According to a front page, above the fold report in this morning’s Wall Street Journal, 2014 was an outstanding year, their best ever, for Malvern-based Vanguard Group.

Not only did Vanguard pass the $3 trillion dollar Asset Under Management (AUM) marking in September, the mutual fund company took in a whopping $216 billion in new investment dollars in 2014, $31 billion in December alone.

The inflow of investor’s savings according to the Wall Street Journal report, “accentuate a trend away from fund managers and toward so-called passive investments that mimic indexes and other benchmarks for a fraction of the cost of the typical mutual fund.”

The record-breaking gains comes even though the company spent less on advertising and didn’t expand its sales force.

Instead Vanguard management credits its focus on improving customer service, expanding overseas, implementing new computerized portfolio management tools, plus a big boost from American business magnate and investor Warren Buffett, who “recommended Vanguard’s S&P 500 index fund in his letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway,” for the record setting year.

Vanguard’s “at cost” fees and overall fund performance didn’t hurt either.  According the Journal report, “investors pay 18 cents for every hundred dollars they invest with Vanguard, compared with $1.24 for the average actively managed mutual fund.

Fund performance wise, Vanguard leads the mutual fund market.  Again quoting from the Journal article:

Performance also is behind the shift. Through Dec. 29, about 74% of active stock funds in the U.S. were underperforming their category benchmarks, according to Morningstar. The S&P 500 gained about 15.4% during the period. One of Vanguard’s largest funds, the $198 billion Vanguard 500 Index fund, has matched the index’s gains.

Read the entire Wall Street Journal article including an explanation of why neighboring Montgomery County moved the bulk of its $470 million in assets into a Vanguard index funds after speaking with Vanguard Founder and former CEO Jack Bogle, here.