By Embracing Volitility, Vanguard’s O’Reilly Grows Index Fund From $1B to $800B Over 22 Years

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Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund manager Gerry O'Reilly. Photo Credit: Kristoffer Tripplaar/ Sipa USA

While most mutual funds mangers panicked when the markets began to fall after the UK voted to leave the European Union, Gerry O’Reilly, who manages $800 billion at Vanguard, saw it as just another day at work, writes Ben Steverman for Bloomberg Markets.

“For what we do, it’s not a huge deal,” said O’Reilly. O’Reilly not only runs the biggest mutual fund, but he also oversees the third-largest exchange-traded fund as well as 16 other funds. Every day he ensures that the $450 billion Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund equals the performance of its 3,600-stock benchmark.

This stellar performance builds on success in his youth. Born in Ireland which can still be heard in a hint of an accent, O’Reilly came to the U.S. thirty-three years ago to attend Villanova University on a track scholarship.

As a junior, he ran a mile in less than four minutes six times, which helped him lead Villanova to a conference championship and insured him a place on Ireland’s team at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.

He joined Vanguard several years later, and was assigned to manage the Vanguard Total Stock Market fund in 1994 when it had under $1 billion in assets. Today, that fund manages the better part of a trillion dollars.

O’Reilly, however, does not let any of the success get to his head. He does not even have his own office, and instead spends his day at a standing desk on Vanguard’s equity trading floor.

“If you have any kind of an ego, it’s going to get cut down pretty quickly,” he said. “If I come in with a bad haircut, I’m going to hear about it.”

Read more about O’Reilly at Bloomberg Markets here, and check out previous VISTA Today coverage of Vanguard here.

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