Vanguard
International Stock Index Funds
Prospectus
February
27, 2024
Institutional
Shares & Institutional Plus Shares
Vanguard European
Stock Index Fund Institutional Shares (VESIX)
Vanguard European Stock Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares (VEUPX)
Vanguard Pacific Stock Index Fund Institutional Shares (VPKIX)
Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund Institutional Shares (VEMIX)
Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares (VEMRX)
Vanguard European Stock Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares (VEUPX)
Vanguard Pacific Stock Index Fund Institutional Shares (VPKIX)
Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund Institutional Shares (VEMIX)
Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares (VEMRX)
This prospectus
contains financial data for the Funds through the fiscal year ended October 31,
2023.
The
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these
securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to
the contrary is a criminal offense.
(Fees paid directly from your investment)
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Institutional
Shares |
Institutional
Plus Shares |
|
Sales
Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases |
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Purchase
Fee |
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|
Sales
Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested
Dividends |
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|
Redemption
Fee |
|
|
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
|
|
Institutional
Shares |
Institutional
Plus Shares |
|
Management
Fees |
% |
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|
12b-1
Distribution Fee |
|
|
|
Other
Expenses |
% |
|
|
Total Annual
Fund Operating Expenses |
% |
|
1
|
|
1
Year |
3
Years |
5
Years |
10
Years |
|
Institutional
Shares |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Institutional
Plus Shares |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
2
3
|
|
Total
Return |
Quarter |
|
|
% |
|
|
|
-
% |
|
|
|
1
Year |
5
Years |
10
Years |
|
Vanguard
European Stock Index Fund
Institutional
Shares |
|
|
|
|
Return Before
Taxes |
% |
% |
% |
|
Return After
Taxes on Distributions |
|
|
|
|
Return After
Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
|
|
|
|
FTSE
Developed Europe All Cap Index
(reflects no
deduction for fees or expenses) |
% |
% |
% |
|
Spliced
European Stock Index
(reflects no
deduction for fees or expenses) |
|
|
|
|
FTSE
Global All Cap ex US Index
(reflects no
deduction for fees or expenses) |
|
|
|
4
|
|
1
Year |
5
Years |
Since
Fund
Inception |
Fund
Inception
Date |
|
Vanguard
European Stock Index Fund
Institutional
Plus Shares |
|
|
|
|
|
Return Before
Taxes |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
FTSE
Developed Europe All Cap Index
(reflects no
deduction for fees or expenses) |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
Spliced
European Stock Index
(reflects no
deduction for fees or expenses) |
|
|
|
|
|
FTSE
Global All Cap ex US Index
(reflects no
deduction for fees or expenses) |
|
|
|
|
Investment
Advisor
The Vanguard Group,
Inc. (Vanguard)
Portfolio
Managers
Christine D.
Franquin, Principal of Vanguard. She has co-managed the Fund since
2016.
Scott E. Geiger, CFA, Portfolio
Manager at Vanguard. He has co-managed the Fund since 2022.
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase or
redeem shares online through our website (vanguard.com), by mail (The
Vanguard Group, P.O. Box 982901, El Paso, TX 79998-2901), or by telephone
(800-662-2739). The minimum investment amount required to open and maintain a
Fund account for Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares is $5 million
or $100 million, respectively. The minimum investment amount required to add to
an existing Fund account is generally $1. If
5
you are investing
through an employer-sponsored retirement or savings plan, your plan
administrator or your benefits office can provide you with detailed information
on how you can invest through your plan.
Tax
Information
The Fund’s
distributions may be taxable as ordinary income or capital gain. If you are
investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as an IRA or an
employer-sponsored retirement or savings plan, special tax rules
apply.
Payments
to Financial Intermediaries
The Fund and its
investment advisor do not pay financial intermediaries for sales of Fund
shares.
6
(Fees paid directly from your investment)
|
| |
|
Sales
Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases |
|
|
Purchase
Fee |
|
|
Sales
Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends |
|
|
Redemption
Fee |
|
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
|
| |
|
Management
Fees |
% |
|
12b-1
Distribution Fee |
|
|
Other
Expenses |
% |
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
% |
7
|
1
Year |
3
Years |
5
Years |
10
Years |
|
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
8
9
|
|
Total
Return |
Quarter |
|
|
% |
|
|
|
-
% |
|
|
|
1
Year |
5
Years |
10
Years |
|
Vanguard
Pacific Stock Index Fund Institutional Shares |
|
|
|
|
Return Before
Taxes |
% |
% |
% |
|
Return After
Taxes on Distributions |
|
|
|
|
Return After
Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
|
|
|
|
FTSE
Developed Asia Pacific All Cap Index
(reflects no
deduction for fees or expenses) |
% |
% |
% |
|
Spliced
Pacific Stock Index
(reflects no
deduction for fees or expenses) |
|
|
|
|
FTSE
Global All Cap ex US Index
(reflects no
deduction for fees or expenses) |
|
|
|
10
Investment
Advisor
The Vanguard Group,
Inc. (Vanguard)
Portfolio
Managers
Michael Perre,
Principal of Vanguard. He has co-managed the Fund since 2016.
Jeffrey D. Miller,
Portfolio Manager at Vanguard. He has co-managed the Fund since
2016.
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase or
redeem shares online through our website (vanguard.com), by mail (The
Vanguard Group, P.O. Box 982901, El Paso, TX 79998-2901), or by telephone
(800-662-2739). The minimum investment amount required to open and maintain a
Fund account for Institutional Shares is $5 million. The minimum investment
amount required to add to an existing Fund account is generally $1. If you are
investing through an employer-sponsored retirement or savings plan, your plan
administrator or your benefits office can provide you with detailed information
on how you can invest through your plan.
Tax
Information
The Fund’s
distributions may be taxable as ordinary income or capital gain. If you are
investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as an IRA or an
employer-sponsored retirement or savings plan, special tax rules
apply.
Payments
to Financial Intermediaries
The Fund and its
investment advisor do not pay financial intermediaries for sales of Fund
shares.
11
(Fees paid directly from your investment)
|
|
Institutional
Shares |
Institutional
Plus Shares |
|
Sales
Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases |
|
|
|
Purchase
Fee |
|
|
|
Sales
Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested
Dividends |
|
|
|
Redemption
Fee |
|
|
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
|
|
Institutional
Shares |
Institutional
Plus Shares |
|
Management
Fees |
% |
|
|
12b-1
Distribution Fee |
|
|
|
Other
Expenses |
% |
|
|
Total Annual
Fund Operating Expenses |
% |
|
12
|
|
1
Year |
3
Years |
5
Years |
10
Years |
|
Institutional
Shares |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Institutional
Plus Shares |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
13
14
|
|
Total
Return |
Quarter |
|
|
% |
|
|
|
-
% |
|
15
|
|
1
Year |
5
Years |
10
Years |
|
Vanguard
Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund
Institutional
Shares |
|
|
|
|
Return Before
Taxes |
% |
% |
% |
|
Return After
Taxes on Distributions |
|
|
|
|
Return After
Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
|
|
|
|
Vanguard
Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund
Institutional
Plus Shares |
|
|
|
|
Return Before
Taxes |
% |
% |
% |
|
FTSE
Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index
(reflects no
deduction for fees or expenses) |
% |
% |
% |
|
Spliced
Emerging Markets Index
(reflects no
deduction for fees or expenses) |
|
|
|
|
FTSE
Global All Cap ex US Index
(reflects no
deduction for fees or expenses) |
|
|
|
Investment
Advisor
The Vanguard Group,
Inc. (Vanguard)
Portfolio
Managers
Michael Perre,
Principal of Vanguard. He has managed the Fund since 2008 (co-managed since
2016).
Jeffrey D. Miller,
Portfolio Manager at Vanguard. He has co-managed the Fund since
2016.
16
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase or
redeem shares online through our website (vanguard.com), by mail (The
Vanguard Group, P.O. Box 982901, El Paso, TX 79998-2901), or by telephone
(800-662-2739). The minimum investment amount required to open and maintain a
Fund account for Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares is $5 million
or $100 million, respectively. The minimum investment amount required to add to
an existing Fund account is generally $1. If you are investing through an
employer-sponsored retirement or savings plan, your plan administrator or your
benefits office can provide you with detailed information on how you can invest
through your plan.
Tax
Information
The Fund’s
distributions may be taxable as ordinary income or capital gain. If you are
investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as an IRA or an
employer-sponsored retirement or savings plan, special tax rules
apply.
Payments
to Financial Intermediaries
The Fund and its
investment advisor do not pay financial intermediaries for sales of Fund
shares.
17
Investing
in Index Funds
What
Is Indexing?
Indexing is an
investment strategy for tracking the performance of a specified market
benchmark, or “index.” An index is a group of securities whose overall
performance is used as a standard to measure the investment performance of a
particular market. There are many types of indexes. Some represent entire
markets—such as the U.S. stock market or the U.S. bond market. Other indexes
cover market segments—such as small-capitalization stocks or short-term bonds.
One cannot invest directly in an index.
The index provider determines the
securities to include in the index and the weighting of each security in the
index. Under normal circumstances, the index provider will rebalance an index on
a regular schedule. An index provider may carry out additional ad hoc index
rebalances or delay or cancel a scheduled rebalance. Generally, the index
provider does not provide any warranty, or accept any liability, with respect to
the quality, accuracy, or completeness of either the target index or its related
data. Errors made by the index provider may occur from time to time and may not
be identified by the index provider for a period of time or at all. Vanguard
does not provide any warranty or guarantee against such errors. Therefore, the
gains, losses, or costs associated with the index provider’s errors will
generally be borne by the index fund and its shareholders.
An index fund seeks
to hold all, or a representative sample, of the securities that make up its
target index. Index funds attempt to mirror the performance of the target index,
for better or worse. However, an index fund generally does not perform
exactly like its target
index. For example, index funds have operating expenses and transaction costs.
Market indexes do not, and therefore they will usually have a slight performance
advantage over funds that track them. The ability of an index fund to match its
performance to that of its target index can also be impacted by, among other
things, the timing and size of cash flows, asset valuation differences, and the
size of the fund. Market disruptions could also have an adverse effect on a
fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track
the index. The risk that a fund may not track the performance of its target
index may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other
unusual market conditions.
Index funds
typically have the following characteristics:
• Variety
of investments. Depending on a
fund’s benchmark index, the fund may invest in the securities of a variety of
companies, industries, and/or governments or government agencies.
• Relative
performance consistency. Because they seek
to track market benchmarks, index funds usually do not perform dramatically
better or worse than their benchmarks.
• Low
cost.
Index funds are generally inexpensive to run compared with actively managed
funds. They have low or no research costs and typically keep trading
activity—and thus brokerage commissions and other transaction costs—to a minimum
compared with actively managed funds.
