Vanguard Adds Two Members to Senior Leadership Team

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Mar 10, 2015, 12:20 ET

VALLEY FORGE, Pa., March 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Karin A. Risi, principal, Vanguard Advice Services group, and Thomas M. Rampulla, Managing Director-Vanguard Europe, have been named to new roles on Vanguard's senior leadership team, reporting directly to Vanguard CEO Bill McNabb.

Ms. Risi will head Vanguard's Retail Investor Group, which provides mutual funds, financial planning and wealth management services, and brokerage services to Vanguard's individual investor clients. Vanguard's largest division, the Retail Investor Group has $1.26 trillion in assets and serves more than six million clients.

Ms. Risi joined Vanguard in 1997 and has held various leadership roles within the company's Retail, Institutional, and Corporate divisions. Ms. Risi started as an investment analyst in the Portfolio Review department and later moved to a role in Corporate Strategy. She also worked closely with financial advisor and institutional clients in management positions in Vanguard's Financial Advisor Services division and Institutional Investor Group.

Over the past eight years, Ms. Risi has been working with Vanguard's retail investors, first as a leader in the Flagship Services group and subsequently as the head of the Advice Services group, which provides Vanguard's clients with investment advice and comprehensive financial planning consultations with Certified Financial Planner™ professionals. Vanguard is currently piloting a new advice service – Personal Advisor Services – that it expects to be available in the second quarter.

Prior to joining Vanguard, she was an investor relations analyst with Sunoco, Inc. Ms. Risi holds BS and MBA degrees from Villanova University.

"Karin's leadership skills and deep experience in various client-service roles will be vitally important as we continue to seek to lower the cost and complexity of investing for individuals saving for retirement, college, and other goals," said Mr. McNabb. "In particular, she will continue to focus on making investment advice more accessible and affordable to our clients in an effort to give them a better chance for long-term investment success."

Mr. Rampulla will direct Vanguard's Financial Advisor Services division, which provides investments, services, education, and research to more than 1,000 financial advisory firms representing more than $1 trillion in assets. For the past seven years, Mr. Rampulla has been responsible for the management of Vanguard's U.K. and European businesses and is a member of Vanguard's International leadership team. Previously, he managed the distribution of Vanguard ETFs and mutual funds through Vanguard's financial advisor partners in the United States. In that role, he was responsible for distribution, strategy, and client service.

Mr. Rampulla joined Vanguard in 1988 and has held various positions of increasing responsibility. He has worked in Vanguard's Financial division, Fixed Income Group, and Institutional Sales and Marketing. He also served as a portfolio manager with Vanguard's Stable Value Management team.

Mr. Rampulla earned a BS degree from Bloomsburg University and an MBA degree from Drexel University, and is a graduate of Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program.

"Vanguard's Financial Advisor Services division is one of our fastest growing businesses, and Tom will bring his vast knowledge and understanding of the investment advisor industry to build on that momentum," said Mr. McNabb. "Tom will continue to focus on Vanguard's efforts to promote the value of investment advice and to expand the use of Vanguard's low-cost ETFs and mutual funds among our advisor clients."

Ms. Risi and Mr. Rampulla join the 11-member team responsible for leading Vanguard and its operations. Over the course of the next several months, Ms. Risi will transition into her new role, replacing Paul A. Heller, managing director of the Retail Investor Group, who plans to retire at year-end after 31 years with the firm.

Mr. Rampulla will succeed Martha G. King, Managing Director of Financial Advisor Services, who is taking a new role directing the Vanguard Institutional Investor Group. Chris D. McIsaac, Managing Director of the Institutional Investor Group, will assume Michael S. Miller's position as Managing Director of Vanguard's Planning & Development division. Mr. Miller, who joined Vanguard in 1996, is retiring, effective mid-year.

About Vanguard

Vanguard, headquartered in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, is one of the world's largest investment management companies. Vanguard manages $3 trillion in U.S. mutual fund assets, including more than $455 billion in ETF assets. The firm offers nearly 160 funds to U.S. investors and more than 120 additional funds in non-U.S. markets. For more information, visit vanguard.com.

Asset figures as of February 28, 2015, unless otherwise noted.

Mutual funds and ETFs are subject to risks, including possible loss of principal.

For more information about Vanguard funds, visit www.vanguard.com, or call 800-662-7447, to obtain a prospectus. Investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information about a fund are contained in the prospectus; read and consider it carefully before investing.

Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor.

For more information, contact the Vanguard PR Hotline at 610-669-5002 or [email protected] or @Vanguard_PR.

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