Investors have taken on more risk during the bull market and need to avoid becoming too comfortable with current returns, said Tim Buckley, Vanguard Group’s new chief executive.

“Volatile times are coming,” Buckley said. “I just don’t know when.”

That view represents the balancing act Buckley faces as he takes the helm of the world’s largest mutual fund company. Vanguard oversees $5 trillion in assets and last year attracted a record $368 billion. The challenge for Buckley, 48, isn’t just managing the growth. It’s ensuring the firm keeps investors’ feet on the ground.

Buckley took over on Jan. 1, succeeding F. William McNabb. Over the course of his career he has been Vanguard’s chief information officer, its chief investment officer and head of its retail investor group. He has a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from Harvard.

In an interview with Bloomberg News on Jan. 12, Buckley -- who started at the firm in 1991 as an assistant to founder John Bogle -- spoke about market risks, avoiding complacency and expanding abroad.

Q. You began your career working for Jack Bogle. What did you learn in that job that will be useful to you now?

A. Getting a chance to work for the founder was invaluable. What really sticks with me are the investment principles that were hammered into me early on: costs matter and putting the clients first.

Q. Vanguard once had the low-cost end of the market to itself. Today a growing group of competitors offer similar products at equally low prices, sometimes even lower prices. What’s Vanguard’s edge?

A. We are low-cost across the board. We give you peace of mind so you don’t have to think about it or shop around, whether it is passive or active products. You can probably find a product here or there from another company that matches Vanguard, but you won’t find the value Vanguard offers across-the-board anywhere else.

Q. What’s driving so much money to products that track indexes?

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