18
More
on the Funds
This prospectus
describes the principal risks you would face as a Fund shareholder. It is
important to keep in mind one of the main principles of investing: generally,
the higher the risk of losing money, the higher the potential reward. The
reverse, also, is generally true: the lower the risk, the lower the potential
reward. As you consider an investment in any mutual fund, you should take into
account your personal tolerance for fluctuations in the securities markets. Look
for this
symbol throughout
the prospectus. It is used to mark detailed information about the more
significant risks that you would confront as a Fund shareholder. To highlight
terms and concepts important to mutual fund investors, we have provided Plain
Talk® explanations along
the way. Reading the prospectus will help you decide whether a Fund is the right
investment for you. We suggest that you keep this prospectus for future
reference.
symbol throughout
the prospectus. It is used to mark detailed information about the more
significant risks that you would confront as a Fund shareholder. To highlight
terms and concepts important to mutual fund investors, we have provided Plain
Talk® explanations along
the way. Reading the prospectus will help you decide whether a Fund is the right
investment for you. We suggest that you keep this prospectus for future
reference.Share
Class Overview
This prospectus offers the Funds‘
Institutional Shares and Institutional Plus Shares for the European Stock Index
Fund and the Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund, which are generally for
investors who invest a minimum of $5 million and $100 million, respectively. A
separate prospectus offers the Funds’ AdmiralTM Shares, which generally have an
investment minimum of $3,000, and Investor Shares, which are generally available
only to Vanguard funds that operate as funds of funds and to certain retirement
plan clients that receive recordkeeping services from Vanguard. In addition,
each Fund issues ETF Shares (an exchange-traded class of shares), which are also
offered through a separate prospectus.
All share classes offered by a Fund
have the same investment objective, strategies, and policies. However, because
different share classes can have different expenses, their investment returns
may differ.
|
Plain
Talk About Costs of Investing |
|
Costs are
an important consideration in choosing a mutual fund. That is
because
you, as a shareholder, pay a proportionate share of the costs of
operating
a fund and any transaction costs incurred when the fund buys or
sells
securities, including costs generated by shareholders of other share
classes
offered by the fund. These costs can erode a substantial portion of
the gross
income or the capital appreciation a fund achieves. Even
seemingly
small differences in expenses can, over time, have a dramatic
effect on
a fund’s performance.
|
19
The following sections explain the
principal investment strategies and policies that each Fund uses in pursuit of
its investment objective. The Funds’ board of trustees, which oversees each
Fund’s management, may change investment strategies or policies in the interest
of shareholders without a shareholder vote, unless those strategies or policies
are designated as fundamental. Note that each Fund’s investment objective is not
fundamental and may be changed without a shareholder vote. Under normal
circumstances, each Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in the types of
stocks indicated by its name. A Fund may change its 80% policy or indexing
strategy only upon 60 days‘ notice to shareholders.
Market
Exposure
To track their
target indexes as closely as possible, the Funds attempt to remain fully
invested in the foreign stocks included in their particular indexes.
|
Plain
Talk About International Investing |
|
U.S.
investors who invest in foreign securities will encounter risks not
typically
associated with U.S. companies because foreign stock and bond
markets
operate differently from the U.S. markets. For instance, foreign
companies
and governments may not be subject to the same or similar
auditing,
legal, tax, regulatory, financial reporting, accounting, and
recordkeeping
standards and practices as U.S. companies and the U.S.
government,
and their stocks and bonds may not be as liquid as those of
similar
U.S. entities. In addition, foreign stock exchanges, brokers,
companies,
bond markets, and dealers may be subject to different levels of
government
supervision and regulation than their counterparts in the
United
States. Further, the imposition of economic or other sanctions on the
United
States by a foreign country, or on a foreign country or issuer by the
United
States, could impair a fund’s ability to buy, sell, hold, receive,
deliver,
or
otherwise transact in certain investment securities or obtain exposure to
foreign
securities and assets. These factors, among others, could negatively
affect the
returns U.S. investors receive from foreign investments.
|
20
Each
Fund is subject to stock market risk, which is the chance that stock prices
overall will decline. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of
rising prices and periods of falling prices. The Fund’s investments in foreign
stocks can be riskier than U.S. stock investments. Foreign stocks may be more
volatile and less liquid than U.S. stocks. The prices of foreign stocks and the
prices of U.S. stocks may move in opposite directions. In addition, the Fund’s
target index may, at times, become focused in stocks of a particular market
sector, which would subject the Fund to proportionately higher exposure to the
risks of that sector.
Stocks of publicly
traded companies are often classified according to market capitalization, which
is the market value of a company’s outstanding shares. These classifications
typically include small-cap, mid-cap, and large-cap. It is important to
understand that there are no “official” definitions of small-, mid-, and
large-cap, even among Vanguard fund advisors, and that market capitalization
ranges can change over time.
Each
Fund is subject to country/regional risk and currency risk. Country/regional
risk is the chance that world events—such as political upheaval, financial
troubles, or natural disasters—will adversely affect the value of securities
issued by companies in foreign countries or regions. Because each Fund may
invest a large portion of its assets in securities of companies located in any
one country or region, the Fund’s performance may be hurt disproportionately by
the poor performance of its investments in that area. Currency risk is the
chance that the value of a foreign investment, measured in U.S. dollars, will
decrease because of unfavorable changes in currency exchange rates.
Country/regional risk and currency risk are especially high in emerging
markets.
21
Vanguard
Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund’s investments in Chinese issuers may subject
the Fund to risks associated with that region, including, among others, trading
suspensions and government intervention; currency exchange fluctuation or
blockages; illiquidity; price volatility and complexity in valuing portfolio
holdings; limits on the use of brokers and on foreign ownership; different
financial reporting standards; higher dependence on exports and international
trade; potential for increased trade tariffs, sanctions, capital controls,
embargoes, and other trade limitations; custody risks; potential adverse
consequences; and considerable degrees of social, legal, regulatory, political,
and economic uncertainty. The Fund may also gain exposure to certain operating
companies in China through legal structures known as variable interest entities
(VIEs), which provide exposure to the Chinese company through contractual
arrangements instead of equity ownership. VIEs are subject to risks associated
with breach of the contractual agreements, including difficulty in enforcing any
judgements outside of the United States, and do not offer the same level of
investor protection as direct ownership. In addition, the Chinese government
could intervene with respect to VIEs or significantly affect the enforceability
of the contractual arrangements.
Vanguard
Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund is subject to emerging markets risk, which is
the chance that the stocks of companies located in emerging markets will be
substantially more volatile, and substantially less liquid, than the stocks of
companies located in more developed foreign markets because, among other
factors, emerging markets can have greater custodial and operational risks; less
developed legal, tax, regulatory, financial reporting, accounting, and
recordkeeping systems; and greater political, social, and economic instability
than developed markets. Additionally, information regarding companies located in
emerging markets may be less available and less reliable, which can impede the
ability to evaluate such companies.
Vanguard
Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund is subject to China A-shares risk, which is
the chance that the Fund may not be able to access its desired amount of China
A-shares. Investing in A-shares through Stock Connect or the QFI program is
subject to trading restrictions and suspensions, quota limitations and sudden
changes in those limitations, and operational, clearing, and settlement
risks.
China A-shares
(A-shares) are shares of mainland Chinese companies that are traded locally on
the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. In order for foreign investors to
purchase A-shares, a Qualified Foreign Investor (QFI) license is required.
A-shares are also available to foreign investors through the China Stock Connect
program (Stock Connect), subject to daily quota limitations. It is possible that
the A-shares quota available to the Fund as a foreign investor may not be
sufficient to meet the Fund’s investment needs. In this situation, the Fund
22
may underweight
A-shares relative to its target index or seek an alternative method of economic
exposure, such as by purchasing other classes of securities or depositary
receipts or by utilizing derivatives. These options could increase the Fund’s
investment cost. Additionally, investing in A-shares generally increases
emerging markets risk due in part to government and issuer market controls and
the developing settlement and legal systems.
|
Plain
Talk About Regional Versus Broad International
Investing |
|
Regional
funds are international funds that invest in a particular geographical
region,
such as Europe or the Pacific Basin. Because they concentrate their
holdings
in a single region, these funds typically have higher share price
volatility
than broadly diversified international stock funds (which, by investing
in
many different foreign markets, may offset losses from one country with
gains
from another at any given
time). |
Market disruptions can adversely
affect local and global markets as well as normal market conditions and
operations. Any such disruptions could have an adverse impact on the value of a
Fund’s investments and Fund performance.
Security
Selection
Each Fund attempts
to track the investment performance of a benchmark index that measures the
return of a particular market segment. Vanguard European Stock Index Fund and
Vanguard Pacific Stock Index Fund use the replication
method
of indexing, meaning that each Fund generally holds the same stocks as its
target index and in approximately the same proportions. Vanguard Emerging
Markets Stock Index Fund uses the sampling
method
of indexing, meaning that the Fund’s advisor, using computer programs, selects
from the target index a representative sample of securities that will resemble
the target index in terms of key risk factors and other characteristics. These
include industry weightings, market capitalization, and other financial
characteristics of stocks.
Vanguard
European Stock Index Fund. The Fund invests in the common
stocks included in the FTSE Developed Europe All Cap Index, which is made up of
approximately 1,278 common stocks of large-, mid-, and small-cap companies
located in 16 European countries. Four countries—the United Kingdom, France,
Switzerland, and Germany— represent a large portion of the Index. The other
countries represented in the Index are much less significant to the Index and,
consequently, to the Fund. The Fund’s heavy exposure to four countries subjects
the Fund to a higher degree of country risk than that of more geographically
diversified international funds.
23
Vanguard Pacific
Stock Index Fund. The
Fund invests in the common stocks included in the FTSE Developed Asia Pacific
All Cap Index, which is made up of approximately 2,451 common stocks of large-,
mid-, and small-cap Pacific Basin companies. The Japanese, Australian, and
Korean stock markets represent a large portion of the Index. The other markets
represented in the Index are Hong Kong, Singapore, and New Zealand. The Fund’s
large investments in the 6 Japanese, Australian, and Korean stock markets
subjects the Fund to a higher degree of country risk than that of more
geographically diversified international funds.
Vanguard
Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund. The Fund invests in the common
stocks included in the FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index,
which is made up of approximately 4,587 common stocks of large-, mid-, and
small-cap companies located in emerging markets around the world and is part of
the FTSE China A Inclusion indexes, which contain FTSE China A All Cap Index
securities adjusted for the aggregate approved QFII and RQFII quotas available
to foreign investors. The Fund invests by sampling the Index, meaning that it
holds a broadly diversified collection of securities that, in the aggregate,
approximates the Index in terms of key characteristics. These key
characteristics include industry weightings and market capitalization, as well
as certain financial measures, such as price/earnings ratio and dividend
yield.
