Salim Ramji named new CEO of Vanguard

Salim Ramji, 53, a longtime Indian American financial services executive, has been named chief executive officer of Vanguard, the Malvern, Pennsylvania-based investment advisor, effective July 8.

Ramji succeeds Tim Buckley, who, as previously announced, will retire and step down as Chairman and CEO.

Ramji is a senior financial services executive with more than 25 years of experience in investments, capital markets and wealth management, including a decade as a senior leader at BlackRock Inc., leaving in January 2024, according to his company profile.

Most recently, Ramji was Global Head of iShares & Index Investing, where he was responsible for managing a majority of the firm’s client assets and evolving the iShares platform to provide an even broader set of innovative low-cost products for investors globally.

His contributions led to expanded investment access for tens of millions of investors, a more central role for ETFs in retirement and wealth portfolios and a more efficient bond market with ETFs as an enabling technology.

At BlackRock, he led the implementation of a voting choice platform, which democratizes client access to the proxy voting process.

Prior to leading iShares, Ramji was the Head of US Wealth Advisory and began his BlackRock career as the Global Head of Corporate Strategy.

Before joining BlackRock, Ramji was a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company in charge of the firm’s Asset & Wealth Management Practice. He started his career as a lawyer at Clifford Chance in London and Hong Kong.

Mark Loughridge, Lead Independent Director, said, “The Board welcomes Salim to the leadership team and looks forward to working closely with him as we strengthen and expand our mission and purpose, driven by serving the interests of individual investors. Vanguard’s distinctive structure and culture have helped tens of millions of our investor-owners plan for their future and families. We have significant opportunities for growth ahead, including how technology and the client experience can drive solutions and extend the benefits of wealth management to more investors. Salim is an exceptional leader who is aligned with Vanguard’s mission-driven culture, making him the ideal candidate. Vanguard has an important future, and we believe he is the best person for the job.”

On his appointment, Ramji commented, “It’s an honor to join Vanguard, an institution I have long admired and respected. I am drawn to Vanguard because of the firm’s clarity and consistency of purpose and am very excited to get to work and partner with the outstanding leadership team to lead the company into the future. 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, which is more relevant today than at any time in the firm’s five-decade history. My focus will be to mobilize Vanguard to meet the moment while staying true to that core purpose – remaining the trusted firm that takes a stand for all investors.”

Ramji earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and politics from University of Toronto, an MA degree in law from Cambridge University, and is a CFA charterholder.

He is a trustee of Graham Windham, a New York-based child-care agency, and on the International Leadership Council for the University of Toronto.

Son of Tanzanian immigrants of Indian origin, Salim was raised in Canada. A year ago, during his appearance on the Jon Schultz Podcast show, he shared his childhood dream.

“I grew up in Canada, and like every good Canadian, I grew up wanting to be a professional hockey player,” he said. But hockey didn’t work out, and he later joined law school.

Thanking his parents for his achievements, he said they influenced him in two ways as a child — the importance of education. He said his parents couldn’t even complete their high school studies, so they were adamant about education. “They were very adamant about the need to go to college.”

His parents also taught him about financial security. He told The Wall Street Journal that his mother gave him an early insight into his future customers. She put money away in the equivalent of a 401(k) plan each month, even if it was as little as $100, despite a lack of financial security and “a lot of ups and downs.”