Stewardship not salesmanship is key to Isa season

As we head into the Isa season, no matter how muted it may be, it is an appropriate time to focus on a key issue for the industry, which was recently addressed by one of the giants of the US mutual fund business. Jack Bogle, founder and former chairman of Vanguard, in a January speech talked about the trend he felt had developed in the business of salesmanship over 'stewardship'. His comments refer directly to the trend for fund managers to become traders rather than stock owners on the back of rising marketing and operating costs and falling returns. According to Bogle, while the S&P ...