Emerging markets
can be substantially more volatile, and substantially less liquid, than both
U.S. markets and more developed foreign markets. Therefore, the Fund may expose
investors to a higher degree of volatility and illiquidity than funds that
invest in more developed markets.
Vanguard
Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund is subject to index sampling risk, which is
the chance that the securities selected for the Fund, in the aggregate, will not
provide investment performance matching that of the Fund’s target index. Index
sampling risk for the Fund is expected to be low to moderate.
Each
Fund (other than Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund) is subject to index
replicating risk, which is the chance that the Fund may be prevented from
holding one or more securities in the same proportion as in its target
index.
The ability of the advisor to
purchase or dispose of certain Fund investments is or may be restricted or
impaired because of limitations imposed by law, regulation, or by certain
regulators or issuers. As a result, the advisor may be required to limit
purchases or sell existing investments. If a Fund is required to limit its
investment in a particular issuer, then the Fund may seek to obtain regulatory
relief or special permission from an issuer to exceed a certain percentage
ownership in that issuer’s shares. Other options a Fund may pursue
24
include seeking to
obtain economic exposure to that issuer through alternative means, such as
through a derivative or through investment in a wholly owned subsidiary, both of
which may be more costly than owning securities of the issuer directly.
Ownership restrictions and limitations could result in unanticipated tax
consequences to a Fund that may affect the amount, timing, and character of
distributions to shareholders. See Other
Investment Policies and Risks for further
information related to derivatives.
Depositary
receipts. Each Fund, in most
cases, will obtain economic exposure to stocks of its target index (component
securities) by investing directly in the component securities. However, each
Fund reserves the right to obtain economic exposure to component securities
indirectly by purchasing depositary receipts (also sold as participatory notes)
of the component securities. Depositary receipts are securities that are listed
on exchanges or quoted in over-the-counter markets in one country but represent
shares of issuers domiciled in another country. Generally, a Fund will hold
depositary receipts only when the advisor believes that the Fund would benefit
from holding the depositary receipt, rather than the underlying component
security. For example, a Fund might opt to hold depositary receipts if the
foreign market in which a stock trades does not provide adequate protection to
the rights of foreign investors or if government regulators place restrictions
on the free flow of capital or currency. Each Fund treats depositary receipts
that represent interests in component securities as component securities for
purposes of any requirements related to the percentage of component securities
held in the Fund’s portfolio.
Other
Investment Policies and Risks
Each Fund reserves the right to
substitute a different index for the index it currently tracks if the current
index is discontinued, if the Fund’s agreement with the provider of its target
index is terminated, or for any other reason determined in good faith by the
Fund’s board of trustees. In any such instance, the substitute index would
represent the same market segment as the current index.
Each Fund may invest, to a limited
extent, in equity futures and options contracts, warrants, convertible
securities, and swap agreements, all of which are types of derivatives.
Generally speaking, a derivative is a financial contract whose value is based on
the value of a financial asset (such as a stock, a bond, or a currency), a
physical asset (such as gold, oil, or wheat), a market index, or a reference
rate. Investments in derivatives may subject the Funds to risks different from,
and possibly greater than, those of investments directly in the underlying
securities or assets. The Funds will not use derivatives for speculation or for
the purpose of leveraging (magnifying) investment returns. Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund
may use derivatives as an alternative method of economic exposure to China
A-Shares.
25
The Funds may enter
into foreign currency exchange forward contracts, which are a type of
derivative, in order to maintain the same currency exposure as its respective
index. A foreign currency exchange forward contract is an agreement to buy or
sell a currency at a specific price on a specific date, usually 30, 60, or 90
days in the future. In other words, the contract guarantees an exchange rate on
a given date. These contracts, however, would not prevent the Fund’s securities
from falling in value as a result of risks other than unfavorable currency
exchange movements. The Funds may use these contracts to manage currency
exposure and to settle trades in a foreign currency.
Each Fund’s target index is maintained by FTSE Group (FTSE), a widely known global index provider.
Each Fund’s target index is maintained by FTSE Group (FTSE), a widely known global index provider.
Cash
Management
Each Fund’s daily cash balance may
be invested in Vanguard Market Liquidity Fund and/or Vanguard Municipal Cash
Management Fund (each, a CMT Fund), which are low-cost money market funds. When
investing in a CMT Fund, each Fund bears its proportionate share of the expenses
of the CMT Fund in which it invests. Vanguard receives no additional revenue
from Fund assets invested in a CMT Fund.
Redemption
Requests
Methods
used to meet redemption requests. Under normal
circumstances, each Fund typically expects to meet redemptions with positive
cash flows. When this is not an option, each Fund seeks to maintain its risk
exposure by selling a cross section of the Fund’s holdings to meet redemptions,
while also factoring in transaction costs. Additionally, a Fund may work with
larger clients to implement their redemptions in a manner that is least
disruptive to the portfolio; see “Potentially disruptive redemptions” under
Redeeming
Shares
in the Investing
With Vanguard
section.
Under certain
circumstances, including under stressed market conditions, there are additional
tools that each Fund may use in order to meet redemptions, including advancing
the settlement of market trades with counterparties to match investor redemption
payments or delaying settlement of an investor’s transaction to match trade
settlement within regulatory requirements. A Fund may also suspend payment of
redemption proceeds for up to seven days; see “Emergency circumstances” under
Redeeming
Shares
in the Investing
With Vanguard
section.
Additionally under these unusual circumstances, a Fund may borrow money (subject
to certain regulatory conditions and if available under board-approved
procedures) through an interfund lending facility; through a bank
line-of-credit, including a joint committed credit facility; or through an
uncommitted line-of-credit from Vanguard in order to meet redemption
requests.
26
Potential
redemption activity impacts. At times, a Fund may experience
adverse effects when certain large shareholders, or multiple shareholders
comprising significant ownership of the Fund or a share class of the Fund,
redeem large amounts of shares of the Fund. Large redemptions may cause a Fund
to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so. This
may result in a Fund distributing capital gains or other taxable income to
non-redeeming shareholders. Large redemptions may also increase a Fund’s
transaction costs. Redemption activity can occur for many reasons, including
shareholder reactions to market movements or other events unrelated to
Vanguard’s actions, or when Vanguard makes product changes that, for example,
may result in a shareholder redeeming shares of a Fund to purchase shares of
another similar fund or investment vehicle. When experiencing large redemptions,
the Fund reserves the right to pay all or part of the redemption in-kind and/or
delay payment of the redemption proceeds for up to seven calendar days; see
“Potentially disruptive redemptions” under Redeeming
Shares in the
Investing With
Vanguard
section.
Temporary
Investment Measures
Each Fund may temporarily depart
from its normal investment policies and strategies when the advisor believes
that doing so is in the Fund’s best interest, so long as the strategy or policy
employed is consistent with the Fund’s investment objective. For instance, the
Fund may invest beyond its normal limits in derivatives or exchange-traded funds
that are consistent with the Fund’s investment objective when those instruments
are more favorably priced or provide needed liquidity, as might be the case when
the Fund receives large cash flows that it cannot prudently invest
immediately.
Frequent
Trading or Market-Timing
Background.
Some
investors try to profit from strategies involving frequent trading of mutual
fund shares, such as market-timing. For funds holding foreign securities,
investors may try to take advantage of an anticipated difference between the
price of the fund’s shares and price movements in overseas markets, a practice
also known as time-zone arbitrage. Investors also may try to engage in frequent
trading of funds holding investments such as small-cap stocks and high-yield
bonds. As money is shifted into and out of a fund by a shareholder engaging in
frequent trading, the fund incurs costs for buying and selling securities,
resulting in increased brokerage and administrative costs. These costs are borne
by all fund shareholders,
including the long-term investors who do not generate the costs. In addition,
frequent trading may interfere with an advisor’s ability to efficiently manage
the fund.
27
Policies
to address frequent trading. The Vanguard funds
(other than money market funds and short-term bond funds, but including Vanguard
Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund) do not knowingly
accommodate frequent trading. The board of trustees of each Vanguard fund (other
than money market funds and short-term bond funds, but including Vanguard
Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund) has adopted policies and
procedures reasonably designed to detect and discourage frequent trading and, in
some cases, to compensate the fund for the costs associated with it. These
policies and procedures do not apply to ETF Shares because frequent trading in
ETF Shares generally does not disrupt portfolio management or otherwise harm
fund shareholders. Although there is no assurance that Vanguard will be able to
detect or prevent frequent trading or market-timing in all circumstances, the
following policies have been adopted to address these issues:
• Each Vanguard
fund reserves the right to reject any purchase request—including exchanges from
other Vanguard funds—without notice and regardless of size. For example, a
purchase request could be rejected because the investor has a history of
frequent trading or if Vanguard determines that such purchase may negatively
affect a fund’s operation or performance.
• Each Vanguard
fund (other than money market funds and short-term bond funds, but including
Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund) generally
prohibits, except as otherwise noted in the Investing
With Vanguard section, an
investor’s purchases or exchanges into a fund account for 30 calendar days after
the investor has redeemed or exchanged out of that fund
account.
• Certain Vanguard
funds charge shareholders purchase and/or redemption fees on
transactions.
See the
Investing
With Vanguard section of this
prospectus for further details on Vanguard’s transaction policies.
Each Vanguard fund
(other than retail and government money market funds), in determining its net
asset value, will use fair-value pricing when appropriate, as described in the
Share
Price
section. Fair-value pricing may reduce or eliminate the profitability of certain
frequent-trading strategies.
Do
not invest with Vanguard if you are a market-timer.
A precautionary
note to investment companies: Each Fund’s shares are issued by a
registered investment company, and therefore the acquisition of such shares by
other investment companies and private funds is subject to the restrictions of
Section 12(d)(1) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the 1940 Act). SEC Rule
12d1-4 under the 1940 Act permits registered investment
28
companies to invest
in other registered investment companies beyond the limits in Section 12(d)(1),
subject to certain conditions, including that funds with different investment
advisors must enter into a fund of funds investment agreement.
Turnover
Rate
Although each Fund
generally seeks to invest for the long term, each Fund may sell securities
regardless of how long they have been held. Generally, an index fund sells
securities in response to redemption requests from shareholders of conventional
(i.e., not exchange-traded) shares or to changes in the composition of its
target index. The Financial
Highlights section of this
prospectus shows historical turnover rates for the Funds. A turnover rate of
100%, for example, would mean that a Fund had sold and replaced securities
valued at 100% of its net assets within a one-year period. In general, the
greater the turnover rate, the greater the impact transaction costs will have on
a fund’s return. Also, funds with high turnover rates may be more likely to
generate capital gains, including short-term capital gains, that must be
distributed to shareholders and will be taxable to shareholders investing
through a taxable account.
The
Funds and Vanguard
Each Fund is a
member of The Vanguard Group, Inc. (Vanguard), a family of over 200 funds. All
of the funds that are members of Vanguard (other than funds of funds) share in
the expenses associated with administrative services and business operations,
such as personnel, office space, and equipment.
