecting the concept of index funds. And he certainly directly and indirectly helped shape my philosophy of investing. Remarkable man... he will be missed in the financial world.

Philly.com obituary.
A collection of tributes from Google News.

We live pretty close to the Vanguard campus in Malvern. I’ve been to a number of meetings there (despite incredibly tight - legendary - security!) and have known a number of Vanguard employees - one of our nearby neighbors has been there her whole career. I never heard a negative word about the man and a whole lot of very positive ones.

-Ray

Low cost Index Funds and ETFs are the best way to invest IMO. My IRA is at Vanguard.

May God bless Jack Bogle.

Thanks for the post

Legends in every field.

I wonder about the Instagram generation however.

He sure was an interesting guy with a great understanding of the market. His lead to champion Index Funds over the long haul was prescient. It has been reported that Index Funds now hold 60% of all funds in the stock market (Morningstar says - Assets in passive equity strategies grew to nearly 45 percent of all stock market investments in the U.S. in 2018.), which might be a little concerning to some — but I didn’t hear what he thought about this development.

Bogle changed the face of investing in a profound and important way. Slightly more than 50% of US households own stocks or mutual funds; even a sizable number of households with income of less than $40K own some stocks or mutual funds.

More US households own stocks or mutual funds than own a dog or a gun.

While one can debate whether this will ultimately be beneficial for our society, there is little doubt that many have derived financial benefit from Bogle's vision and his implementation of that vision.

RIP.

Bogle was becoming concerned about the concentration of shares in the hands of just a few index funds - Vanguard, Black Rock and State Street Global. Here are his thoughts from a late 2018 Wall Street Journal article.

"My concerns are shared by many academic observers...Prof. John C. Coates of Harvard Law School wrote that indexing is reshaping corporate governance, and warned that we are tipping toward a point where the voting power will be “controlled by a small number of individuals” who can exercise “practical power over the majority of U.S. public companies.” ... His conclusion—“The issue is not likely to go away”—is unarguable."

CK