William McNabb III has taken charge at Vanguard, and he will stay true to the firm’s roots, while shifting some focus to international business and exchange traded funds(ETFs). McNabb is the current managing director and will succeed the current president and CEO Jack Brennan.

David Hoffman for Investment News conducted an interview with McNabb and found that he intends to keep Vanguard’s current value system the same, but his new leadership will take a new direction as far as ETFs go.

He views ETFs as a critical component of Vanguard’s low-cost, long term investment strategy.The recent venture into the ETF industry has gotten a strong response from Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs).

While mutual funds have been slow to get on board with ETFs, perhaps Vanguard’s new commitment to them will usher in a new era.