Vanguard Marketing
Corporation provides marketing services to the funds. Although fund shareholders
do not pay sales commissions or 12b-1 distribution fees, each fund (other than a
fund of funds) or each share class of a fund (in the case of a fund with
multiple share classes) pays its allocated share of the Vanguard funds’
marketing costs.
|
Plain
Talk About Vanguard’s Unique Corporate Structure |
|
Vanguard
is owned jointly by the funds it oversees and thus indirectly by the
shareholders
in those funds. Most other mutual funds are operated by
management
companies that are owned by third parties—either public or
private
stockholders—and not by the funds they
serve. |
29
Investment
Advisor
The Vanguard Group, Inc., P.O. Box
2600, Valley Forge, PA 19482, which began operations in 1975, serves as advisor
to the Funds through its Equity Index Group. As of October 31, 2023, Vanguard
served as advisor for approximately $6.3 trillion in assets. Vanguard provides
investment advisory services to the Funds pursuant to the Funds’ Service
Agreement and subject to the supervision and oversight of the trustees and
officers of the Funds.
For the fiscal year ended October
31, 2023, the advisory expenses represented an effective annual rate of each
Fund’s average net assets as follows: for Vanguard European Stock Index Fund,
0.01%; for Vanguard Pacific Stock Index Fund, 0.01%; for Vanguard Emerging
Markets Stock Index Fund, less than 0.01%.
Under the terms of an SEC
exemption, the Funds’ board of trustees may, without prior approval from
shareholders, change the terms of an advisory agreement with a third-party
investment advisor or hire a new third-party investment advisor—either as a
replacement for an existing advisor or as an additional advisor. Any significant
change in a Fund’s advisory arrangements will be communicated to shareholders in
writing. As the Funds’ sponsor and overall manager, Vanguard may provide
investment advisory services to a Fund at any time. Vanguard may also recommend
to the board of trustees that an advisor be hired, terminated, or replaced or
that the terms of an existing advisory agreement be revised. The Funds have
filed an application seeking a similar SEC exemption with respect to investment
advisors that are wholly owned subsidiaries of Vanguard. If the exemption is
granted, the Funds may rely on the new SEC relief.
For a discussion of why the board
of trustees approved each Fund’s investment advisory arrangement, see the most
recent semiannual reports to shareholders covering the fiscal period ended April
30.
The managers
primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Funds
are:
Christine D.
Franquin, Principal of
Vanguard. She has managed investment portfolios since joining Vanguard in 2000
and has co-managed Vanguard European Stock Index Fund since
2016. Education: B.A., Universitaire Faculteiten Sint-Ignatius Antwerpen,
Belgium; J.D., University of Liege, Belgium; M.S., Clark
University.
30
Scott E.
Geiger, CFA, Portfolio
Manager at Vanguard. He has been with Vanguard since 2006, has worked in
investment management since 2008, has managed investment portfolios since 2013,
and has co-managed Vanguard European Stock Index Fund since
2022. Education: B.S., Millersville University.
Jeffrey D.
Miller, Portfolio
Manager at Vanguard. He has been with Vanguard since 1999, has managed
investment portfolios since 2010, and has co-managed Vanguard Pacific Stock
Index Fund and Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund since 2016. Education:
B.A., The Pennsylvania State University; M.B.A., Drexel
University.
Michael
Perre, Principal of
Vanguard. He has been with Vanguard since 1990, has managed investment
portfolios since 1999, has managed Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund
since 2008 (co-managed since 2016), and has co-managed Vanguard Pacific Stock
Index Fund since 2016. Education: B.A., Saint Joseph’s University; M.B.A.,
Villanova University.
The Funds'
Statement
of Additional Information provides
information about each portfolio manager’s compensation, other accounts under
management, and ownership of shares of the Funds.
Dividends,
Capital Gains, and Taxes
Fund
Distributions
Each Fund
distributes to shareholders virtually all of its net income (interest and
dividends, less expenses) as well as any net short-term or long-term capital
gains realized from the sale of its holdings. From time to time, each Fund may
also make distributions that are treated as a return of capital. Income
dividends generally are distributed quarterly in March, June, September, and
December; capital gains distributions, if any, generally occur annually in
December. In addition, each Fund may occasionally make a supplemental
distribution at some other time during the year.
You can receive
distributions of income or capital gains in cash, or you can have them
automatically reinvested in more shares of the Fund. However, if you are
investing through an employer-sponsored retirement or savings plan, your
distributions will be automatically reinvested in additional Fund
shares.
From time to time,
a Fund may pay out higher-than-expected distributions. As an index fund, the
Fund must adjust its holdings to reflect changes in its target index. In some
cases, such changes may force an index fund to sell securities that have
appreciated in value, thereby realizing a capital gain that must be
31
distributed to
shareholders. A security may move out of an index for a number of reasons,
including a merger or acquisition, a substantial change in the market
capitalization of the issuer, or the movement of a country from emerging market
to developed market status.
|
Plain
Talk About Distributions |
|
As
a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund’s income from
interest
and dividends as well as capital gains from the fund’s sale of
investments.
Income consists of both the dividends that the fund earns from
any
stock holdings and the interest it receives from any money market and
bond
investments. Capital gains are realized whenever the fund sells
securities
for higher prices than it paid for them. These capital gains are
either
short-term or long-term, depending on whether the fund held the
securities
for one year or less or for more than one
year. |
Basic
Tax Points
Investors in
taxable accounts should be aware of the following basic federal income tax
points:
• Distributions are
taxable to you whether or not you reinvest these amounts in additional Fund
shares.
• Distributions
declared in December—if paid to you by the end of January—are taxable as if
received in December.
• Any dividend
distribution or short-term capital gains distribution that you receive is
taxable to you as ordinary income. If you are an individual and meet certain
holding-period requirements with respect to your Fund shares, you may be
eligible for reduced tax rates on “qualified dividend income,” if any, or a
special tax deduction on “qualified REIT dividends,” if any, distributed by the
Fund.
• Any distribution
of net long-term capital gains is taxable to you as long-term capital gains, no
matter how long you have owned shares in the Fund.
• Capital gains distributions can
occur when a Fund sells assets at a gain. Capital gains distributions vary
from year to year as a result of the Fund’s investment activities and cash
flows, including those due to redemption activity by Fund shareholders.
• Capital gain distributions may
occur if Vanguard makes changes that would impact a Fund directly or indirectly,
including if Vanguard makes changes to the Fund’s portfolio or to any other
Vanguard fund or product that would involve the
32
redemption of shares of the Fund
and the related sale of the Fund’s or an underlying Vanguard fund’s
investments.
• Your cost basis
in the Fund will be decreased by the amount of any return of capital that you
receive. This, in turn, will affect the amount of any capital gain or loss that
you realize when selling or exchanging your Fund shares.
• Return of capital
distributions generally are not taxable to you until your cost basis has been
reduced to zero. If your cost basis is at zero, return of capital distributions
will be treated as capital gains.
• A sale or
exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This means that you may have a
capital gain to report as income, or a capital loss to report as a deduction,
when you complete your tax return.
• Any conversion
between classes of shares of the same fund is a nontaxable
event.
By contrast, an exchange between classes of shares of different funds is a
taxable
event.
• Vanguard (or your
intermediary) will send you a statement each year showing the tax status of all
of your distributions.
Individuals,
trusts, and estates whose income exceeds certain threshold amounts are subject
to a 3.8% Medicare contribution tax on “net investment income.” Net investment
income takes into account distributions paid by the Fund and capital gains from
any sale or exchange of Fund shares.
Dividend
distributions and capital gains distributions that you receive, as well as your
gains or losses from any sale or exchange of Fund shares, may be subject to
state and local income taxes.
Each Fund may be
subject to foreign taxes or foreign tax withholding on dividends, interest, and
some capital gains that it receives on foreign securities. If at the end of the
taxable year more than 50% of the value of a Fund’s assets consists of
securities of foreign corporations, and the Fund makes a special election, you
will generally be required to include in your income, for U.S. federal income
tax purposes, your share of the qualifying foreign income taxes paid by the Fund
in respect of its foreign portfolio securities. There is no assurance that a
Fund will make this election for a taxable year, even if it is eligible to do
so. You may qualify for an offsetting credit or deduction under U.S. tax laws
for any amount designated as your portion of a Fund’s foreign tax obligations,
provided that you meet certain requirements. See your tax advisor or IRS
publications for more information.
33
This prospectus
provides general tax information only. If you are investing through a
tax-advantaged account, such as an IRA or an employer-sponsored retirement or
savings plan, special tax rules apply. Please consult your tax advisor for
detailed information about any tax consequences for you.
|
Plain
Talk About Buying a Dividend |
|
Unless
you are a tax-exempt investor or investing through a tax-advantaged
account
(such as an IRA or an employer-sponsored retirement or savings
plan),
you should consider avoiding a purchase of fund shares shortly before
the
fund makes a distribution, because doing so can cost you money in
taxes.
This is known as “buying a dividend.” For example: On December 15,
you
invest $5,000, buying 250 shares for $20 each. If the fund pays a
distribution
of $1 per share on December 16, its share price will drop to $19
(not
counting market change). You still have only $5,000 (250 shares x $19 =
$4,750
in share value, plus 250 shares x $1 = $250 in distributions), but you
owe
tax
on the $250 distribution you received—even if you reinvest it in more
shares.
To avoid buying a dividend, check a fund’s distribution schedule
before
you invest. |
General
Information
Backup
withholding. By law, Vanguard
must withhold 24% of any taxable distributions or redemptions from your account
if you do not:
• Provide your
correct taxpayer identification number.
• Certify that the
taxpayer identification number is correct.
• Confirm that you
are not subject to backup withholding.
Similarly, Vanguard
(or your intermediary) must withhold taxes from your account if the IRS
instructs us to do so.
Foreign
investors. Vanguard funds
offered for sale in the United States (Vanguard U.S. funds), including the Funds
offered in this prospectus, are not widely available outside the United States.
Non-U.S. investors should be aware that U.S. withholding and estate taxes and
certain U.S. tax reporting requirements may apply to any investments in Vanguard
U.S. funds. Foreign investors should visit the non-U.S. investors page on our
website at vanguard.com for information on
Vanguard’s non-U.S. products.
34
Invalid
addresses. If a dividend
distribution or capital gains distribution check mailed to your address of
record is returned as undeliverable, Vanguard will automatically reinvest the
distribution and all future distributions until you provide us with a valid
mailing address. Reinvestments will receive the net asset value calculated on
the date of the reinvestment.
