先锋集团创始人2.2万亿美元的财富传奇

    如果你毕生的工作成就可以用一个简单的数字加以衡量的话会怎样？而如果这个数字是2.2万亿的话又会怎样？我说的是2.2万亿美元。我走进曼哈顿中城的一家高档餐厅，寻找的正是这样的一个人。很容易认出他来。并不是因为他身上每一个毛孔都散发出财富的味道，也不是因为他身边跟着一大批彰显身份的随从，而是因为他恰恰不是如此。看，在那边的角落里，那个上了年纪的人就是他。他身上穿着一件普通的西装，戴着一根单调的领带，在这家提供西班牙式烤章鱼（配以炒可可豆、大理石土豆及塞拉诺火腿）的高档餐厅里，他看起来好像有点不自在。（他想点的是汉堡包——不要配上腌野韭葱调料。）

    现年83岁，人称“杰克”的约翰·C·博格尔把先锋集团（Vanguard）打造成了世界上最大的公司之一，但这个成就并不是靠和客户坐在一起吃吃昂贵的西班牙式章鱼实现的。他的成功关键在于崇尚简朴之道。他是一名斗士，一个脾气古怪而勇于打破传统观念的人，更有点像是一名极端分子。他在1999年正式退休，而且有段时间身体不在最佳状态，但他仍然坚定不移地认为，采取保守投资策略的低费用指数基金是最佳，不对，是唯一的投资途径。而现在，先锋集团遍及世界各地的数百万客户也秉持这样的观点。他们向杰克37年前白手起家的这家基金公司投入了资金规模已达2.2万亿美元。

    这是我在《财富》杂志任职期间第三次撰写有关先锋集团的文章了。第一次是在1991年，当时该公司旗下管理的资金总额约为800亿美元；接着是在2001年，当时该公司旗下管理的资金总额为5,400亿美元；现在，在过去的11年里，其管理的资金规模又增加到2001年时的四倍。（我知道，我一年前就应该撰写这篇文章）。期间，先锋集团已悄悄成为我们这个时代最伟大的成功经营故事之一。在过去的几十年里，我逐渐认识到有关该公司的一两项事实——那就是该公司的确无与伦比，而其发展势头似乎不可阻挡。由于有见识的投资者纷至沓来，先锋集团在各种市场上都取得了显著的增长。

    也许有些读者还不了解情况，因此，我在此介绍一下先锋集团的运营方式：该公司向投资者直接销售低费用的共同基金（主要是指数基金）以及交易所交易基金（ETF），从而绕过了代理商及他们的加价和营销费用。不过，最重要的特点是，先锋集团在这个行业中能够以最低的利润率成功经营，因为就像一家互助保险公司那样，它是由客户所拥有的。（就先锋集团而言，这里的客户就是它旗下各基金的投资者）。当然，先锋集团也得向它的基金经理及行政人员支付薪酬。但它不用向某位所有者或者股东派发利润，而是通过降低费用来实现公司收益。明白了吗？也就是说，博格尔已把先锋集团打造成了一家全球性的巨型基金公司，但并没有使自己因此变得十分富有。而这就是没有其他任何人被认为适合创建另一家先锋集团的一个重要原因。要做到这一点，必须对博格尔的这种投资经营理念持有坚定的信念。但这样的人并不多。

    博格尔就其新书《文化的冲突:投资和投机》（The Clash of the Cultures: Investment vs. Speculation）而接受了我的采访。他在这本书中严厉抨击了华尔街上的大部分投资做法，以及发生的许多事情和变化。他对我说：“我不会在意别人说什么，我说的都是我的心里话。”他一边说，一边把谨慎的目光投向我面前的那盘秋烤根茎类蔬菜沙拉（配有小生菜、山羊奶酪、油封鸭、无花果、苹果和胡萝卜色拉调味汁）。“不然我就不知道该怎么做了。”（我认为他想对我的沙拉品头论足，但杰克确实有自己的原则。）

    What if your life's work could be measured by one simple number, and what if that number was 2.2 trillion? As in dollars. I walked into an upscale Midtown Manhattan restaurant looking for such a man. He was easy to spot. Not because he was oozing wealth from every pore and surrounded by an entourage -- but because he wasn't. Over there in the corner, he's the older fellow in a plain suit and a boring tie who looks a tad uncomfortable in a place that serves up Spanish Octopus a la Plancha, with sofrito, cocoa beans, marble potatoes, and serrano ham. (He would have a hamburger -- hold the pickled ramp dressing.)

    John C. "Jack" Bogle, 83, didn't build Vanguard into one of the biggest companies in the world by sitting around eating fancy Spanish octopus. He's all about keeping things simple. And he's a fighter, a cantankerous iconoclast, and more than a bit of a zealot. He officially retired in '99 and hasn't been in the best of health for a while, but he still believes adamantly that conservative, low-cost index funds are the best way -- nay, the only way -- to invest. And now so, too, do millions of Vanguard customers around the world. They've invested $2.2 trillion in the house that Jack built from scratch 37 years ago.

    This is the third time I've written about Vanguard in my career at Fortune. The first was in 1991, when the company had around $80 billion under management; then again in 2001, when it had $540 billion; and now, after it has quadrupled in size over the past 11 years. (I know, I'm a year behind schedule.) In that time Vanguard has quietly become one of the greatest business success stories of our time. And over the decades I've come to realize a thing or two about the company -- namely, that it is truly unique and seemingly inexorable. Vanguard has grown in every kind of market as enlightened investors beat a path to its door.

    In case you don't know, here's how Vanguard works: The company sells low-cost mutual funds (primarily index funds) and ETFs directly to investors, thereby bypassing brokers and their markups and marketing fees. The most important distinction, though, is that Vanguard is able to operate with the lowest margins in the business because, like a mutual insurance company, it is owned by its customers. (In Vanguard's case: investors in its funds.) Of course Vanguard pays its managers and executives. But instead of paying out profits to an owner or shareholders, the company's gains are instead realized by lowering costs. Got it? Meaning Bogle has built Vanguard into a global behemoth and yet not become fabulously wealthy. Which is a big reason no one else has seen fit to create another Vanguard. To do so, you'd have to be a true believer. And not many people are.

    Bogle has met me to talk about his new book, The Clash of the Cultures: Investment vs. Speculation, in which he eviscerates most investing practices and much of what happens on Wall Street. "I don't pay attention to what others say. I say what I think," he tells me, while warily eyeing my Fall Roasted Root Vegetable Salad with petite lettuce, goat cheese, duck confit, figs, apple, and carrot vinaigrette. "I don't know how to do otherwise." (I think he wants to say something about my salad, but Jack does have some limits.)