Vanguard Announces Advisory Changes for Two Equity Funds

Vanguard today announced changes to the advisory arrangements of Vanguard Growth and Income Fund and Vanguard U.S. Growth Fund. Wellington Management Company LLP has been added as an advisor to the Growth and Income Fund, and the portion of the U.S. Growth Fund advised by Wellington Management will increase. Vanguard Quantitative Equity Group (QEG) will no longer serve as an advisor to either fund.

Following the advisory changes to the Growth and Income Fund, the fund will no longer employ a solely quantitative approach to security selection. Existing advisors Los Angeles Capital Management LLC and D. E. Shaw Investment Management, L.L.C. will continue to use their current quantitative investment processes, and Wellington Management will deploy a fundamental approach to security analysis. Vanguard believes that the advisors’ complementary investment processes will enhance the fund’s ability to add long-term value for shareholders.

Following the changes to the advisor arrangements of the U.S. Growth Fund, the fund will be managed by Wellington Management, Jennison Associates LLC, and Baillie Gifford Overseas Ltd. Each advisor has a distinct yet complementary approach to growth investing. The fund’s investment objective and principal investment strategies will remain the same.

Vanguard expects the expense ratios for both funds will increase as a result of the changes in advisor arrangements. For the Growth and Income Fund, the restructuring of the investment advisory arrangements is expected to increase the fund’s expense ratios to 0.37% for Investor Shares and 0.27% for Admiral Shares, from 0.32% and 0.22%, respectively. The U.S. Growth Fund’s expense ratios are expected to change to 0.35% for Investor Shares and 0.25% for Admiral Shares, from 0.33% and 0.23% respectively. The expected expense ratios for both funds exclude performance-based adjustments. Each fund will continue to be in the lowest-cost quartile of their respective peer groups.

As part of its oversight responsibilities, each fund’s board of trustees considers numerous factors in the evaluation of current and prospective investment advisors. After careful consideration, each fund’s board concluded that changes to the advisory structure would best serve each fund and its shareholders.

An active legacy and time-tested multi-manager approach

Wellington Management is Vanguard’s longest-serving external advisor, having managed client assets on behalf of the funds since Vanguard’s founding in 1975. As of December 31, 2022, Wellington Management oversaw $392 billion of Vanguard fund assets globally and is Vanguard’s largest external advisor.

Vanguard uses a multi-manager approach on certain investment strategies as we believe that a combination of globally recognized investment managers with deep portfolio management expertise and different but complementary strategies can lower portfolio volatility, mitigate manager risk, and create opportunities for long-term outperformance. Vanguard evaluates multiple qualitative and quantitative metrics to set advisor allocations based on strategic, long-term targets as opposed to short-term tactical shifts.