Bogleheads conference 2025 update from San Antonio, USA

Katie and I have just landed in San Antonio, Texas for the Bogleheads conference 2025. It is our first time at this event.

• The vibe? Geeky, learning, technical.
• The people? Low cost investors, retirees, finance nerds.
• Our mission? Learn, share, and geek out on all things financial independence.

The opening session was a big one. Salim Ramji, CEO of Vanguard, took the stage, interviewed by Christine Benz. And wow! He covered everything from Vanguard’s soul to AI, fraud, and even private equity. Here’s what stood out…

The Soul Check: Are We Still the Owners?

Salim opened with the heart of Vanguard: you own the company. Not Wall Street. Not outside shareholders. You. That structure is what makes Vanguard unique and why costs stay low. In the US, Vanguard is a mutual company meaning it’s owned by its funds, which are owned by the investors. No outside shareholders, no profit motive beyond serving clients. That was true in 1975 and, according to Salim, even more true in 2025 as Vanguard celebrates 50 years. We even got “Vanguard 50” pins to mark the milestone.

But here’s the twist for UK investors: Vanguard UK is not structured the same way. It’s a subsidiary of the US organisation, The Vanguard Group, Inc., and while it operates under the same mission and philosophy, UK investors don’t technically “own” Vanguard in the same mutual sense as US investors. Instead, they benefit from the global scale and cost advantages created by the US mutual structure, but the legal ownership model is different. Read more from Vanguard here.

Donegan thoughts: This matters. Incentives drive behaviour. In the US, the client-owned model is baked into the DNA. In the UK, you still get the low-cost benefit, but you’re not technically an owner. Worth knowing, but I am not sure it changes anything. This is still far better than a company trying to serve two masters, clients and profit for shareholders!

Cost Matters, Service Must Delight

Salim’s first principle: cost matters. Low-cost and high quality can go together.

But he admitted Vanguard US stumbled during the pandemic. They grew fast, ran on old mainframes, and underinvested in tech and people. Service suffered. That’s why the US team is now in full reset mode, bringing back the Flagship program with real humans you can talk to and making client service the reason you choose Vanguard, not something you tolerate for the low fees.

UK perspective: Salim was very focused on the US which makes sense as we were in the US and it was a US audience! In the UK, our customer service experience has been the opposite. Katie and I have called or emailed Vanguard UK several times, and every time the service has been excellent – friendly, helpful, and fast. So while the US is fixing a pain point, the UK seems to be nailing it already. What has your experience been? Tell us in the comments.

The Tech Reboot You Probably Haven’t Heard About

We didn’t know that much about what Vanguard had been working on but I know lots of you commented on my Facebook post wanting to ask about tech, cyber security and fraud protection. Vanguard has been quietly rebuilding its tech stack.

90% of individual accounts are now off mainframes and in the cloud. Salim told us that frugality was one of the core values of Vanguard and that had meant that they had not updated their tech stack for a long time.

Now however they claim resilience “at or beyond Amazon or Microsoft.” They have increase their tech investment 2.5x compared to 2019.

Hiring back to pre-pandemic levels. Translation: faster, cleaner, more reliable.

But what about fraud which was a big worry for many.

Fort Knox Mode: Fraud and Scams

Salim spoke openly about fraud and his fears around it saying that the fraudsters are getting smarter and more industrialised. He admitted to be worried about this and the two main types of threats faced:

• Cyber takeovers: hackers trying to drain accounts. Vanguard has a “bunker” team with ex-national security, big tech, and major bank talent. Hearing about a bunker at their headquarters filled with screens and some of the smartest people in the world made us feel a sense of confidence in their service.
• Social-engineering scams: fraudsters convincing real clients to do dumb things through things like phishing scams. This is harder to protect against because it’s the client acting under manipulation. Whilst there are checks in place to make sure it really is you, there are only so many times Vanguard can say “are you quite sure you want to do this Mr Donegan?!”.

They’ve hired a new Chief Information Security Officer and are doubling down on education for 50 million clients.

Reality check: 100% security doesn’t exist. The bad guys are getting better. Stay sharp. You could see Salim’s pain at stopping the fraudsters and wanting to protect his clients.

We got a few moments to meet Salim after the talk and ask a bit about UK fees….

AI Now, AI Later

Behind the scenes, Vanguard are using, studying and researching AI in different areas:

• Bond portfolio management uses AI for precision.
• They’re exploring quantum computing for even better fixed income construction.
• 30 AI pilots are live on the client side and being tested with small groups.

Salim told us: “One of the challenges has always been giving advice at scale and at a price people can afford.” If you have been on Rebel Finance School you know that a 1% advice fee can KILL your growth and compounding!

Vanguard are working on AI advice at the moment and it is in the lab. They want to get it right before rolling it out. Expect 1–3 years before AI-driven advice hits mainstream.