Share
Price
Share price, also
known as net
asset value (NAV), is
calculated as of the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange
(NYSE), generally 4 p.m., Eastern time, on each day that the NYSE is open for
business (a business day). In the rare event the NYSE experiences unanticipated
disruptions and is unavailable at the close of the trading day, NAVs will be
calculated as of the close of regular trading on the Nasdaq (or another
alternate exchange if the Nasdaq is unavailable, as determined at Vanguard’s
discretion), generally 4 p.m., Eastern time. Each share class has its own NAV,
which is computed by dividing the total assets, minus liabilities, allocated to
the share class by the number of Fund shares outstanding for that class. On U.S.
holidays or other days when the NYSE is closed, the NAV is not calculated, and
the Funds do not sell or redeem shares. However, on those days the value of a
Fund’s assets may be affected to the extent that the Fund holds securities that
change in value on those days (such as foreign securities that trade on foreign
markets that are open).
Stocks held by a
Vanguard fund are valued at their market
value
when reliable market quotations are readily available from the principal
exchange or market on which they are traded. Such securities are generally
valued at their official closing price, the last reported sales price, or if
there were no sales that day, the mean between the closing bid and asking
prices. When a fund determines that market quotations either are not readily
available or do not accurately reflect the value of a security, the security is
priced at its fair
value
(the amount that the owner might reasonably expect to receive upon the current
sale of the security).
The values of any
foreign securities held by a fund are converted into U.S. dollars using an
exchange rate obtained from an independent third party as of the close of
regular trading on the NYSE. The values of any mutual fund shares, including
institutional money market fund shares, held by a fund are based on the NAVs of
the shares. The values of any ETF shares or closed-end fund shares held by a
fund are based on the market value of the shares.
A fund also will use fair-value
pricing if the value of a security it holds has been materially affected by
events occurring before the fund’s pricing time but after the close of the
principal exchange or market on which the security is traded. This most commonly
occurs with foreign securities, which may trade on foreign
35
exchanges that close many hours
before the fund’s pricing time. Intervening events might be company-specific
(e.g., earnings report, merger announcement) or country-specific or
regional/global (e.g., natural disaster, economic or political news, interest
rate change, act of terrorism). Intervening events include price movements in
U.S. markets that exceed a specified threshold or that are otherwise deemed to
affect the value of foreign securities.
Fair-value pricing may be used for
domestic securities—for example, if (1) trading in a security is halted and does
not resume before the fund’s pricing time or a security does not trade in the
course of a day and (2) the fund holds enough of the security that its price
could affect the NAV.
Fair-value prices
are determined by Vanguard according to procedures adopted by the board of
trustees. When fair-value pricing is employed, the prices of securities used by
a fund to calculate the NAV may differ from quoted or published prices for the
same securities.
Each Fund has
authorized certain financial intermediaries and their designees, and may, from
time to time, authorize certain funds for which Vanguard serves as the
investment advisor (Vanguard Fund of Funds), to accept orders to buy or sell
fund shares on its behalf. The Fund will be deemed to receive an order when
accepted by the financial intermediary, its designee, or one of the Vanguard
Funds of Funds, and the order will receive the NAV next computed by the Fund
after such acceptance.
Vanguard fund share prices are published daily on our website at vanguard.com/prices.
Vanguard fund share prices are published daily on our website at vanguard.com/prices.
36
Financial
Highlights
Financial
highlights information is intended to help you understand a fund’s performance
for the past five years (or, if shorter, its period of operations). Certain
information reflects financial results for a single fund share. Total return
represents the rate that an investor would have earned or lost each period on an
investment in a fund or share class (assuming reinvestment of all
distributions). This information has been obtained from the financial statements
audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public
accounting firm, whose report, along with fund financial statements, is included
in a fund’s most recent annual report to shareholders. You may obtain a free
copy of a fund’s latest annual or semiannual report, which is available upon
request.
Vanguard
European Stock Index Fund Institutional Shares
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For a
Share Outstanding
Throughout
Each Period |
Year Ended October
31, | ||||
|
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
2019 | |
|
Net
Asset Value, Beginning of Period |
$26.64 |
$36.62 |
$26.44 |
$29.63 |
$27.65 |
|
Investment
Operations |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
Investment Income1 |
1.040 |
1.043 |
1.019 |
.667 |
.993 |
|
Net
Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments |
3.331 |
(9.912) |
10.110 |
(3.203) |
1.998 |
|
Total from
Investment Operations |
4.371 |
(8.869) |
11.129 |
(2.536) |
2.991 |
|
Distributions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dividends
from Net Investment Income |
(1.051) |
(1.111) |
(.949) |
(.654) |
(1.011) |
|
Distributions
from Realized Capital Gains |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
Total
Distributions |
(1.051) |
(1.111) |
(.949) |
(.654) |
(1.011) |
|
Net
Asset Value, End of Period |
$29.96 |
$26.64 |
$36.62 |
$26.44 |
$29.63 |
|
Total
Return |
16.21% |
-24.53% |
42.34% |
-8.54% |
11.09% |
|
Ratios/Supplemental
Data |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
Assets, End of Period (Millions) |
$727 |
$649 |
$859 |
$710 |
$870 |
|
Ratio of
Total Expenses to Average Net Assets |
0.09%2 |
0.11%2 |
0.08% |
0.08% |
0.08% |
|
Ratio of
Net Investment Income to Average Net Assets |
3.28% |
3.33% |
2.96% |
2.39% |
3.51% |
|
Portfolio
Turnover Rate3 |
4% |
5% |
3% |
3% |
3% |
|
|
|
|
1 |
Calculated
based on average shares outstanding. |
|
2 |
The ratio of
expenses to average net assets for the period net of reduction from
custody fee
offset
arrangements was 0.09% and 0.11%, respectively. |
|
3 |
Excludes the
value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of in-kind
purchases
or
redemptions of the fund’s capital shares, including ETF Creation
Units. |
37
Vanguard
European Stock Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For a
Share Outstanding
Throughout
Each Period |
Year Ended October
31, | ||||
|
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
2019 | |
|
Net
Asset Value, Beginning of Period |
$119.02 |
$163.62 |
$118.14 |
$132.38 |
$123.55 |
|
Investment
Operations |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
Investment Income1 |
4.703 |
4.691 |
4.576 |
2.989 |
4.197 |
|
Net
Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on
Investments |
14.854 |
(44.312) |
45.160 |
(14.294) |
9.160 |
|
Total from
Investment Operations |
19.557 |
(39.621) |
49.736 |
(11.305) |
13.357 |
|
Distributions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dividends
from Net Investment Income |
(4.707) |
(4.979) |
(4.256) |
(2.935) |
(4.527) |
|
Distributions
from Realized Capital Gains |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
Total
Distributions |
(4.707) |
(4.979) |
(4.256) |
(2.935) |
(4.527) |
|
Net
Asset Value, End of Period |
$133.87 |
$119.02 |
$163.62 |
$118.14 |
$132.38 |
|
Total
Return |
16.23% |
-24.53% |
42.35% |
-8.52% |
11.08% |
|
Ratios/Supplemental
Data |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
Assets, End of Period (Millions) |
$74 |
$70 |
$106 |
$70 |
$106 |
|
Ratio of
Total Expenses to Average Net Assets |
0.08%2 |
0.10%2 |
0.07% |
0.07% |
0.07% |
|
Ratio of
Net Investment Income to Average Net
Assets |
3.31% |
3.34% |
2.95% |
2.40% |
3.34% |
|
Portfolio
Turnover Rate3 |
4% |
5% |
3% |
3% |
3% |
|
|
|
|
1 |
Calculated
based on average shares outstanding. |
|
2 |
The ratio of
expenses to average net assets for the period net of reduction from
custody fee
offset
arrangements was 0.08% and 0.10%, respectively. |
|
3 |
Excludes the
value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of in-kind
purchases
or
redemptions of the fund’s capital shares, including ETF Creation
Units. |
38
Vanguard
Pacific Stock Index Fund Institutional Shares
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For a
Share Outstanding
Throughout
Each Period |
Year Ended October
31, | ||||
|
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
2019 | |
|
Net
Asset Value, Beginning of Period |
$11.13 |
$15.29 |
$12.70 |
$12.91 |
$12.15 |
|
Investment
Operations |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
Investment Income1 |
.367 |
.405 |
.366 |
.296 |
.346 |
|
Net
Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments |
1.086 |
(4.146) |
2.582 |
(.199) |
.770 |
|
Total from
Investment Operations |
1.453 |
(3.741) |
2.948 |
.097 |
1.116 |
|
Distributions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dividends
from Net Investment Income |
(.373) |
(.419) |
(.358) |
(.307) |
(.356) |
|
Distributions
from Realized Capital Gains |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
Total
Distributions |
(.373) |
(.419) |
(.358) |
(.307) |
(.356) |
|
Net
Asset Value, End of Period |
$12.21 |
$11.13 |
$15.29 |
$12.70 |
$12.91 |
|
Total
Return |
12.97% |
-24.96% |
23.25% |
0.72% |
9.51% |
|
Ratios/Supplemental
Data |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
Assets, End of Period (Millions) |
$379 |
$297 |
$416 |
$400 |
$508 |
|
Ratio of
Total Expenses to Average Net Assets |
0.08%2 |
0.08%2 |
0.08% |
0.08% |
0.08% |
|
Ratio of
Net Investment Income to Average Net Assets |
2.87% |
3.06% |
2.39% |
2.40% |
2.81% |
|
Portfolio
Turnover Rate3 |
3% |
6% |
5% |
4% |
4% |
|
|
|
|
1 |
Calculated
based on average shares outstanding. |
|
2 |
The
ratio of expenses to average net assets for the period net of reduction
from custody fee
offset
arrangements was 0.08%. |
|
3 |
Excludes
the value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of
in-kind purchases
or
redemptions of the fund’s capital shares, including ETF Creation
Units. |
39
Vanguard
Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund Institutional Shares
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For a
Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period |
Year Ended October
31, | ||||
|
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
2019 | |
|
Net
Asset Value, Beginning of Period |
$22.35 |
$31.96 |
$27.81 |
$26.55 |
$23.98 |
|
Investment
Operations |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
Investment Income1 |
.777 |
.882 |
.736 |
.611 |
.8882 |
|
Net
Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments |
1.698 |
(9.585) |
4.120 |
1.415 |
2.401 |
|
Total from
Investment Operations |
2.475 |
(8.703) |
4.856 |
2.026 |
3.289 |
|
Distributions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dividends
from Net Investment Income |
(.765) |
(.907) |
(.706) |
(.766) |
(.719) |
|
Distributions
from Realized Capital Gains |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
Total
Distributions |
(.765) |
(.907) |
(.706) |
(.766) |
(.719) |
|
Net
Asset Value, End of Period |
$24.06 |
$22.35 |
$31.96 |
$27.81 |
$26.55 |
|
Total
Return |
10.96% |
-27.70% |
17.45% |
7.76% |
13.88% |
|
Ratios/Supplemental
Data |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
Assets, End of Period (Millions) |
$6,627 |
$5,715 |
$7,791 |
$6,592 |
$6,309 |
|
Ratio of
Total Expenses to Average Net Assets |
0.10%3 |
0.10%3 |
0.10% |
0.10% |
0.10% |
|
Ratio of
Net Investment Income to Average Net Assets |
3.06% |
3.15% |
2.25% |
2.34% |
3.43%2 |
|
Portfolio
Turnover Rate4 |
5% |
7% |
9% |
10% |
9% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
Calculated
based on average shares outstanding. |
|
2 |
Net
investment income per share and the ratio of net investment income to
average net
assets
include $.171 and 0.66%, respectively, resulting from a special dividend
from Naspers
Ltd.
