What makes Vanguard different? Stability and experience Low-cost investing Client focus This document is directed at professional investors and should not be distributed to, or relied upon by retail investors. The value of investments, and the income from them, may fall or rise and investors may get back less than they invested.
The Vanguard Group, Inc. s unique mutual structure aligns our interests with those of our investors and drives the culture, philosophy and policies throughout the Vanguard organisation worldwide. As a result, UK investors benefit from Vanguard s stability and experience, low costs and client focus.
Why Vanguard? What makes us different? What sets Vanguard apart and lets Vanguard put investors first around the world is the ownership structure of The Vanguard Group, Inc., in the United States. Rather than being publicly traded or owned by a small group of individuals, The Vanguard Group is owned by Vanguard s US-domiciled funds and ETFs. Those funds, in turn, are owned by their investors. This unique mutual structure aligns our interests with those of our investors and drives the culture, philosophy and policies throughout the Vanguard organisation worldwide. As a result, UK investors benefit from Vanguard s stability and experience, low-cost investing and client focus. Stability and experience In the UK, Vanguard leverages the scale, experience and resources of our established global business. Vanguard s ownership structure means that our clients don t have to worry that we ll be acquired. The company they invest with today will continue to serve them in the future. The Vanguard Group established the world s first index mutual fund for individual investors in 1976 and has been a leader in low-cost index investing ever since. The Vanguard Group also launched the first funds based on bond and international indices, and over the last decade has extended its index management expertise to exchange-traded funds. Low-cost investing Investors can t control the markets, but they can control the costs of investing. Providing low-cost investments isn t a pricing strategy for us. It s how we do business. We can keep costs low because of our unique ownership structure in the United States, which allows us to return profits to investors through lower costs. Vanguard s scale also helps to keep costs low. As our assets under management increase globally, we can reduce expense ratios for the investors in our funds. Client focus The ownership structure of The Vanguard Group aligns our interests with those of our clients. Because Vanguard is not publicly traded, we can extend the benefits of that structure to our clients in the UK. From rigorous risk management to transparent pricing to plain talk communications, we put our clients interests first. Everything we do at Vanguard is designed to give our clients the best chance for investment success. What makes Vanguard different? 3
Our core purpose To take a stand for all investors, to treat them fairly, and to give them the best chance for investment success.
The Vanguard story Vanguard was founded in the United States in 1975 on a simple but revolutionary idea: that an investment company should manage the funds it offers in the sole interest of its clients. Over the decades, Vanguard has grown to become one of the world s largest investment management companies, with a presence in Australia, Europe, Asia and the Americas. 1975 The Vanguard Group, Inc. began operations 1976 Opened Vanguard 500 Index Fund, the first index mutual fund available to individual investors in the United States 1986 Launched the first bond index fund, Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, which has become one of the world s biggest bond funds 1990 Introduced the first international stock index funds in the United States 1998 European business launched with offices in three European countries 2000 Established office in Tokyo 2001 Offered Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) share class for many Vanguard funds in the United States 2002 Began serving institutional clients in Canada and Central and South America 2002 Launched Financial Advisor Services team in the United States 2003 Vanguard Investments Singapore, Pte. Limited established 2006 Surpassed US$1 trillion in global assets under management 2009 Opened Vanguard Investments UK, Ltd., in London and launched UK-domiciled funds 2011 Began managing assets in London 2012 Launched a series of European ETFs 2012 Surpassed US$2 trillion in global assets under management, including $205 billion in ETF assets 2013 Expanded the European ETF range; assets under management outside the US totalled nearly $200 billion 2014 Surpassed US$3 trillion in global assets under management 2015 Surpassed US$100 billion in European assets under management 2016 Launched four UK-domiciled active funds 2017 Surpassed US$4 trillion in global assets under management What makes Vanguard different? 5
The Vanguard Group, Inc. launched the first equity index mutual fund for individual investors in 1976.
