Charley Ellis is an investment luminary, founder of Greenwich Associates, author of seventeen investment books, longtime member of Yale's Investment Committee, and regular guest on the show. At the tender age of 85, Charley has published two books this year: Figuring It Out, an annotated compilation of some of his best investment writing over fifty years, and Inside Vanguard, a history of the index juggernaut. We sat down to discuss both of his latest works. Our conversation covers common characteristics of the best professional services firms and selections from Figuring It Out and Inside Vanguard. From Figuring It Out, we discuss the challenges of professional investment management, investment committees, and analogies to investing from tennis, baseball, golf, and running. From Inside Vanguard, we cover the rocky early days of Bogle's folly, the firm's on again/off again relationship with Wellington, its growth under Jack Brennan, compensation model, recent initiatives, and future prospects. Access Stream by AlphaSense Free Trial For full show notes, visit the episode webpage here.    Learn More  Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list  Access Transcript with Premium Membership 

Charley Ellis is one of the most highly regarded experts in the investment business.  After spending nearly a decade as an equity research analyst in the 1960s, Charley founded financial services consulting firm Greenwich Associates in 1972 to help institutions understand what their clients think of them.  Over 50 years, Charley has worked hand in hand with nearly every major financial institution in the world and has published sixteen books on investing, including his most recent “The Index Revolution: Why Investors Should Join It Now.” Charley is not just another preacher for index fund investing. He extols the virtues of indexing after having looked both broadly and deeply under the covers of some of the most successful active managers in the world. Our conversation begins with a glimpse at what equity research and the structure of the markets looked like in the 1960s and the monumentally different way research is conducted and markets function today. Charley describes elegantly why indexing is a winner’s game for many, and then walks through very special and rare qualities of three of the most successful active managers over the last few decades – Vanguard, Capital Group, and Yale University. Charley is a brilliant communicator and masterful storyteller. I hope you enjoy the show as much as I enjoyed the conversation.  Learn More  Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list  Access Transcript with Premium Membership