先锋集团25周年庆典致辞
JCB 在“25 周年”晚宴上的致辞 2000 年 5 月 20 日 我站在你们面前，我的同船船员们，感谢你们为我于 1974 年 9 月 24 日创立的公司庆祝 25 周年。虽然一家公司的创始人无疑应该在这样的场合发表演讲，但我让你们轻松些——我保证自己没什么正式演讲。不过，在这个喜庆之夜，我确实有几句想法想留给你们。
JCB Remarks at “25th Anniversary” Dinner May 20, 2000 I stand before you, my fellow crew members, to thank you for this celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the company I founded on September 24, 1974. While it is doubtless traditional for the creator of a company to make a speech on such an occasion, I put you at ease by assuring you that I have no speech to make. But I do have just a few thoughts I’d like to leave with you on this gala evening.
○ ○ ○ 如今我们读到很多关于这个无疑崭新的时代需要所谓“商业概念创新”的说法，需要激进而非渐进的变革。你们都知道，先锋集团在四分之一个世纪前所做的正是如此，在我们成立的头三年内，就彻底改变了投资者看待共同基金的方式。
We read much today about the need, in this decidedly new era, for what is called business concept innovation, the need for radical, not incremental, change. As you all recognize, that is exactly what Vanguard did a quarter-century ago, changing, within our first three years of existence, the very way that investors look at mutual funds.
姑且称之为“互惠化”吧，但基金以其持有者利益为至高无上的理念，正是从那时开始的。这种结构要求极低的运营成本，这一认识几乎立刻促使我们创建了业内第一只指数基金，接着是业内第一批明确定义资产类别的债券基金，并完全取消了分销商和销售佣金。这些革命性的变化共同构成了推动力量，将我们带到了今天所享有的行业领导地位顶峰。
Call it mutualization if you will, but the idea of funds being managed with their owners’ interests paramount began right then. That structure called for rock-bottom operating costs, a recognition that almost instantly led to our creation of the industry’s first index fund and then to the industry’s first defined-asset-class bond funds, and to the complete elimination of distributors and sales commissions. Together, these revolutionary changes have constituted the driving force that has carried us to the pinnacle of industry leadership that we enjoy today.
但即使我们新颖的公司结构和创新的投资策略，如果不辅以更多东西，也无法如其所应地服务于投资者：那就是对资产的受托责任感——对那些真实、真诚、脚踏实地的普通人，他们把自己的资产和信任都交给了我们。“把股东放在第一位”并非空谈。要做到这一点，我们需要一支坚强、坚定、充满正直的船员队伍，他们因一艘强大战舰的理念而团结在一起——这艘战舰的船员锻造了一条链条，其强度取决于最薄弱的环节。
But even our novel corporate structure and our innovative investment strategy would not serve investors as they should without something more: a sense of stewardship for the assets of, yes, those real, honest-to-God, down-to-earth human beings who have turned over to us their assets and their trust alike. “Putting the shareholder first” is not just idle talk. To do so we would need a strong, determined, and integrity-laden crew, bound together in common cause by the idea of a powerful warship whose crew forged a chain that could be no stronger than its weakest link.
要拥有这样一支船员队伍，我们很大程度上依赖传统——有些历史悠久了，比如可追溯至威灵顿和沃尔特·L·摩根的公道交易精神；另一些则追溯到先锋集团最早的日子，比如我们的“卓越奖”和“先锋合伙计划”。是的，“即使一个人也能带来改变”，是的，每位船员都赢得了分享我们成功果实的权利。
To have such a crew, we’ve relied heavily on traditions—some venerable, such as a spirit of fair-dealing dating back to Wellington and Walter L. Morgan, others going back to the earliest days of Vanguard, such as our Award for Excellence and the Vanguard Partnership Plan. Yes, “even one person can make a difference,” and yes, each crew member has earned the right to share in the fruits of our success.
总体而言，我们受结构驱动的公司战略、创新的投资理念，以及对商业价值观的渐进式践行，使先锋集团成为行业的革命者：一家有立场的公司。而世界知道我们的立场是什么：股东至上。受托责任。依靠理念的力量，我们蓬勃发展。在这个行业中，我不知道还有哪家公司能如此清晰地这样说。
Taken together, our structure-driven corporate strategy, our innovative investment ideas, and our progressive implementation of business values have made Vanguard an industry revolutionary: A company that stands for something. And the world knows what it is we stand for: The primacy of the shareholder. Stewardship. With the power of an idea we have flourished. I know no other firm in this industry about which that can be said with such crystal clarity.
未来如何？“时代在变。”一家革命性的公司该做什么？是靠我倾注心血留给你们的遗产坐吃山空，还是在此遗产上继续建设？女士们，先生们，这个问题的答案掌握在你们手中，不再是我手中。但在做这些决定时，请记住，我们将不仅因我们所做的而受到评判，也因我们所避免做的。机遇固然重要，但纪律也同样重要。还有信心。以及勇气——始终如此。
What of the future? “The times they are a changin.” What does a revolutionary firm do? Live off the legacy I have put my heart and soul into giving you, or build on the legacy? The answer to that question, ladies and gentleman, is in your hands, no longer in mine. But as you make these decisions, please remember that we will be judged not only by what we do but what we refrain from doing. Opportunity yes, but discipline too. And confidence. And courage, always.
我不认为有可能——永远——去改进我们的基本策略：仅仅通过以最低成本拥有金融市场本身，为投资者提供近乎 100% 的金融市场长期回报。通过这样做，我们揭开了投资过程的神秘面纱。你们听过我称我们的结构为“节俭帝国中的简洁之美”。而它行得通！如果我们对这一遗产保持忠诚，我向你们保证，这家企业——股东的、由股东管理的、为了股东的企业——不会从地球上消失。
I do not believe it is possible—ever—to improve on our basic strategy of providing investors with virtually 100% of the long-term returns available in the financial markets, simply by owning those very markets at minimal cost. By doing so, we have stripped the mystery from the investment process. You’ve heard me call our structure “the majesty of simplicity in an empire of parsimony.” And it works! If we remain faithful to that legacy, I assure you, this enterprise—of the shareholder, by the shareholder, and for the shareholder—shall not perish from the earth.
“只管前进，不管怎样，”并坚持到底。
“Press on, regardless,” and stay the course.