John Bogle (1929 - 2019)

Three weeks have passed since the start of 2019.

In the financial world, one great figure has passed away.

He is no other than John C. Bogle. 

For those that do not know him, you might have heard of the company that he established, the Vanguard Company. He is also the person that "created" the first index fund, which is different from the many mutual funds/unit trusts that are in the market.

An index fund is a type of mutual fund with a portfolio constructed to match or track the components of a market index, such as the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (S&P 500). An index mutual fund is said to provide broad market exposure, low operating expenses and low portfolio turnover. 

The most significant difference between an index fund and other funds is how passive it works, minimizing the operating expenses.

Below are his eight basic rules for investors:

1. Select low-cost funds
2. Consider carefully the added costs of advice
3. Do not overrate past fund performance
4. Use past performance to determine consistency and risk
5. Beware of stars (as in, star mutual fund managers)
6. Beware of asset size
7. Don't own too many funds
8. Buy your fund portfolio – and hold it

This is one of his best-selling books, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns