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Monday, May 21, 2007 Vanguard Adds International ETF Vanguard is continuing to add to its lineup of ETFs. This time, the new ETF will focus on MSCI's international indices. VANGUARD TO ADD TO INTERNATIONAL ETFS TARGETING MSCI INDEXES VALLEY FORGE, PA, May 21, 2007 – Vanguard has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for its fifth international ETF. The proposed ETF will seek to track the performance of the widely followed Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Europe, Australasia, Far East (EAFE) Index, an unmanaged benchmark of more than 1,150 stocks in 21 developed foreign countries. The new Vanguard® Europe Pacific ETF is expected to feature an expense ratio of 0.15% and will complement Vanguard’s family of low-cost ETFs focused on developed international and emerging markets indexes:
“Vanguard’s international ETFs are widely employed by investors and advisors to gain low-cost exposure to discrete segments of the international markets. Vanguard Europe Pacific ETF will offer the developed Europe and Pacific markets in a single fund,” said Vanguard Chief Investment Officer Gus Sauter, who noted that the new ETF is expected to launch in third-quarter of 2007. Vanguard is a leader in the ETF marketplace, offering 32 ETFs, including 13 that track broad domestic stock markets, 11 that target specific domestic stock sectors, four tracking broad international stock markets, and four tracking fixed income markets. Vanguard’s ETF assets have nearly doubled over the past year to $29.3 billion. The firm also led the ETF industry in net cash inflows in first-quarter of 2007 with $4.1 billion, according to Morgan Stanley. Vanguard ETFs feature a novel structure as a separate share class of existing index mutual funds, rather than as stand-alone funds or unit investment trusts. This structure provides for lower expense ratios through economies of scale and broader diversification among securities than competing products, resulting in the potential for more precise benchmark tracking. The Vanguard Europe Pacific ETF will be offered as a share class of the existing Vanguard Tax-Managed International Fund, which was introduced in 1999 and has $2.1 billion in total net assets. The fund holds about 1,130 securities. The Vanguard Group, headquartered in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, is one of the nation’s largest mutual fund firms and a leading provider of company-sponsored retirement plan services. Vanguard manages nearly $1.2 trillion in U.S. mutual fund assets, including more than $325 billion in employer-sponsored retirement plans. Vanguard offers more than 140 funds to U.S. investors and more than 40 additional funds in foreign markets. Printed from: MFWire.com/story.asp?s=14473 Copyright 2007, InvestmentWires, Inc. All Rights Reserved |