Francis (Fran) Kinniry is a senior investment executive at The Vanguard Group with a history of initiating and leading investment startups. Fran is currently the head of the Investment Advisory Research Center within Vanguard’s Financial Advisor Services department. The research center, launched in 2022, creates investment research and partners with the investment advisory community to continue the rapid diffusion of best-in- class investment, wealth management, and behavioral-coaching techniques. Together this research and partnership will continue to improve end-investor advisory results and simultaneously maximize the advisory practice outcomes.
Fran joined Vanguard in 1997 to help the firm enter the direct advice business, developing the predecessor to Vanguard’s Personal Advisor Services, and created Vanguard’s Advisor’s Alpha body of research and brand. In 2001, Fran started the Investment Strategy Group, where he was the global head of portfolio construction for 18 years.
In 2019, as global head of private investments, Fran started the Private Investment team. The team was responsible for all aspects of the Private Investment launch, including creating private investment research, manager search, selection and oversight, product management, business development, and media and regulatory engagements.
Before joining Vanguard, he was a partner and senior portfolio manager for Executive Investment Advisors, Inc., an institutional asset management firm. Previously, he was a portfolio manager for H. Katz Capital, a venture capital and hedge fund manager.