Experience and expertise you can count on When you invest with Vanguard, you have more than 40 years of investing experience behind you. For our index funds, we select benchmarks that objectively reflect broad markets or market segments, minimising investment costs through their consistent approach. Many index providers use benchmark construction best practices that Vanguard has promoted for years. Our index funds and ETFs offer investors a wide spread of risk through broadly diversified exposure to equity and fixed income markets at a low cost. Vanguard s active management history goes back to our beginnings. When The Vanguard Group, Inc. parent of Vanguard Asset Management, Limited started operations in the United States in 1975, our entire line-up comprised 11 active funds. Like our index fund range, our active funds aim to provide stability, experience and a focus on long-term, low-cost investing. What makes Vanguard different? 7
We develop and manage investments that follow a set of core investment principles and designed to help you achieve investment success.
Principles for investment success Successful investment management companies base their business on a core investment philosophy and Vanguard is no different. Although we offer many specific strategies, an overarching theme runs through the investments we provide: focus on those things within your control. These principles have been intrinsic to our company since its inception and they are embedded in its culture. For Vanguard, they represent both the past and the future enduring principles that guide the investment decisions we make. Create clear, appropriate investment goals. Investors should set measurable and attainable investment goals and develop plans for reaching those goals. They should evaluate their plans on a regular, ongoing basis. Develop a suitable asset allocation using broadly diversified funds. A successful investment strategy starts with an asset allocation suitable for its objective. The use of diversified investments helps to ensure against exposure to unnecessary risks. Minimise cost. Every pound that investors pay in management fees or trading commissions is a pound less of potential return. Investors can t control the markets, but they can control the effects of costs. Maintain perspective and long-term discipline. Investing evokes emotion that can disrupt the plans of even the most sophisticated investors. Discipline and perspective can counter that emotion if the investor adopts a systematic approach to investing that applies the principles of asset allocation and diversification and then sticks to it. What makes Vanguard different? 9
Plain Talk about costs and charges We believe investors deserve to know exactly what every investment offers and exactly what charges they will and won t pay. When buying a fund, investors typically pay a number of charges, starting with the Annual Management Charge (AMC) which covers the fund manager s costs of managing the fund. With most managers you will also typically pay ongoing running costs, including administration fees, independent auditor s fees for the fund s financial accounts, custody fees (the cost of holding securities in a secure legal manner) and other operational expenses. The AMC, and these additional running costs, make up the fund s Ongoing Charges Figure (OCF). In the interests of transparency, we generally pay all ordinary running costs out of the AMC. We believe this gives you a better understanding of the cost of your investment. It also means that we expect our funds AMCs to equal their OCFs. Protecting existing investors When investors buy or sell units or shares in a fund, their activity creates a cost for the fund. If the fund provider does nothing to mitigate this cost, it can affect existing investors in the fund. At Vanguard, we believe this is unfair so we have always taken measures to ensure long term investors don t bear the cost of others entering or leaving our funds. To do this we use a pricing methodology known as swing pricing. This process adjusts, or swings, the price of the fund up or down each day based on the trading volumes and the direction of trading. 10 What makes Vanguard different?
Championing investor interests We champion investors interests in everything we do. We think every investor deserves clear, straightforward communications. It starts with how we communicate Plain Talk straightforward language that s easy to understand and explanations that leave nothing out. No ifs, no buts, no jargon. Just plenty of facts, clearly presented and right upfront where investors can see them.
Investment Risk Information The value of investments, and the income from them, may fall or rise and investors may get back less than they invested. Important Information This document is directed at professional investors and should not be distributed to, or relied upon by retail investors. This document is designed for use by, and is directed only at persons resident in the UK. The material contained in this document is not to be regarded as an offer to buy or sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy or sell securities in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation is against the law, or to anyone to whom it is unlawful to make such an offer or solicitation, or if the person making the offer or solicitation is not qualified to do so. The information in this document does not constitute legal, tax, or investment advice. You must not, therefore, rely on the content of this document when making any investment decisions. Issued by Vanguard Asset Management, Limited which is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority 2018 Vanguard Asset Management, Limited. All rights reserved. 417562