in September 2019. |
|
3 |
The
ratio of expenses to average net assets for the period net of reduction
from custody fee
offset
arrangements was 0.10%. |
|
4 |
Excludes
the value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of
in-kind purchases
or
redemptions of the fund’s capital shares, including ETF Creation
Units. |
40
Vanguard
Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For a
Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period |
Year Ended October
31, | ||||
|
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
2019 | |
|
Net
Asset Value, Beginning of Period |
$74.35 |
$106.33 |
$92.51 |
$88.32 |
$79.77 |
|
Investment
Operations |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
Investment Income1 |
2.557 |
2.931 |
2.412 |
2.123 |
3.1022 |
|
Net
Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments |
5.672 |
(31.875) |
13.779 |
4.635 |
7.869 |
|
Total from
Investment Operations |
8.229 |
(28.944) |
16.191 |
6.758 |
10.971 |
|
Distributions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dividends
from Net Investment Income |
(2.559) |
(3.036) |
(2.371) |
(2.568) |
(2.421) |
|
Distributions
from Realized Capital Gains |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
Total
Distributions |
(2.559) |
(3.036) |
(2.371) |
(2.568) |
(2.421) |
|
Net
Asset Value, End of Period |
$80.02 |
$74.35 |
$106.33 |
$92.51 |
$88.32 |
|
Total
Return |
10.96% |
-27.70% |
17.49% |
7.78% |
13.93% |
|
Ratios/Supplemental
Data |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
Assets, End of Period (Millions) |
$3,535 |
$3,572 |
$5,097 |
$4,645 |
$2,784 |
|
Ratio of
Total Expenses to Average Net Assets |
0.08%3 |
0.08%3 |
0.08% |
0.08% |
0.08% |
|
Ratio of
Net Investment Income to Average Net Assets |
3.03% |
3.14% |
2.22% |
2.45% |
3.59%2 |
|
Portfolio
Turnover Rate4 |
5% |
7% |
9% |
10% |
9% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
Calculated
based on average shares outstanding. |
|
2 |
Net
investment income per share and the ratio of net investment income to
average net
assets
include $.571 and 0.66%, respectively, resulting from a special dividend
from Naspers
Ltd.
in September 2019. |
|
3 |
The
ratio of expenses to average net assets for the period net of reduction
from custody fee
offset
arrangements was 0.08%. |
|
4 |
Excludes
the value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of
in-kind purchases
or
redemptions of the fund’s capital shares, including ETF Creation
Units. |
41
Investing
With Vanguard
This section of the prospectus
explains the basics of doing business with Vanguard. Vanguard fund shares can be
held indirectly through an intermediary, such as a bank, a broker, or an
investment advisor. If you hold Vanguard fund shares indirectly through an
intermediary (including shares held in a brokerage account through Vanguard
Brokerage Services®), please see Investing With
Vanguard Through Other Firms, and also refer to your account
agreement with the intermediary for information about transacting in that
account. If you hold Vanguard fund shares through an employer-sponsored
retirement or savings plan, please see Employer-Sponsored
Plans. Vanguard
reserves the right to change the policies in this section without notice. Please
call or check online for current information. See Contacting
Vanguard.
In certain circumstances, Vanguard fund shares can be held directly with Vanguard. If you hold Vanguard fund shares directly with Vanguard, you should carefully read each topic within this section that pertains to your relationship with Vanguard. Vanguard reserves the right, upon reasonable notice, to discontinue the ability to hold Vanguard fund shares directly with Vanguard for any or all investors and/or to transfer such shares to an affiliate or other financial institution.
In certain circumstances, Vanguard fund shares can be held directly with Vanguard. If you hold Vanguard fund shares directly with Vanguard, you should carefully read each topic within this section that pertains to your relationship with Vanguard. Vanguard reserves the right, upon reasonable notice, to discontinue the ability to hold Vanguard fund shares directly with Vanguard for any or all investors and/or to transfer such shares to an affiliate or other financial institution.
For Vanguard fund
shares held directly with Vanguard, each fund you hold in an account is a
separate “fund account.” For example, if you hold three funds in a nonretirement
account titled in your own name, two funds in a nonretirement account titled
jointly with your spouse, and one fund in an individual retirement account, you
have six fund accounts—and this is true even if you hold the same fund in
multiple accounts. Note that each reference to “you” in this prospectus applies
to any one or more registered account owners or persons authorized to transact
on your account.
Purchasing
Shares
Vanguard reserves
the right, without notice, to increase or decrease the minimum amount required
to open, convert shares to, or maintain a fund account or to add to an existing
fund account.
Investment minimums
may differ for certain categories of investors.
42
Account
Minimums for Institutional Shares and Institutional Plus Shares
To
open and maintain an account. Institutional
Shares—$5 million; Institutional Plus Shares—$100 million. If you request
Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares when you open a new account
but the investment amount does not meet the account minimum for the requested
share class, your investment will be placed in another share class of the Fund,
as appropriate.
Certain Vanguard
institutional clients may meet the minimum investment amount by aggregating
separate accounts within the same fund. This aggregation policy does not apply
to financial intermediaries.
Vanguard may charge
additional recordkeeping fees for institutional clients whose accounts are
recordkept by Vanguard. Please contact your Vanguard representative to determine
whether additional recordkeeping fees apply to your account.
To
add to an existing account. Generally
$1.
How
to Initiate a Purchase Request
Be sure to check
Exchanging
Shares, Frequent-Trading Limitations, and Other
Rules You Should Know before placing
your purchase request.
Online. You may open
certain types of accounts, request a purchase of shares, and request an exchange
through our website or our mobile application if your account is eligible and
you are registered for online access.
By
telephone. You may call
Vanguard to begin the account registration process or request that the
account-opening forms be sent to you. You may also call Vanguard to request a
purchase of shares in your account or to request an exchange. See Contacting
Vanguard.
By
mail.
You may send Vanguard your account registration form and check to open a new
fund account. To add to an existing fund account, you may send your check with
an Invest-by-Mail form (from a transaction confirmation or your account
statement) or with a deposit slip (available online).
How
to Pay for a Purchase
By
electronic bank transfer. You may purchase
shares of a Vanguard fund through an electronic transfer of money from a bank
account. To establish the electronic bank transfer service on an account, you
must designate the bank account online, complete a form, or fill out the
appropriate section of your account registration form. After the service is set
up on your account, you can
43
purchase shares by
electronic bank transfer on a regular schedule (Automatic Investment Plan), if
eligible, or upon request. Your purchase request can be initiated online (if you
are registered for online access), by telephone, or by mail.
By
wire.
Wiring instructions vary for different types of purchases. Please call Vanguard
for instructions and policies on purchasing shares by wire. See Contacting
Vanguard.
By
check.
You may make initial or additional purchases to your fund account by sending a
check with a deposit slip or by utilizing our mobile application if your account
is eligible and you are registered for online access. Also see How
to Initiate a Purchase Request. Make your check
payable to Vanguard and include the appropriate fund number (e.g., Vanguard—xx).
For a list of Fund numbers (for Funds and share classes in this prospectus), see
Additional Information.
By
exchange. You may purchase
shares of a Vanguard fund using the proceeds from the simultaneous redemption of
shares of another Vanguard fund. You may initiate an exchange online (if you are
registered for online access), by telephone, or by mail with an exchange form.
See Exchanging
Shares.
Trade
Date
The trade date for
any purchase request received in good order will depend on the day and time
Vanguard receives your request, the manner in which you are paying, and the type
of fund you are purchasing. Your purchase will be executed using the NAV as
calculated on the trade date. NAVs are calculated only on days that the NYSE is
open for trading (a business day). In the rare event the NYSE experiences
unanticipated disruptions and is unavailable at the close of the trading day,
NAVs will be calculated as of the close of regular trading on the Nasdaq (or
another alternate exchange if the Nasdaq is unavailable, as determined at
Vanguard’s discretion), generally 4 p.m., Eastern time. The time selected for
NAV calculation in this rare event shall also serve as the conclusion of the
trading day. See Share
Price.
For purchases by
check into all funds
other than money market funds and for purchases by exchange, wire, or electronic
bank transfer into all funds: If
the purchase request is received by Vanguard on a business day before the close
of regular trading on the NYSE (generally 4 p.m., Eastern time), the trade date
for the purchase will be the same day. If the purchase request is received on a
business day after the close of regular trading on the NYSE, or on a nonbusiness
day, the trade date for the purchase will be the next business day.
For purchases by
check into money market
funds: If the purchase request is received by Vanguard on a business day before
the close of regular trading on the NYSE (generally 4 p.m., Eastern time), the
trade date for the purchase will be
44
the next business
day. If the purchase request is received on a business day after the close of
regular trading on the NYSE, or on a nonbusiness day, the trade date for the
purchase will be the second business day following the day Vanguard receives the
purchase request. Because money market instruments must be purchased with
federal funds and it takes a money market mutual fund one business day to
convert check proceeds into federal funds, the trade date for the purchase will
be one business day later than for other funds.
If applicable,
orders by Vanguard Funds of Funds will be treated as received by a Fund at the
same time that corresponding orders are received in Proper form by the Vanguard
Funds of Funds.
If your purchase
request is not accurate and complete, it may be rejected. See Other
Rules You Should Know—Good Order.
For further
information about purchase transactions, consult our website at vanguard.com or see
Contacting
Vanguard.
Other
Purchase Rules You Should Know
Check
purchases. All purchase
checks must be written in U.S. dollars, be drawn on a U.S. bank, and be
accompanied by good order instructions. Vanguard does not accept cash,
traveler’s checks, starter checks, or money orders. In addition, Vanguard may
refuse checks that are not made payable to Vanguard.
New
accounts. We are required by
law to obtain from you certain personal information that we will use to verify
your identity. If you do not provide the information, we may not be able to open
your account. If we are unable to verify your identity, Vanguard reserves the
right, without notice, to close your account or take such other steps as we deem
reasonable. Certain types of accounts may require additional
documentation.
Refused
or rejected purchase requests. Vanguard reserves
the right to stop selling fund shares or to reject any purchase request at any
time and without notice, including, but not limited to, purchases requested by
exchange from another Vanguard fund. This also includes the right to reject any
purchase request because the investor has a history of frequent trading or
because the purchase may negatively affect a fund’s operation or
performance.
