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How does control/governance for Vanguard actually work? It's apparently owned by the investors in the funds, but I own some ETFs through Vanguard and I've never

• ajdlinux 10y ago
  My understanding is that individual fund investors will never see a proxy form - the fund's decisions on how it will vote are determined by the managers. Also, take a look at https://about.vanguard.com/vanguard-proxy-voting/ https://about.vanguard.com/vanguard-proxy-voting/
  • jordanthoms 10y ago
    I was referring more to control of Vanguard itself - i.e. choosing the Board of directors for Vanguard. I did a bit of digging though, and it seems they are actually elected by the shareholders of Vanguard funds - but they are appointed for lifetime terms, and up to 1/3 of the directors may be appointed by the other directors. So they only need to go to a vote of shareholders occasionally - looks like the last was in 2009. The proxy form from that meeting: http://www.vanguard.com/jumppage/proxy/PROXYA.pdf http://www.vanguard.com/jumppage/proxy/PROXYA.pdf
    • thisisit 10y ago
      That is one of the major concerns regarding indexing and Vanguard in general. The process for selecting directors in Vanguard indirectly affects the proxy voting for corporate governance in stocks owned by the fund. Many people think it will lead to lower competition because of the objective of the fund is to keep in line with the market and not beat it.
      • ajdlinux 10y ago
        FWIW I can't say I'm terribly happy with Vanguard's environmental proxy voting record...