Who Owns Vanguard Group?
8/28/2025 07:26pm
**Vanguard Group's Unique Structure and Ownership**:
1. **Vanguard's Structure**: Vanguard Group has a distinct ownership structure where the company is owned by its funds, and these funds are owned by the shareholders. This means the fund shareholders are the actual owners of Vanguard.
2. **Lack of Outside Investors**: Vanguard does not have outside investors other than its shareholders, which is uncommon for publicly owned investment firms.
3. **Shareholder Benefits**: This structure allows Vanguard to charge low expenses for its funds, with an average expense ratio of 0.09% at the end of 2023, significantly lower than the industry average of 0.50%.
4. **Ownership through Fund Shares**: If a fund holds shares of a company, then Vanguard, as the owner of the fund, effectively owns a portion of that company. However, Vanguard itself does not own companies directly; the fund shareholders do so indirectly.
**Recent Investments by Vanguard**:
1. **Increase in Cadre Holdings Stake**: Vanguard increased its stake in Cadre Holdings by 3.0%, owning approximately 3.52% of the company valued at $42.4 million after purchasing an additional 41,476 shares.
2. **Expansion of Worthington Steel Holdings**: Vanguard boosted its holdings in Worthington Steel by 1.4%, owning approximately 8.93% of the company valued at around $114.73 million after acquiring an additional 62,042 shares.
3. **Growth in Skyward Specialty Insurance Group**: Vanguard expanded its stake in Skyward Specialty Insurance Group by 10.0%, acquiring an additional 227,921 shares and increasing its ownership to approximately 6.21% of the company valued at $132.47 million.
**Conclusion**: Vanguard Group's ownership structure, which is fundamentally different from other investment management companies, allows it to maintain low expense ratios and focus on the best interests of its shareholders. Recent investments in Cadre Holdings, Worthington Steel, and Skyward Specialty Insurance Group reflect Vanguard's strategy of growing its holdings in various companies while maintaining a diversified portfolio.