Wharton School’s Pension Research Council Welcomes the Vanguard Group as Senior Partner

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April 8, 2014 –
The Pension Research Council at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is pleased to announce that the Vanguard Group has rejoined the Council as a Senior Partner of the Council for 2014. The Vanguard Group has been a PRC member since 1999.

Stephen P. Utkus, Director of the Center for Retirement Research, at the Vanguard Group said, “The Pension Research Council of the Wharton School has made significant contributions to understanding how people worldwide prepare for retirement, and we are delighted to support this effort. We look forward to working with our academic and business partners to advance research, explore policy issues, and develop innovative approaches to retirement in the United States and abroad.”

Olivia S. Mitchell, Professor of Insurance/Risk Management and Applied Economics/Policy, and Executive Director of the Wharton’s Pension Research Council at the University of Pennsylvania, said: “The Council is delighted to continue its close research relationship with the Vanguard Group. We look forward to building new knowledge together on global retirement security.”

The Vanguard Group, headquartered in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, is one of the world’s largest investment management companies, with $2.5 trillion in U.S. mutual fund assets. Founder and former Chairman John C. Bogle, who, early in his career, attended classes at the University of Pennsylvania, is credited with the creation of the first index fund available to individual investors. Vanguard offers more than 160 index and actively managed funds to U.S. investors and more than 100 additional funds in non-U.S. markets; investments to nearly 4,000 defined contribution plans along with full-service recordkeeping and investment services to about 3.5 million participants. Vanguard is also a major provider of investment and other services to defined benefit plans.

The Pension Research Council is committed to generating debate on key policy issues affecting pensions and other employee benefits. The Council sponsors interdisciplinary research on private pension and social security programs, as well as related benefit plans in the United States and around the world. It supports scholarly research on global aging, successful retirement, and retirement income security while facilitating access to research and data critical to the investigation of retirement security. Recent working papers are available for download at The Pension Research Council Working Paper Library.

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. With a broad global community and one of the most published business school faculties, Wharton creates economic and social value around the world. The School has 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 9,000 participants in executive education programs annually and a powerful alumni network of 92,000 graduates.