{"id":1079,"date":"2015-12-08T13:18:30","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T18:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johncbogle.com\/wordpress\/?p=1079"},"modified":"2015-12-08T13:18:30","modified_gmt":"2015-12-08T18:18:30","slug":"memo-to-veterans-and-principals-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johncbogle.com\/wordpress\/2015\/12\/08\/memo-to-veterans-and-principals-16\/","title":{"rendered":"Memo to Veterans and Principals"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Sense of History<\/strong>
\n The Battle of Waterloo \u2013 200th Anniversary, June 18, 2015<\/strong><\/p>\n

The long and connected history of Vanguard and Wellington now goes back almost 87 years, to Wellington Fund\u2019s founding on December 28, 1928.<\/p>\n

When I worked at Wellington Management (until being dismissed as CEO on January 23, 1974), the history of the Duke of Wellington and the battles of his armies across Europe during the Napoleonic Wars were told and retold, and our offices were peppered with engravings of those encounters. \u201cThe Iron Duke\u201d was a remarkable warrior, revered by Wellington Fund founder Walter L. Morgan and the inspiration for the Fund\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

I still remember the visit to our Locust Street office by the fourth (I think) Duke of Wellington, on a Saturday morning circa 1962. I was entrusted with the honor of opening the front door and welcoming the Duke, a gracious fellow whose meeting with Mr. Morgan seemed to me as natural and jolly as a reunion of two long-separated gentlemen friends.<\/p>\n

The Wellington Name<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wellington\u2019s history\u2014and the Wellington name\u2014was precious to Mr. Morgan, and became precious to me. But, in the battle to create a successor firm to Wellington Management Company that would operate Wellington Fund and its sister funds, the Fund\u2019s directors made the decision to allow the management company to keep the \u201cWellington\u201d name, rather than award it to the new firm (i.e., \u201cThe Wellington Group of Investment Companies\u201d).<\/p>\n

I was furious with this (to me) wrong-headed\u2014even irrational and stupid\u2014decision, and threatened to resign as chairman and president of the funds. But I calmed down, and was persuaded by lead independent director Charles D. Root, Jr. to stay on as the Funds\u2019 chairman and president. Chuck Root\u2019s challenge to me was clear: \u201cJack, call your new company by any name you want. And then go out and make it the finest name in the mutual fund industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Vanguard Name<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t sure what name to select for the new firm. But through a remarkable series of coincidences (most of you know the story\u2014it\u2019s told in several of my books and speeches\u2014so I\u2019ll not repeat it here), opportunity struck. Without consultation or professional assistance, I chose the name \u201cVanguard\u201d for the new firm, a name not only meaning \u201cleader in a new trend,\u201d but closely linked to \u201cWellington\u201d in British history during the Napoleonic War era.<\/p>\n

\u2022 HMS Vanguard \u2013 Lord Nelson\u2019s flagship at the great victory over Napoleon\u2019s fleet at the Battle of the Nile in 1798, emblematic of the triumph of Great Britain on the seas.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Wellington \u2013 The Iron Duke who fought Napoleon\u2019s armies throughout Europe during the early part of the 19th century, culminating in his great triumph at the battle of Waterloo in 1815. Britain\u2019s triumph on the land changed the course of European history.<\/p>\n

Linking The Names<\/strong><\/p>\n

Admiral Nelson and the Duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley) meet only once, a meeting memorialized by a large etching, a copy of which reposes in my office. Also in my office are a matched pair of large antique prints, one showing the death of Nelson, shot by a sniper at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1872; the other showing the triumph of Wellington at Waterloo. Ironically, these two giants of the British Empire are also linked in death. Their catafalques rest adjacent to one another in the crypt at London\u2019s magnificent St. Paul\u2019s Cathedral.<\/p>\n

The 200th Anniversary of Waterloo<\/strong><\/p>\n

I use this occasion to remind each member of our crew of the derivation of the two distinguished and heroic names that have defined our long existence\u2014a fighting spirit, a commitment to our fellow crewmembers, the mission to honor our heritage.<\/p>\n

Yes, let\u2019s not forget our proud history; let\u2019s keep it alive and live its values. Yes, much of our work is humble and technical, but our character and conduct must emulate the touchstones of our heritage. \u201cLord God of Hosts, be with us yet, lest we forget\u2014lest we forget.\u201d (Kipling)<\/p>\n

Jack<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Sense of History The Battle of Waterloo \u2013 200th Anniversary, June 18, 2015 The long and connected history of Vanguard and Wellington now goes back almost 87 years, to Wellington Fund\u2019s founding on December 28, 1928. When I worked at Wellington Management (until being dismissed as CEO on January 23, 1974), the history of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-memos-to-principals-and-veterans"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johncbogle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johncbogle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johncbogle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johncbogle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johncbogle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1079"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/johncbogle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1080,"href":"https:\/\/johncbogle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1079\/revisions\/1080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johncbogle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johncbogle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johncbogle.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}