Vanguard’s Sauter To Retire

Gus Sauter, chief investment officer at Vanguard Group, has announced he will retire at the end of the year.

Vanguard is the largest U.S. mutual fund company, and Sauter supervises $1.6 trillion of Vanguard’s $2.1 trillion in assets according to Reuters. Sauter joined Vanguard in 1987 and helped build the company into an industry leader in mutual funds.

“I look back with a mixture of pride and humility on helping to popularize the indexing concept. I am also grateful for being associated with Vanguard for nearly my entire career,” Sauter said in the statement. “It is time to pass the baton to a new leader who can further build upon our strong investment management foundation.”

Vanguard CEO Bill McNabb spoke highly of Sauter’s time in a statement released by the company.

“On behalf of the entire Vanguard family, I thank him for his dedication and service to our clients and our crew. Under his leadership, Vanguard has emerged as a world-class investment management firm with an unparalleled record of accomplishment,” McNabb said in the statement.

Mortimer J. “Tim” Buckley, 43, will take over when Sauter steps down. BankInvestmentConsultant.com reported that Buckley is a managing director and a long-time member of Vanguard’s senior staff, having directed Vanguard’s Retail Investor Group since 2006.

Buckley, with Vanguard since 1991, has worked with Vanguard’s Planning and Development, Retail Investor and Web Services groups. He was also once chief information officer and head of Vanguard’s Information Technology Division.

Dan Wiener, editor of a newsletter for Vanguard investors and chairman of Massachusetts-based wealth manager Adviser Investments, told Reuters that the smart move for Buckley will be to stay the course, relying on the groundwork laid by Sauter.