This week, I had the distinct pleasure of participating in the Institute for the Fiduciary Standard’s “Campaign for Investors” launch. As a staunch supporter of retirement industry reform and fee transparency, I was invited to speak on panel at the event where I met with like-minded financial thought leaders, who supported the Labor Department’s new measures to make retirement investing safer. One of those like-minded individuals happens to be the father of indexing and founder of The Vanguard Group; one of my personal heroes, John Bogle.
John Bogle has, without a doubt, been a major player in setting the stage for the retirement industry improvements that are currently underway. Bogle’s fight has been a long one; he has rightly been advocating for a fiduciary standard since he wrote his senior thesis at Princeton University, which analyzed the mutual fund industry. To be in the same space as the very man who set the tone for low-cost, prudent investment advice as he saw his overdue dream realized was nothing short of awe-inspiring.
Though his fight has been long, it is certainly not over. As Bogle mentioned in his speech, the Labor Department’s promulgation of the rule is just the beginning, the catalyst, for wholesale improvement of the investment industry.
I am thankful for Bogle’s investment innovation that allows everyday Americans the opportunity to have high quality investments at a low-cost. And I am proud to have been part of Bogle’s pro-consumer fight, and will continue to put into practice his low-cost, prudent approach to investing.