Large
purchases. Call Vanguard
before attempting to invest a large dollar amount.
No
cancellations. Vanguard will not
accept your request to cancel any purchase request once processing has begun.
Please be careful when placing a purchase request.
45
Converting
Shares
When a conversion
occurs, you receive shares of one class in place of shares of another class of
the same fund. At the time of conversion, the dollar value of the “new” shares
you receive equals the dollar value of the “old” shares that were converted. In
other words, the conversion has no effect on the value of your investment in the
fund at the time of the conversion. However, the number of shares you own after
the conversion may be greater than or less than the number of shares you owned
before the conversion, depending on the NAVs of the two share
classes.
Vanguard will not
accept your request to cancel any self-directed conversion request once
processing has begun. Please be careful when placing a conversion
request.
A conversion
between share classes of the same fund is a nontaxable
event.
Trade
Date
The trade date for
any conversion request received in good order will depend on the day and time
Vanguard receives your request. Your conversion will be executed using the NAVs
of the different share classes on the trade date. NAVs are calculated only on
days that the NYSE is open for trading (a business day). In the rare event the
NYSE experiences unanticipated disruptions and is unavailable at the close of
the trading day, NAVs will be calculated as of the close of regular trading on
the Nasdaq (or another alternate exchange if the Nasdaq is unavailable, as
determined at Vanguard’s discretion), generally 4 p.m., Eastern time. The time
selected for NAV calculation in this rare event shall also serve as the
conclusion of the trading day. See Share
Price.
For a conversion
request (other than a request to convert to ETF Shares) received by Vanguard on
a business day before the close of regular trading on the NYSE (generally 4
p.m., Eastern time), the trade date will be the same day. For a conversion
request received on a business day after the close of regular trading on the
NYSE, or on a nonbusiness day, the trade date will be the next business day. See
Other
Rules You Should Know.
Conversions
to Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares
You are eligible
for a self-directed conversion from another share class to Institutional Shares
or Institutional Plus Shares of the same Fund, provided that your account meets
all eligibility requirements. You may request a conversion through our website
(if you are registered for online access), or you may contact
46
Vanguard by
telephone or by mail to request this transaction. Accounts that qualify for
Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares will not be automatically
converted.
Conversions
to ETF Shares
Owners of
conventional (i.e., not exchange-traded) shares issued by a Fund may convert
those shares to ETF Shares of equivalent value of the same fund. Please note
that investors who own conventional shares through a 401(k) plan or other
employer-sponsored retirement or benefit plan generally may not convert those
shares to ETF Shares and should check with their plan sponsor or recordkeeper.
ETF Shares, whether acquired through a conversion or purchased on the secondary
market, cannot be converted to conventional shares by a shareholder. Also, ETF
Shares of one fund cannot be exchanged for ETF Shares of another
fund.
ETF Shares must be
held in a brokerage account. Thus, before converting conventional shares to ETF
Shares, you must have an existing, or open a new, brokerage account. This
account may be with Vanguard Brokerage Services or with any other brokerage
firm.
Vanguard Brokerage
Services does not impose a fee on conversions from conventional shares to
Vanguard ETF Shares. However, other brokerage firms may charge a fee to process
a conversion. Vanguard reserves the right, in the future, to impose a
transaction fee on conversions or to limit, temporarily suspend, or terminate
the conversion privilege. For additional information on converting conventional
shares to ETF Shares, please contact Vanguard to obtain a prospectus for ETF
Shares. See Contacting
Vanguard.
Mandatory
Conversions to Another Share Class
If an account no
longer meets the balance requirements for a share class, Vanguard may
automatically convert the shares in the account to another share class, as
appropriate. A decline in the account balance because of market movement may
result in such a conversion. Vanguard will notify the investor in writing before
any mandatory conversion occurs.
Redeeming
Shares
How
to Initiate a Redemption Request
Be sure to check
Exchanging
Shares, Frequent-Trading Limitations, and Other
Rules You Should Know before placing
your redemption request.
47
Online. You may request a
redemption of shares or request an exchange through our website or our mobile
application if your account is eligible and you are registered for online
access.
By
telephone. You may call
Vanguard to request a redemption of shares or an exchange. See Contacting
Vanguard.
By
mail.
You may send a form (available online) to Vanguard to redeem from a fund account
or to make an exchange.
How
to Receive Redemption Proceeds
By
electronic bank transfer. You may have the
proceeds of a fund redemption sent directly to a designated bank account. To
establish the electronic bank transfer service on an account, you must designate
a bank account online, complete a form, or fill out the appropriate section of
your account registration form. After the service is set up on your account, you
can redeem shares by electronic bank transfer on a regular schedule (Automatic
Withdrawal Plan), if eligible, or upon request. Your redemption request can be
initiated online (if you are registered for online access), by telephone, or by
mail.
By
wire.
To receive your proceeds by wire, you may instruct Vanguard to wire your
redemption proceeds ($100 minimum) to a previously designated bank account. To
establish the wire redemption service, you generally must designate a bank
account online, complete a form, or fill out the appropriate section of your
account registration form.
Please note that
Vanguard charges a $10 wire fee for outgoing wire redemptions. The fee is
assessed in addition to, rather than being withheld from, redemption proceeds
and is paid directly to the fund in which you invest. For example, if you redeem
$100 via a wire, you will receive the full $100, and the $10 fee will be
assessed to your fund account through an additional redemption of fund shares.
If you redeem your entire fund account, your redemption proceeds will be reduced
by the amount of the fee. The wire fee does not apply to accounts held by
Flagship and Flagship Select clients; accounts held through intermediaries,
including Vanguard Brokerage Services; or accounts held by institutional
clients.
By
exchange. You may have the
proceeds of a Vanguard fund redemption invested directly in shares of another
Vanguard fund. You may initiate an exchange online (if you are registered for
online access), by telephone, or by mail. See Exchanging
Shares.
48
By
check.
If you have not chosen another redemption method, Vanguard will mail you a
redemption check, generally payable to all registered account owners, normally
within two business days of your trade date, and generally to the address of
record.
Trade
Date
The trade date for
any redemption request received in good order will depend on the day and time
Vanguard receives your request and the manner in which you are redeeming. Your
redemption will be executed using the NAV as calculated on the trade date. NAVs
are calculated only on days that the NYSE is open for trading (a business day).
In the rare event the NYSE experiences unanticipated disruptions and is
unavailable at the close of the trading day, NAVs will be calculated as of the
close of regular trading on the Nasdaq (or another alternate exchange if the
Nasdaq is unavailable, as determined at Vanguard’s discretion), generally 4
p.m., Eastern time. The time selected for NAV calculation in this rare event
shall also serve as the conclusion of the trading day. See Share
Price.
For redemptions by
check,
exchange, or wire: If the redemption
request is received by Vanguard on a business day before the close of regular
trading on the NYSE (generally 4 p.m., Eastern time), the trade date will be the
same day. If the redemption request is received on a business day after the
close of regular trading on the NYSE, or on a nonbusiness day, the trade date
will be the next business day.
• Note on timing of
wire redemptions from money market funds: For telephone requests received by
Vanguard on a business day before 10:45 a.m., Eastern time (2 p.m., Eastern
time, for Vanguard Cash Reserves Federal Money Market Fund; 12:30 p.m., Eastern
time, for Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund), the redemption proceeds generally
will leave Vanguard by the close of business the same day. For telephone
requests received by Vanguard on a business day after those cut-off times, or on
a nonbusiness day, and for all requests other than by telephone, the redemption
proceeds generally will leave Vanguard by the close of business on the next
business day.
• Note on timing of
wire redemptions from all other funds: For requests received by Vanguard on a
business day before the close of regular trading on the NYSE (generally 4 p.m.,
Eastern time), the redemption proceeds generally will leave Vanguard by the
close of business on the next business day. For requests received by Vanguard on
a business day after the close of regular trading on the NYSE, or on a
nonbusiness day, the redemption proceeds generally will leave Vanguard by the
close of business on the second business day after Vanguard receives the
request.
49
For redemptions by
electronic
bank transfer: If the redemption
request is received by Vanguard on a business day before the close of regular
trading on the NYSE (generally 4 p.m., Eastern time), the trade date will be the
same day. If the redemption request is received on a business day after the
close of regular trading on the NYSE, or on a nonbusiness day, the trade date
will be the next business day.
If your redemption
request is not accurate and complete, it may be rejected. If we are unable to
send your redemption proceeds by wire or electronic bank transfer because the
receiving institution rejects the transfer, Vanguard will make additional
efforts to complete your transaction. If Vanguard is still unable to complete
the transaction, we may send the proceeds of the redemption to you by check,
generally payable to all registered account owners, or use your proceeds to
purchase new shares of the fund from which you sold shares for the purpose of
the wire or electronic bank transfer transaction. See Other
Rules You Should Know—Good Order.
If your redemption
request is received in good order, we typically expect that redemption proceeds
will be paid by a Fund within one business day of the trade date; however, in
certain circumstances, investors may experience a longer settlement period at
the time of the transaction. For further information, see “Potentially
disruptive redemptions” and “Emergency circumstances.”
For further
information about redemption transactions, consult our website at vanguard.com or see
Contacting
Vanguard.
Other
Redemption Rules You Should Know
Documentation
for certain accounts. Special
documentation may be required to redeem from certain types of accounts, such as
trust, corporate, nonprofit, or retirement accounts. Please call us before attempting to
redeem from these types of accounts.
Potentially
disruptive redemptions. Vanguard reserves
the right to pay all or part of a redemption in kind—that is, in the form of
securities—if we reasonably believe that a cash redemption would negatively
affect the fund’s operation or performance or that the shareholder may be
engaged in market-timing or frequent trading. Under these circumstances,
Vanguard also reserves the right to delay payment of the redemption proceeds for
up to seven calendar days. By calling us before you attempt to
redeem a large dollar amount, you may avoid in-kind or delayed payment of your
redemption. Please see
Frequent-Trading Limitations for information
about Vanguard’s policies to limit frequent trading.
50
Recently
purchased shares. Although you can
redeem shares at any time, proceeds may not be made available to you until the
fund collects payment for your purchase. This may take up to seven calendar days
for shares purchased by check or by electronic bank transfer. If you have
written a check on a fund in an account with checkwriting privileges, that check
may be rejected if your fund account does not have a sufficient available
balance.
Share
certificates. Share certificates
are no longer issued for Vanguard funds. Shares currently held in certificates
cannot be redeemed, exchanged, converted, or transferred (reregistered) until
you return the certificates (unsigned) to Vanguard by registered
mail.
Address
change. If you change your
address online or by telephone, there may be up to a 14-day restriction
(starting on the business day after your address is changed) on your ability to
request check redemptions online and by telephone. You can request a redemption
in writing (using a form available online) at any time. Confirmations of address
changes are sent to both the old and new addresses.
