Vanguard, the mutual-fund-shareholder-owned mutual fund company with $1.3 trillion under management, won't disclose to its owner-shareholders how much money is paid to the top executives at the company they supposedly own. Here's a recent post on the topic from Vanguard's own blog:
under this novel structure the various Vanguard mutual funds own the operating company—The Vanguard Group, Inc.—that exists to serve those funds. No other owner pulls a profit from the operating company.
It's clear from your comments that skepticism still abounds, along with a fair amount of curiosity, and even a good portion of gratitude for Vanguard's unique client-owned structure. In this post, I'll respond to some of those questions and comments.
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About one in four comments focused on the compensation of Vanguard executives.
"How much does CEO McNabb make . . . How about the compensation packages for the Directors . . . How about the top 100 compensated employees."
Although I know this response won't satisfy those concerned about compensation, Vanguard's view is simple: We don't disclose the compensation earned by any crew member. We believe that compensation matters deserve the same privacy protections that we provide to shareholders and their account information.
It's an interesting exception to the practices at public companies in America, where executive compensation is disclosed to shareholders and to the press. As a Vanguard investor, the lack of information hasn't scared me away, but I'd prefer to know.
