Vanguard Expands Investor Choice, Nearly Tripling Eligible Investors and Quadrupling Eligible Assets

VALLEY FORGE, Pa., May 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Vanguard today announced the addition of four new equity index funds to its Investor Choice program, marking the most significant expansion since the program launched in 2023. With approximately 10 million eligible investors across close to $1 trillion in assets¹, Vanguard Investor Choice now provides more individual investors access to proxy voting choice than any other program.

Recent Vanguard research demonstrated strong investor individual interest in proxy voting choice, finding that most investors (83%) believe it's important that asset managers consider their preferences when casting proxy votes, and nearly six in ten investors (57%) would participate in a program that would allow them to influence how their asset manager votes. Vanguard Investor Choice empowers individual investors, their advisors, 529 plans, and retirement plan sponsors to make their voices heard on important shareholder matters at portfolio companies held in participating Vanguard funds.

"Investor participation is the keystone of a healthy corporate governance ecosystem and a basic right of company ownership," said John Galloway, Global Head of Investment Stewardship at Vanguard. "Grounded in our mission to take a stand for investors, we are committed to continuing to democratize access to proxy voting for individual investors in all of our U.S. equity index funds to ensure they can align their policy selection with their personal preferences."

Expanding to New Funds

With the expansion, Vanguard Investor Choice will span 12 funds with nearly $1 trillion in assets during the 2025 proxy season, including:

• Vanguard Growth Index Fund*²  
• Vanguard Value Index Fund*
• Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Fund*
• Vanguard Large-Cap Index Fund*
• Vanguard S&P 500 Growth Index Fund
• Vanguard Russell 1000 Index Fund
• Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF
• Vanguard Mega Cap Index Fund
• Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund
• Vanguard High Dividend Yield Index Fund
• Vanguard Tax-Managed Capital Appreciation Fund
• Vanguard Tax-Managed Small-Cap Fund

Investor Choice Policies

Vanguard Investor Choice offers a range of straightforward, distinct, and deliberately curated voting policy options that determine how investors' proportionate shares are voted. To learn more about the proxy voting policy options, please click here. As Vanguard continues to scale Investor Choice, individual Vanguard investors holding a fund directly through Vanguard are invited to select a proxy voting policy here. Policy selections for those investors will automatically be applied as additional funds are added to the program.

About Vanguard

Founded in 1975, Vanguard is one of the world's leading investment management companies. The firm offers investments, advice, and retirement services to tens of millions of individual investors around the globe—directly, through workplace plans, and through financial intermediaries. Vanguard operates under a unique, investor-owned structure where Vanguard fund shareholders own the funds, which in turn own Vanguard. As such, Vanguard adheres to a simple purpose: To take a stand for all investors, to treat them fairly, and to give them the best chance for investment success. For more information, visit vanguard.com

For more information about Vanguard funds or ETF Shares, contact your financial advisor to obtain a prospectus or, if available, a summary prospectus. Investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information are contained in the prospectus; read and consider it carefully before investing.

Vanguard ETF Shares are not redeemable with the issuing Fund other than in very large aggregations worth millions of dollars. Instead, investors must buy and sell Vanguard ETF Shares in the secondary market and hold those shares in a brokerage account. In doing so, the investor may incur brokerage commissions and may pay more than net asset value when buying and receive less than net asset value when selling.

ESG funds are subject to ESG investment risk, which is the chance that the stocks or bonds screened by the index provider or advisor, as applicable, for ESG criteria generally will underperform the market as a whole or, in the aggregate, will trail returns of other funds screened for ESG criteria. The index provider or advisor's assessment of a company, based on the company's level of involvement in a particular industry or their own ESG criteria, may differ from that of other funds or an investor's assessment of such company. As a result, the companies deemed eligible by the index provider or advisor may not reflect the beliefs and values of any particular investor and may not exhibit positive or favorable ESG characteristics. The evaluation of companies for ESG screening or integration is dependent on the timely and accurate reporting of ESG data by the companies. Successful application of the screens will depend on the index provider or advisor's proper identification and analysis of ESG data. The advisor may not be successful in assessing and identifying companies that have or will have a positive impact or support a given position. In some circumstances, companies could ultimately have a negative or no impact or support of a given position.

The Vanguard Russell 1000 Index Fund and Russell® are registered trademarks of Russell Investments and have been licensed for use by The Vanguard Group, Inc. The Product(s) are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Russell Investments and Russell Investments makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in the Products.

The Vanguard S&P 500 Growth Index Fund is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a division of S&P Global, or its affiliates ("SPDJI"), and has been licensed for use by Vanguard. Standard & Poor's® and S&P® are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC, a division of S&P Global ("S&P"); Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC ("Dow Jones"); and these trademarks have been licensed for use by SPDJI and sublicensed for certain purposes by Vanguard. Vanguard S&P 500 Growth Index Fund is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDJI, Dow Jones, S&P, their respective affiliates, and none of such parties make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s) nor do they have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions of the Vanguard S&P 500 Growth Index Fund.

All investing is subject to risk, including possible loss of principal.

Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor.

^{1 As of May 16, 2025.
2 *indicates newly added fund}

SOURCE Vanguard