The asset management titan is pushing further into a wealth space that has already drawn in the likes of Fidelity and Schwab, among others.

Vanguard, a firm with $10.1 trillion AuM (end-September 2024), is setting up a new advice and wealth management division.       

The new organization will be led by Joanna Rotenberg, who will be joining in January 2025. Rotenberg, previously president of personal investing at Fidelity, will also become a member of Vanguard’s senior leadership team.

Before her time at Fidelity, Rotenberg spent over a decade at BMO Financial Group as a member of the bank’s executive committee. She was also a partner at McKinsey & Company serving clients in wealth and asset management.

“With the addition of Joanna to our leadership team, our goal is to further democratize our advice and wealth management offerings for our clients through enhanced technologies and offers – with the same client zeal that Vanguard has long been known for,” Vanguard CEO Salim Ramji said. 

The new entity is significant because it directly competes with financial advisors in the mass-affluent space.

Vanguard, which since 1975 has specialized in index funds, said its existing advice and wealth management businesses are among “the fastest growing offers within a large and growing industry segment.”

Separately, the firm made several other appointments.

Teams
Matt Benchener, managing director and head of Vanguard’s personal investor business which includes the firm’s wealth management offer, will continue in his role working with Vanguard’s millions of individual direct investors. 

John James, managing director of the institutional investor group, has been named head of Workplace & Advisor Solutions. 

Lauren Valente, managing director and chief human resources officer, has been named head of the institutional investor group.

Jon Couture, a chief human resources officer who has held several senior leadership positions across the financial services industry, will join Vanguard in December as a managing director and member of the senior leadership team succeeding Valente.