The overwhelming majority of Chester Countians fall into one or more of the following three categories: They know someone who works at Malvern’s Vanguard, are related to someone who works at the mutual fund and indexing giant, or work there themselves.

Consequently, much is known about the largest employer in Chester County. With that said, though, the nature of its work ensures that an outsider’s knowledge of Vanguard is limited. Here are 10 intriguing facts about the company you may not know:

1. Vanguard’s assets have tripled in the last five years, and have now reached $4.2 trillion as of last February.
2. That’s more than all the real estate loans at all the commercial banks in America, according to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer. It’s about the same amount of cash stashed overseas by all U.S. companies.
3. Vanguard took in more than $300 billion last year, more than any other investment firm in the world.
4. In 2016, Vanguard “handled more than 10 million phone calls, answered 1.4 million e-mails, and transacted 17 million brokerage trades,” said company spokesman John Woerth.
5. Vanguard cannot often transfer assets in hours or days. Instead, it takes weeks.
6. Vanguard employs more than 11,000 people in Pennsylvania alone.
7. The company added 1,000 full-time employees last year, to boost its total to 15,000, and expects a similar increase this year.
8. Founder and former chairman John C. Bogle is credited with the creation of the first index fund available to individual investors.
9. Vanguard employees donate their time and efforts to a wide variety of activities. Through Volunteer Time Off (VTO), each crew member can take a paid day off every year to help their communities — in any way, at any time or place they’d like.
10. In 2015, Vanguard employees volunteered 38,652 hours — the equivalent of more than 4,800 eight-hour days.