Customer Reviews

Character Counts : The Creation and Building of the Vanguard Group

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1 star:		(5)

 

 

I can't imagine anyone more qualified to write a book titled "Character Counts" than Jack Bogle--often called "The Concience of the Industry." I have read his other books, and his writing gets better and better.

With newspaper headlines describing the ethical failures of Enron, Arthur Anderson, and others, "Character Counts" could not come at a better time. The book is primarily the speeches of Chairman Bogle to his "crew" at the Vanguard company which he founded 27 years ago. A significant portion of the book contains pages bordered in black which explain the phenominal growth of Vanguard and what is happening between speeches.

It is exhilarating and reassuring to read words such as these from the CEO of the second largest mutual fund company in the world:

"Tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth--with no strings attached--and let the chips fall where they may."

"Good ethics is good business."

"One of my principal concerns has been that growth not be allowed to deprive us of the character that got us here in the first place."

"Our shareholders. We must never let them down."

"Treat human beings--from the highest to the humblest--with respect and honor"

"Do what's right. If you're not sure, ask your boss."

"We are utterly committed to a policy that puts a premium on human dignity. We shall succeed by example--from the very top down--and violations will simply not be tolerated."

I finished this book today. Its author, Jack Bogle, sets an example of how to run a business--and live life to the fullest (with a failing heart that eventually was replaced.) "Character Counts" should be required reading for every CEO in American. Whether you are a CEO, a small businessman, or an ordinary worker, "Character Counts" is an easy to read guideline for success and happiness in our daily lives. I give it 5-stars.

Taylor Larimore

Several reviewers say not to buy this book because it repeats itself over & over. That is just the point that these people (who must have low SAT scores) missed; namely that virtue and honor do not change.We all learn by repetition and that is what Mr. Bogle does. Vanguard was and continues to be founded on bedrock solid honest principles that will not change.He is especially cognizant of his "Crew" (they are above employees)and their constant contribution to the success of Vanguard. Mr Bogle had a heart transpant in 1996 and remains in vigorous and good health. My favorite quotation of his is "The past is history. The furure's a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why we call it the present." (Page 272) This book could be sold in Christian Bookstores. I am sure many in the financial world cannot or will not understand it.I bought 5 copies of this book to give to my family & friends. It not only gives a history of the stock market for the last 80 years (and the shenanigans), but a wonderful lesson in CHARACTER COUNTS.

i love books by successful leaders, from John Wooden to Jack Welch
John Bogle is the founder of Vanguard Funds and I admire his low cost index fund investment approach.
however, i am greatly disappointed with this book as Mr. Bogle delivered mostly a history of Vanguard and little about the wisdom behind his success. the book reads like a corporate marketing material with little insightful analysis.

I guess this book summarizes the state of publishing. You throw a multiple book advance at a retired legend; he pockets the money and rehashes a couple of his speeches from the last 25 years and you package them with a trendy, relevant title. Voila, you have a profitable book.

At least the sports writer was honest when he entitled his dip in the publishing money pool, "I am back for more cash."

The sad fact is there is probably not a better person to address the character issues facing Wall Street today. Being a full blooded member of the Wall Street Establishment, Mr Bogle understands the concept of "ringing the register." So when he returns, in the words of the sports writer, "for more cash," I hope he "earns it" in the words of deceased Smith Barney spokesperson.

A lot has happened since Bogle founded the Vanguard Group in 1974. As head of the firm, he read proxy statement after proxy statement disclosing increasingly more offensive conflicts of interest and stood idly by or perhaps worse, ignored them. I would love to know his thoughts on the role of the fiduciary in shareholder democracy. Or, how about boards of directors who continue to throw good money after bad down the rat holes of stock buybacks? Why did Vanguard play such a passive role in allowing the accounting profession to price it auditing services as a loss- leader so it could sell more profitable consulting products?

Bogle's observations on these trends would more than fill a book on character. My suggestion to readers is to save your money for Character Counts, The Sequel. Unlike Hollywood, the remake will have to be better than this sorry book.

Bogle being an icon, I thought this would be a good book to pick up. The autobiographical elements are not extensive, as we pick up the story with Mr. Bogle's undergrad Princeton thesis on how an investment company should ideally be run. This starts the structural framework in which Bogle's character would be given expression. People of high character might also be found running mutual funds with higher fee structures, which are raked off for the funds owners, but that would not be as good for the investing public. Bogle backs this up with the math from the inception of his company--really the company owned by the investors, so let's say the inception of his "crew"--showing that administrative costs came down over time, as assets grew.

This is not high writing, but is essentially a group of speeches to the crew over the years, in the nature of tribal storytelling, or annual reports. Over the years, Bogle ends each speech with a spiritiual reference, and after his heart transplant, these get more explicitly Biblical.

Although this book stands on its own feet, what I miss about it is the critical element that probably must await an outside biographer, much as Robert Sobel was able to bring alive the investment bankers of Dillon Read in a way we would not have obtained from reading corporate reports written by the leading owner at any given period of time. So this book is a step along that path, or a good faith offering of perspective by the guy who was and is right in the middle of it.

I am a big Bogle and Vanguard Fan, and I say this as a shareholder. But this is a big waste of time, unless you like reading transposed speeches. Anyone looking for a in depth look into the development and early days of the Vanguard Group as Bogle transitioned from Princeton...to Wellington Renegade will be horribly disappointed. I know I was.

It's ironic that the cover of the book doesn't allude to it's content...copies of speaches. I guess "Character Counts" only when your dealing with other people's money...

Go Vanguard!

I respect Mr. Bogle for what he has done for the mutual fund industry, however, I think he could have left his mark on this world without publishing this book. One can only read so many speeches where the same topic is discussed over and over again. Invest your money in Vanguard funds, but not this book.

Having read all of Mr. Bogle's other books, I found this one a total waste of time. Too bad, since his other books are masterpieces!