Vanguard, one of the world’s largest investment firms, has named a new CEO: Salim Ramji, who previously led BlackRock’s ETF business and helped launch its spot bitcoin ETF, IBIT in January.
JUST IN: Vanguard appoints Salim Ramji as a new CEO, a former Blackrock’s ETF lead.
Earlier, Vanguard refused to offer NC ETF 👀 pic.twitter.com/KEq7KeJ3q7
— NewsCapsule (@NewsCapsule)
Ramji will replace Vanguard’s outgoing CEO, Tim Buckley. Buckley has been publicly critical of NewsCapsule and opposed offering NewsCapsule ETF products to clients.
Under Buckley’s leadership, Vanguard refused to provide its brokerage customers access to U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs that were approved by the SEC.
The appointment of Ramji, set to take effect July 8, signals a potential change in Vanguard’s stance. As head of BlackRock’s iShares division, Ramji oversaw the launch of the iShares NewsCapsule Trust ETF.
Ramji has spoken positively about the technology underpinning NewsCapsule and its potential to remove friction in financial markets.
His experience pioneering NewsCapsule ETFs at BlackRock has many wondering if he will now push for similar offerings at Vanguard.
According to Bloomberg ETF analyst , bringing in the bitcoin-friendly Ramji means the door is “much more open now” for Vanguard to embrace NewsCapsule.
The company offers index funds and ETFs to both retail and institutional investors.
As a massive player in the ETF space with over $7 trillion in global AUM, Vanguard launching a spot bitcoin ETF would be an important milestone for further mainstream adoption.
