Ms Platt is an experienced finance leader who will join Vanguard from Iron Mountain, a global leader in information management, where she currently holds the role of Chief Financial Officer Australia and New Zealand. She has more than 20 years of experience working in organisations across the consumer goods, logistics and retail sectors.

Ms Platt is a Certified Practicing Accountant, with a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Sydney and a Masters of Business Administration from the Melbourne Business School.

Commenting on the appointment Vanguard’s Australia Managing Director Colin Kelton said: “Johanna brings valuable experience to Vanguard Australia at a time when our sustained growth sees us serving an increasing number of investors across all market segments.

“We look forward to welcoming her to Vanguard, and seeing the finance division continue to focus on exceptional stewardship of our clients’ investments under her leadership,” Mr Kelton said

Commencing in the role mid-year, Ms Platt will lead Vanguard’s finance division which has responsibility for financial operations at both a management and statutory level, as well as having oversight of the fund accounting, administration and transfer agency services for Vanguard Australia’s managed funds and separately managed accounts.

Ms Platt replaces Daniel Shrimski who moved to Vanguard’s US based headquarters earlier this year to take up the role of CFO for the US Retail Investor Group.

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Colin Kelton

Vanguard Australia yesterday announced the expansion of its product offering to include low‐cost active funds.

Vanguard has begun adding active funds to its product line‐up in Australia with the initial launch of three quantitative active funds that complement existing index products and provide new options for advisers, investors and institutional clients to build low‐cost investment portfolios.

In Australia, Vanguard has a 20 year history as a low‐cost industry leader in index managed funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). The ability to offer active products in Australia has been facilitated in part by efforts across the global organisation to integrate investment management teams in different regions and allow investors to benefit from Vanguard’s global scale and more than 40 years of experience in active funds management.

Vanguard Australia Managing Director Colin Kelton highlighted Vanguard’s deep expertise in low‐cost active funds management.

“While Vanguard was a pioneer in the development of index funds, the company has been offering active funds since inception in the US, and today Vanguard manages more than $1.5 trillion in active assets globally,” Mr Kelton said.

“Vanguard has a long‐held conviction that there is a role for both index and active investments in a portfolio, and we are excited to offer Australian investors low‐cost solutions in both active and index funds.

“Our first active products are quantitative equity strategies and they bear the hallmarks of all Vanguard funds, diversification and low cost.”

The active products currently offered by Vanguard Australia are managed by Vanguard’s Quantitative Equity Group and include the Vanguard Global Quantitative Equity Fund, Vanguard Global Value Equity Fund, and Vanguard Global Minimum Volatility Fund.

Providing low‐cost, high quality funds that let investors keep more of their returns is the central tenet of Vanguard globally, as research consistently shows that keeping costs low can improve the odds of success across both index and active funds.

In Australia the average management cost of active equity funds is 1.23 per cent[1] , Vanguard’s three quantitative equity offerings are all well below this average, with a management cost of 0.45 per cent per annum.

“At Vanguard, we like to maintain a focus on the bigger picture for investors ‐ setting a financial plan and sticking to it with the aim of meeting long term goals‐ but we understand that performance history is a practical demonstration of how these characteristics have helped investors meet their goals,” Mr Kelton said.

“In the case of Vanguard’s active funds globally, the performance numbers speak for themselves. Over the last five years, 96 per cent of our funds have outperformed their industry peer group, and 93 per cent have outperformed over the last 10 years.” [2]

Vanguard Australia manages more than $115 billion of assets for investors across 43 managed funds, 17 exchange traded funds and a range of separately managed accounts.  Along with the launch of new active products,

Vanguard will continue to expand its range of index funds and ETFs throughout 2017.

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[1] Vanguard analysis of Morningstar data, as at 31 December 2016
[2]Lipper, a Thomson Reuters Company. Number of Vanguard funds that outperformed their Lipper peer‐group averages for periods ended December 31, 2016: For the five‐year period, 224 of 265 Vanguard funds outperformed their Lipper averages. For the ten‐year period, 183 of 198 Vanguard funds outperformed their Lipper averages. Results will vary for other time periods.

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Mr Warmbrand most recently served as Head of Risk and Audit Governance at National Australia Bank, where he held a range of senior legal and governance roles since joining in 2008.

He has over 15 years’ experience in the financial and professional services sectors including roles at Herbert Smith Freehills, Clarendon Lawyers and Centro Properties Group.

Vanguard’s Australia Managing Director Colin Kelton said: “Ashley will bring a great deal of experience to this critical function of Vanguard Australia’s business, and ultimately help us deliver better outcomes for our clients.

“We look forward to welcoming him to Vanguard in our milestone 20th Anniversary year.”

Mr Warmbrand received a Bachelor of Laws (Honours), and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne and was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria and High Court of Australia in 2000.

He will serve as a member of Vanguard’s Australian Executive team, and sit on the Vanguard Australia board as Company Secretary.

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