(Bloomberg) -- Vanguard Group Inc. named BlackRock Inc. veteran Salim Ramji as its next chief executive officer, succeeding Tim Buckley, whose departure was announced in February.
Ramji, who oversaw exchange-traded funds and index investing at BlackRock before departing earlier this year, will join Valley Forge, Pennsylvania-based Vanguard in July, according to an emailed statement Tuesday. He’ll be the first outsider to lead the firm founded almost a half-century ago by the late Jack Bogle.
“The current investor landscape is changing, and that presents opportunities for Vanguard to further its mission of giving people the best chance for investment success, which is more relevant today than at any time in the firm’s five-decade history,” Ramji said in the statement. “My focus will be to mobilize Vanguard to meet the moment while staying true to that core purpose — remaining the trusted firm that takes a stand for all investors.”
In February, Vanguard announced that Buckley planned to retire by the end of this year and that its board had begun a search for his successor. A three-decade Vanguard veteran, he has held the top job since 2018.
Read More: Vanguard CEO Buckley to Retire by Year-End, Search Underway
Ramji worked at New York-based BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, for about a decade and was considered one of several potential successors to CEO Larry Fink. As global head of iShares and index investments, he helped oversee a massive expansion of the firm’s ETF business.