Donegan thoughts: AI advice is fascinating and we are looking at how we can use all our content to create an AI agent to help you. Having a course like Rebel Finance School and then an AI agent trained in the content to support your personal situation could be a game changing improvement. It will be fascinating to see what the big institutions are going to do with this technology!

Prediction Theatre: Where I Call BS

Here’s where I get annoyed. Everyone at these conferences says, “We can’t predict the future.” Then they… predict the future. Salim talked about:

• High US equity valuations
• AI concentration risk
• The case for 60/40 portfolios (60% stocks, 40% bonds)
• Bonds looking good for the next decade

Donegan thoughts: A 60/40 portfolio? Crazy conservative. I would go further than this saying that is is actively damaging to people’s financial futures.

There was a lot of discussion about AI, over valuation of stocks and more. Look out for the next article for what we learnt from the conference.

Donegan Strategy: You can’t predict the market so don’t. Buy a low-cost global broad-based index fund and let it do what it does. Hold it for the long term. When you’re building your Freedom Fund, keep it simple with 100% equities.

Active Fixed Income and Private Markets

Salim spent time on two big themes: active fixed income and private equity. Let’s break it down Donegan-style.

✅ What is Active Fixed Income?

Think bonds, but with a twist. Instead of buying the whole bond market (passive), Vanguard’s managers actively pick bonds they think will outperform. The theory? The bond market is opaque and inefficient, so smart managers can add value if fees are low.

Donegan thoughts: This is crazy as it is completely against the ethos that you can’t beat the market. This is what Vanguard was founded on so it seems super strange to us that they are even considering this.

✅ What is Private Equity?

(and How Is It Different from Public Equities)

Public equities = companies you can buy on the stock market (e.g. Apple, Microsoft). This is what the index funds buy. With the Vanguard FTSE Global All cap you are buying most of the available publicly traded companies around the world.

Private equities = companies that you cannot buy on the stock market. Investing in these companies is complex, illiquid, and usually reserved for the ultra-wealthy. Vanguard wants to bring the Vanguard effect (low fees, transparency) to this space. But Salim was clear:

• It’s a 10–15 year build
• Only for a subset of clients
• Benchmark is still the simple 60/40 index portfolio

Donegan thoughts: There is some evidence that private equity can do better than index investing but this relies on choosing the right fund manager, paying high fees, research and work and we don’t believe we can do it!

Bringing the Vanguard effect (reducing fees, complexity and making it available to all) to private equity is an interesting idea but private equity in general is the antithesis of our investment approach of buying everything and leaving it alone to grow over years.

They say this is 10-15 years away so kind of irrelevant at the moment but Salim seemed excited about it. On the one hand we can understand the desire to explore options that can bring value to their clients but on the other hand we are super sceptical of this and wonder why they are even entertaining the idea. It feels like a distraction from the core Vanguard principles.

The Line in the Sand: Gold and Crypto

Salim’s rule: investments produce cash flow or future cash flow. Gold and Crypto don’t fit into this category and therefore:

• No gold ETF from Vanguard.
• No bitcoin or other crypto ETF from Vanguard.

They are thinking of offering non-Vanguard gold and crypto ETFs on the self-directed US platform, but Vanguard won’t create products that don’t generate income.

Donegan thoughts: We completely agree and this is why we invest in neither of these “asset” classes as we see it entirely as speculation! No chasing shiny objects.

Final Reflection

Walking out of the Bogleheads conference 2025 opening session, here’s what sticks with me:

• Tech investment is real. Vanguard is finally moving beyond mainframes and building a modern platform. That makes me excited for the future – better speed, cleaner design, and fewer headaches for all of us.
• AI is coming (carefully). They’re testing, learning, and running 30 pilots. From bond portfolio precision to digital advice, this could democratise access to quality guidance. It’s early days, but the direction feels right.
• Fraud protection inspires confidence. Hearing about their “bunker” team and layered defences gave me peace of mind. They know the stakes and are throwing serious talent at the problem.
• UK fees just dropped. We asked Salim about the much higher investing fees in the UK, and he repeated they’ve reduced fees. The Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF has reduced from 0.22% to 0.19% which is a good start. But seriously Vanguard, when can we start to have low low fees in the UK like they have in the US?

I left feeling optimistic. Vanguard’s soul is intact, the tech reboot is underway, and they’re leaning into AI and security with purpose. Yes, I still think a 60/40 portfolio is ultra-conservative and a silly benchmark, but the bigger story is this: Vanguard is building for the next 50 years.

What do you think?

• Does tech and AI excite you or worry you?
• Would lower fees on global ETFs change your strategy?
• What do you think about the fact they benchmark against a 60/40 portfolio?
• What has your experience of Vanguard US or Vanguard UK (or somewhere else in the world!) been?

Drop your thoughts in the comments – we would love to hear your perspective.

Sending you peace and pineapples from the Bogleheads conference!

Alan and Katie