HispanicBusiness

Vanguard plans to transition six international stock index funds to FTSE benchmarks and 16 U.S. stock and balanced index funds to new benchmarks developed by the University of Chicago's Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP). The transition from the current MSCI benchmarks for the 22 funds is expected to result in considerable savings for the funds' shareholders over time.

Vanguard pioneered the first index mutual fund for individual investors in 1976 with the introduction of Vanguard 500 Index Fund and has continually sought and contributed to improvements and innovations in benchmark construction. During his 25-year career, Mr. Sauter has been in the forefront of cutting-edge index construction methodology. For instance, in 2003, Vanguard was the first to adopt benchmarks incorporating objective rules, float-adjustment, and overlapping market capitalization buffer zones that are now standard in the mutual fund industry.

Sixteen Vanguard stock and balanced index funds, with aggregate assets of $367 billion, will track CRSP benchmarks, including Vanguard's largest index fund, the $197 billion Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. The fund and its ETF Shares (ticker: VTI) will transition from the MSCI U.S. Broad Market Index to the CRSP US Total Market Index.

"For more than 50 years, CRSP has been providing research-quality market and index data. The new CRSP Indexes are a logical extension of our core products and demonstrate not only our innovative thinking, but also the depth of our commitment to positively influence practices in the financial arena. The index licensing agreement we have entered into with Vanguard strongly validates our efforts by one of the leading financial services providers in the world," said David Barclay, chief operating officer of CRSP.