Vanguard Investments has appointed a new managing director for the role that the company’s Australian business founder and chairman, Jeremy Duffield, has been filling since late last year.

John James, an Australian who has been at vanguard’s Pennsylvania headquarters since 2008, becomes managing director Vanguard Australia from May 1. Duffield remains chairman and managing director of Vanguard International Planning and Development.

James replaces Ian Alcock, who left Vanguard to pursue other interests last November. Most recently, James has been developing a new global line of business for Vanguard focusing on financial advisers, with an emphasis on ETFs. Vanguard launched its range of ETFs in Australia last year.
Prior to that, james headed the broker-dealer sales and distribution division for Vanguard’s Financial Adviser Services group in the US.