Vanguard Group is swapping indexes for its socially-responsible index fund. The fund has been benchmarked to the Calvert Social Index since its creation in 2000, but will move to the FTSE4Good US Select Index before the end of the year, according to officials at the Valley Forge-based fund firm.

The fund will also be renamed to become the Vanguard FTSE Social Index Fund when the switch is made.

Vanguard officials did not disclose why the switch in indexes is being made. One possibility is that Calvert also runs a fund based on the index and one of the firms is seeking to create more differentiation for its product. Another possibility is that Vanguard found better terms with FTSE Group.

Gus Sauter, Vanguard's chief investment officer said that the FTSE4Good Social Index Series "are well-recognized benchmarks with clearly defined social screens that meet Vanguard's 'best practice' standards for index construction."  

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