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The Vanguard Group is the largest investment company in the world. The company was founded by John Bogle in 1975, and in 1976 the first index fund was launched - Vanguard 500 Index Fund, one of the largest funds in the world and tied to the S&P 500 Index. Ten years later in 1986, the company offers individual investors the first bond index fund – Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund (about.vanguard.com). Today, the company has 19 offices in 15 countries and more than 30 million investors in 170 countries, and its investment products and services include (about.vanguard.com; investor.vanguard.com):

- Mutual Funds
- Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
- Investing in stocks, bonds, certificates of deposit
- Consulting services
- Retirement and tuition account management

The company manages about 440 traditional funds and ETFs, of which about 209 U.S. funds and about 232 additional funds in markets outside the United States. In addition, the company manages the oldest balanced fund Vanguard Wellington^TM Fund, which dates back to 1929 (about.vanguard.com).

Since the company's founding, assets under management have increased from $1.7 billion to $7.3 trillion, and weighted average fees fell from 0.68% in 1975 to 0.09% in 2021.

Now let's take a look at Vanguard's most popular financial products. Vanguard's best ETFs:

- Vanguard S&P500 ETF (VOO) - is aimed at tracking the S&P500. The portfolio includes over 500 stocks of the largest companies, including Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet
- Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG) - includes stocks of companies with rapid growth potential
- Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) - the fund includes stocks of companies in the information technology sector

Best Vanguard balanced mutual funds:

- Vanguard Wellington Fund (VWELX) - the company's oldest fund, consisting of 60% stocks and 40% bonds. This fund is rated 5-stars from Morningstar
- Vanguard Wellesley Income Fund (VWINX) - that fund dates back to 1970, is balanced at a 60/40 bond and stock, and is also rated 5-stars from Morningstar
- Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund (VDIGX) - that fund that invests primarily in stocks and is focused on the long term and on continuous dividend growth and is rated 4-stars from Morningstar

From the beginning Vanguard has been focused on minimal fees for its clients, who, unlike clients of other investment companies, become owners of Vanguard when they invest their money in funds. That is why Vanguard, working at cost, had the opportunity to reduce the cost of its funds due to the savings achieved, and after that, competitors were also forced to reduce commission costs.

The most important components of Vanguard's success are low commissions, diversification, the best benchmarks with little index tracking error, a large selection of financial products offered and the periodic launch of new financial products.

By Elena Shadrina