The new offering comprises two global equities fund, one of which has an income focus, an emerging markets equities fund, while the fourth will be a balanced global equities and fixed income fund.
The funds are actively managed externally by Wellington Management, Baillie Gifford, Oaktree and Pzena Investment Management. Vanguard’s Quantitative Equity Group will also co-manage one of the funds.
The Vanguard Global Equity Fund is managed by Baillie Gifford (50%) and Wellington Management (50%) with an ongoing charges figure of 60bps. It will target “well-established companies in the developed markets of the US, Western Europe and Japan to the up-and-coming opportunities in emerging markets.”
The Global Equity Income version is managed by Wellington Management (65%) and the Vanguard Quantitative Equity Group (35%). It has an OCF of 60bps.
The Vanguard Global Emerging Markets Fund is managed by Baillie Gifford (33.3%), Oaktree (33.3%) and Pzena Investment Management (33.3%). Its OCF is 80bps.
The fourth of the range, the Global Balanced Fund is managed by Wellington Management with 35%/65% fixed income and equity split, and an OCF of 60bps. It targets developed market equities, investment grade corporate bonds and “highly liquid” fixed income instruments.
Managing director for Vanguard in Europe John James said: “Vanguard believes it is important to offer investors the choice of low-cost, high-value index and active funds to help meet their needs. Although Vanguard is a globally recognised indexing expert, we have successfully managed active funds in the US for more than forty years and we have nearly US$1 trillion in global active assets under management. The firm uses in-house management and is one of the world’s largest buyers of third-party investment management, giving it extensive experience in internal active management as well as active manager selection.”
“We strongly believe that our distinctive approach to active management, which offers a combination of low-fees, top talent and patience, will serve investors well over the long term. In particular, historical data shows that low costs can improve an investor’s odds of success with both active and index funds.”
