Vanguard has named Salim Ramji as its new chief executive officer (CEO), replacing Tim Buckley on 8 July. Ramji was global head of iShares and index investing at BlackRock until he stepped down in January 2024.
Buckley is retiring from his dual roles as CEO and chairman after spending 33 years at Vanguard. Mark Loughridge, Vanguard’s lead independent director, will be appointed non-executive chairman.
Meanwhile, Greg Davis, Vanguard’s president and chief investment officer, is joining the firm’s board of directors and taking on expanded responsibility for regulatory and government affairs. John Murphy, president and chief financial officer of The Coca-Cola Company, will also join Vanguard’s board of directors on 1 June.
Davis said: “I look forward to working together with Salim as we continue innovating and improving our capabilities while remaining focused on lowering the cost and complexity of investing for our tens of millions of investors worldwide.”
Ramji spent the past decade at BlackRock. Before leading iShares, he headed up BlackRock’s US wealth advisory business and earlier served as global head of corporate strategy. Prior to BlackRock, he ran McKinsey’s asset and wealth management practice.
Buckley described Ramji as a strategic thinker with “a strong fiduciary ethos” and said he “cares about advancing the interests of individual investors”.
Ramji said: “I am drawn to Vanguard because of the firm’s clarity and consistency of purpose. The current investor landscape is changing and that presents opportunities for Vanguard to further its mission of giving people the best chance for investment success.
“My focus will be to mobilise Vanguard to meet the moment while staying true to that core purpose – remaining the trusted firm that takes a stand for all investors.”