Vanguard Closing? [Malvern office due to PA Governor shut down order]

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Buysider
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Vanguard Closing? [Malvern office due to PA Governor shut down order]

Post by Buysider »

As I read the Governor of Pennsylvania's order:

https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronav ... 00319.html

Vanguard should close tomorrow. unless someone can point out an exception that I'm missing, I assume they will have to shut tomorrow. I don't know what it is like in AZ where the other customer offices are, but what would this mean practically? Can on line transactions work without employees?
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whodidntante
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Re: Vanguard Closing?

Post by whodidntante »

It won't affect their customer service much.
runner3081
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Re: Vanguard Closing?

Post by runner3081 »

Not too bad in AZ. Their office is in N. Scottsdale. Individual cities have ordered bars and restaurants to shutter and no public events, but we have a low number of confirmed cases and deaths (at least compared to the coasts).
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Re: Vanguard Closing?

Post by lostdog »

whodidntante wrote: Thu Mar 19, 2020 6:23 pm It won't affect their customer service much.
:twisted: :sharebeer
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AE81
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Re: Vanguard Closing?

Post by AE81 »

whodidntante wrote: Thu Mar 19, 2020 6:23 pm It won't affect their customer service much.
:D
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arcticpineapplecorp.
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Re: Vanguard Closing?

Post by arcticpineapplecorp. »

thanks for sharing. i wasn't aware of that. don't know how/if it would affect Vanguard. Can operations normally done in Malvern be done at some of their other locations (Scottsdale)?
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Housedoc
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Re: Vanguard Closing?

Post by Housedoc »

My Flagship rep is located in NC. Have no fear fearmongers.
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David Jay
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Re: Vanguard Closing?

Post by David Jay »

I have every reason to believe that a financial institution the size and longevity of Vanguard has an emergency plan. They would have planned how to operate after a direct Tornado strike on their Malvern campus, for example.

You are thinking of a time a few decades ago when "employees" had to be on-site. Today the employees can be anywhere in the world and the data systems are most likely mirrored in the cloud - AWS or similar.

I would also suggest that giving people access to living expenses is considered an essential service.
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scubavol
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Re: Vanguard Closing?

Post by scubavol »

Buysider wrote: Thu Mar 19, 2020 6:19 pm Can on line transactions work without employees?
Isn't that kinda the point?
furwut
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Re: Vanguard Closing?

Post by furwut »

Secondhand information but an employee at Vanguard says they have been shifting to teleworking but many difficulties are being encountered as working from home was not something that was culturally supported before.
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Doom&Gloom
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Re: Vanguard Closing?

Post by Doom&Gloom »

whodidntante wrote: Thu Mar 19, 2020 6:23 pm It won't affect their customer service much.
There is always a silver lining, eh?
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arcticpineapplecorp.
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Re: Vanguard Closing?

Post by arcticpineapplecorp. »

here's a list of exemptions and list of those that are under the new order:

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/03/w ... close.html

if Vanguard falls under "Other financial instrument activities" or "Other investment pools and funds" (both on the list at above link) then, yes, they will have to be closed or face some sort of penalty starting 3/21/20.
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Re: Vanguard Closing? [Malvern office due to PA Governor shut down order]

Post by LadyGeek »

I retitled the thread for clarity.

I would assume they'll be able to work from home.
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F150HD
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Re: Vanguard Closing? [Malvern office due to PA Governor shut down order]

Post by F150HD »

?? I'd have trouble believing you cannot do financial transactions tomorrow at VG.

Its not like there's 1000 people in a room shuffling a bunch of paper, its all digital/computer.
retire2022
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Re: Vanguard Closing? [Malvern office due to PA Governor shut down order]

Post by retire2022 »

What about trustee to trustee transfer?

When initiated Roth IRA transfer from Janus to Vanguard in 2014 it took a month and they were physical documents and a check who is going to open mail?
btenny
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Re: Vanguard Closing? [Malvern office due to PA Governor shut down order]

Post by btenny »

This is a real interesting state government order. I bet the CEO of Vanguard is on the phone to the gov office to tell him Vanguard cannot shut down and should be considered a necessary business. They have to keep those IT people and back office people working or the mutual fund business crashes. Or stops trading which is worse. I also do not see any federal order that say companies must close.

So I bet we see some clarification language about this order soon. I hope. And this revised order will spell out what Vanguard and other stock brokerages need to do to keep their businesses running.

Oh and the Arizona Governor has not made any wide shut down orders and is leaving it up to business. So Vanguard AZ can run as the company mangers direct.

So we will see. Good Luck.

Edited to delete some stuff.
Last edited by btenny on Thu Mar 19, 2020 7:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
50/50
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Re: Vanguard Closing? [Malvern office due to PA Governor shut down order]

Post by 50/50 »

Tim Buckley has a video on the Vanguard web site discussing how they are preparing for the unexpected. Employees are working from home and they can do trades from home if necessary. Also, Vanguard has offices around the globe to handle transactions.
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Re: Vanguard Closing? [Malvern office due to PA Governor shut down order]

Post by quantAndHold »

All companies of this size have disaster plans that cover scenarios like corporate headquarters not being inhabitable because of war, terrorism, flood, fire, or zombies, and large numbers of employees not being able to work. Things may not go perfectly for the first week or two. But the bulk of work will get done, and things will get better as time goes by.
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Re: Vanguard Closing? [Malvern office due to PA Governor shut down order]

Post by L82GAME »

50/50 wrote: Thu Mar 19, 2020 7:28 pm Tim Buckley has a video on the Vanguard web site discussing how they are preparing for the unexpected. Employees are working from home and they can do trades from home if necessary. Also, Vanguard has offices around the globe to handle transactions.
Video here: https://investornews.vanguard/ensuring- ... ing-times/
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ARoseByAnyOtherName
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Re: Vanguard Closing? [Malvern office due to PA Governor shut down order]

Post by ARoseByAnyOtherName »

I don’t know why this would have any significant impact. It’s not like they file paper into cabinets all day anymore!

Physically this shouldn’t be an issue. Now culturally, sure, maybe they aren’t used to remote work. Maybe it’s a very in-the-office culture. But, they’ll figure it out like the rest of us.
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