EXACTLY my first thought. If you start off not knowing that the Vanguard Group is first and foremost is an investor-owned company, you're already losing credibility with me.
If you have any investment in a Vanguard sponsored fund, you are an owner - one of over 30 million other investors.
Where I can see this potentially being an issue is how Vanguard votes the shares they hold for benefit of the shareholders. I know I don't vote the shares of Exxon-Mobile held in an S&P 500 index fund with them.
So, do they throw their weight around in the corporate boardrooms - pushing DEI and ESG agendas? Are they just a rubber-stamp for what the board and corporate execs recommend when voting proxies? I don't know - but would like to know.
“Vanguard Group is first and foremost is an investor-owned company”
and just about the only big mutual fund company that is like that.
“So, do they throw their weight around in the corporate boardrooms - pushing DEI and ESG agendas?”
Vanguard have a few specifically ESG funds, so if you want that sort of investing you can choose those funds.
https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/esg
With their range of index funds, they own part of just about every publicly traded company, but they don’t compare to hedge funds and private equity funds which really do get involved in the companies they own.