Payment
to a different person or address. At your request,
we can make your redemption check payable, or wire your redemption proceeds, to
a different person or send it to a different address. However, this generally
requires the written consent of all registered account owners and may require
additional documentation, such as a signature guarantee or a notarized
signature. You may obtain a signature guarantee from some commercial or savings
banks, credit unions, trust companies, or member firms of a U.S. stock
exchange.
No
cancellations. Vanguard will not
accept your request to cancel any redemption request once processing has begun.
Please be careful when placing a redemption request.
Emergency
circumstances. Vanguard funds can
postpone payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven calendar days. In
addition, Vanguard funds can suspend redemptions and/or postpone payments of
redemption proceeds beyond seven calendar days at times when the NYSE is closed
or during emergency circumstances, as determined by the SEC.
51
Exchanging
Shares
An exchange occurs
when you use the proceeds from the redemption of shares of one Vanguard fund to
simultaneously purchase shares of a different Vanguard fund. You can make
exchange requests online (if you are registered for online access), by
telephone, or by mail. See Purchasing
Shares
and
Redeeming Shares.
If the NYSE is open
for regular trading (generally until 4 p.m., Eastern time, on a business day) at
the time an exchange request is received in good order, the trade date generally
will be the same day. See Other
Rules You Should Know—Good Order for additional
information on all transaction requests.
Vanguard will not
accept your request to cancel any exchange request once processing has begun.
Please be careful when placing an exchange request.
Call Vanguard
before attempting to exchange a large dollar amount. By calling us before you attempt to
exchange a large dollar amount, you may avoid delayed or rejected
transactions.
Please note that
Vanguard reserves the right, without notice, to revise or terminate the exchange
privilege, limit the amount of any exchange, or reject an exchange, at any time,
for any reason. See Frequent-Trading
Limitations for additional
restrictions on exchanges.
Frequent-Trading
Limitations
Because excessive
transactions can disrupt management of a fund and increase the fund’s costs for
all shareholders, the board of trustees of each Vanguard fund places certain
limits on frequent trading in the funds. Each Vanguard fund (other than money
market funds and short-term bond funds, but including Vanguard Short-Term
Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund) limits an investor’s purchases or
exchanges into a fund account for 30 calendar days after the investor has
redeemed or exchanged out of that fund account. ETF Shares are not subject to
these frequent-trading limits.
For Vanguard
Retirement Investment Program pooled plans, the limitations apply to exchanges
made online or by telephone.
52
These
frequent-trading limitations do
not
apply to the following:
• Certain transactions below dollar
value or other thresholds specified by Vanguard.
• In-kind transactions to a
shareholder’s donor advised fund managed by Vanguard Charitable.
• Purchases of
shares with reinvested dividend or capital gains distributions.
• Transactions
through Vanguard’s Automatic Investment Plan, Automatic Exchange Service, Direct
Deposit Service, Automatic Withdrawal Plan, Required Minimum Distribution
Service, Vanguard Small Business Online®, and certain
transactions through intermediaries relating to systematic trades and required
minimum distributions.
• Discretionary
transactions through Vanguard Personal Advisor Services®, Vanguard
Institutional Advisory Services®, Vanguard Digital
Advisor™, and discretionary (advisor-directed) transactions through certain
intermediaries.
• Redemptions of
shares to pay fund or account fees.
• Redemptions of
shares to remove excess shareholder contributions to certain types of retirement
accounts (including, but not limited to, IRAs and Vanguard Individual 401(k)
Plans).
• Transfers and
reregistrations of shares within the same fund.
• Purchases of
shares by asset transfer or direct rollover.
• Conversions of
shares from one share class to another in the same fund.
• Checkwriting
redemptions.
• Section 529
college savings plans.
• Certain approved
institutional portfolios and asset allocation programs, as well as trades made
by funds or trusts managed by Vanguard or its affiliates that invest in other
Vanguard funds. (Please note that shareholders of Vanguard’s
funds of funds are subject to the
limitations.)
For participants in
employer-sponsored defined contribution plans,* the frequent-trading limitations
do
not
apply to:
• Purchases of
shares with participant payroll or employer contributions or loan
repayments.
• Purchases of
shares with reinvested dividend or capital gains distributions.
• Distributions,
loans, and in-service withdrawals from a plan.
• Redemptions of
shares as part of a plan termination or at the direction of the
plan.
53
• Transactions
executed through the Vanguard Managed Account Program.
• Redemptions of
shares to pay fund or account fees.
• Share or asset
transfers or rollovers.
• Reregistrations
of shares.
• Conversions of
shares from one share class to another in the same fund.
• Exchange requests
submitted by written request to Vanguard. (Exchange requests submitted by fax,
if otherwise permitted,
are
subject to the limitations.)
*The following Vanguard fund
accounts are also subject to the frequent-trading limitations: SEP-IRAs, SIMPLE
IRAs, certain individual 403(b)(7) Custodial Accounts, and Vanguard Individual
401(k) Plans.
Accounts
Held by Institutions (Other Than Defined Contribution Plans)
Vanguard will
systematically monitor for frequent trading in institutional clients’ accounts.
If we detect suspicious trading activity, we will investigate and take
appropriate action, which may include applying to a client’s accounts the 30-day
policy previously described, prohibiting a client’s purchases of fund shares,
and/or revoking the client’s exchange privilege.
Accounts
Held by Intermediaries
When intermediaries
establish accounts in Vanguard funds for the benefit of their clients, we cannot
always monitor the trading activity of the individual clients. However, we
review trading activity at the intermediary (omnibus) level, and if we detect
suspicious activity, we will investigate and take appropriate action. If
necessary, Vanguard may prohibit additional purchases of fund shares by an
intermediary, including for the benefit of certain of the intermediary’s
clients. Intermediaries also may monitor their clients’ trading activities with
respect to Vanguard funds.
For those Vanguard
funds that charge purchase and/or redemption fees, intermediaries will be asked
to assess these fees on client accounts and remit these fees to the funds. The
application of purchase and redemption fees and frequent-trading limitations may
vary among intermediaries. There are no assurances that Vanguard will
successfully identify all intermediaries or that intermediaries will properly
assess purchase and redemption fees or administer frequent-trading limitations.
If you invest with Vanguard through an intermediary, please read that firm’s
materials carefully to learn of any other rules or fees that may
apply.
54
Other
Rules You Should Know
Prospectus
and Shareholder Report Mailings
When two or more
shareholders have the same last name and address, just one summary prospectus
(or prospectus) and/or shareholder report may be sent in an attempt to eliminate
the unnecessary expense of duplicate mailings. You may request individual
prospectuses and reports by contacting our Client Services Department in
writing, by telephone, or online. See Contacting
Vanguard.
Vanguard.com
Registration. If you are a
registered user of vanguard.com, you can review
your account holdings; buy, sell, or exchange shares of most Vanguard funds; and
perform most other transactions through our website. You must register for this
service online.
Electronic
delivery. Vanguard can
deliver your account statements, transaction confirmations, prospectuses,
certain tax forms, and shareholder reports electronically. If you are a
registered user of vanguard.com, you can consent
to the electronic delivery of these documents by logging on and changing your
mailing preferences under “Account Maintenance.” You can revoke your electronic
consent at any time through our website, and we will begin to send paper copies
of these documents within 30 days of receiving your revocation.
Telephone
Transactions
Automatic. When we set up
your account, we will automatically enable you to do business with us by
telephone, unless
you instruct us otherwise in writing.
Proof
of a caller’s authority. We reserve the
right to refuse a telephone request if the caller is unable to provide the
requested information or if we reasonably believe that the caller is not an
individual authorized to act on the account. Before we allow a caller to act on
an account, we may request the following information:
• Authorization to
act on the account (as the account owner or by legal documentation or other
means).
• Account
registration and address.
• Fund name and
account number, if applicable.
• Other information
relating to the caller, the account owner, or the account.
55
Good
Order
We reserve the
right to reject any transaction instructions that are not in “good order.” Good
order generally means that your instructions:
• Are provided by
the person(s) authorized in accordance with Vanguard’s policies and procedures
to access the account and request transactions.
• Include the fund
name and account number.
• Include the
amount of the transaction (stated in dollars, shares, or
percentage).
Written
instructions also must generally be provided on a Vanguard form and
include:
• Signature(s) and
date from the authorized person(s).
• Signature
guarantees or notarized signatures, if required for the type of transaction.
(Call Vanguard for specific requirements.)
• Any supporting
documentation that may be required.
Good order
requirements may vary among types of accounts and transactions. For more
information, consult our website at vanguard.com or see
Contacting
Vanguard.
Vanguard reserves
the right, without notice, to revise the requirements for good
order.
Future
Trade-Date Requests
Vanguard does not
accept requests to hold a purchase, conversion, redemption, or exchange
transaction for a future date. All such requests will receive trade dates as
previously described in Purchasing
Shares, Converting Shares, Redeeming Shares, and Exchanging
Shares. Vanguard reserves
the right to return future-dated purchase checks.
Accounts
With More Than One Owner
If an account has
more than one owner or authorized person, Vanguard generally will accept
instructions from any one owner or authorized person.
Responsibility
for Fraud
You should take
precautions to protect yourself from fraud. Keep your account-related
information private, and review any account confirmations, statements, or other
information that we provide to you as soon as you receive them. Let us know
immediately if you discover unauthorized activity or see something on your
account that you do not understand or that looks unusual.
56
Vanguard will not
be responsible for losses that result from transactions by a person who we
reasonably believe is authorized to act on your account.
Uncashed
Checks
Please cash your
distribution or redemption checks promptly. Vanguard will not pay interest on
uncashed checks. Vanguard may be required to transfer assets related to uncashed
checks to a state under the state’s abandoned property law.
Dormant
Accounts
If your account has
no activity in it for a period of time, Vanguard may be required to transfer it
to a state under the state’s abandoned property law, subject to potential
federal or state withholding taxes.
Unusual
Circumstances
If you experience
difficulty contacting Vanguard online or by telephone, you can send us your
transaction request on a Vanguard form by regular or express mail.
Investing
With Vanguard Through Other Firms
You may purchase or
sell shares of most Vanguard funds through a financial intermediary, such as a
bank, a broker, or an investment advisor. Please consult your financial
intermediary to determine which, if any, shares are available through that firm
and to learn about other rules that may apply. Your financial intermediary can
provide you with account information and any required tax forms. You may be
required to pay a commission on purchases of mutual fund shares made through a
financial intermediary.
Please see
Frequent-Trading
Limitations—Accounts Held by Intermediaries for information
about the assessment of any purchase or redemption fees and the monitoring of
frequent trading for accounts held by intermediaries.
Low-Balance
Accounts
Each Fund reserves
the right to liquidate a fund account whose balance falls below the account
minimum for any reason, including market fluctuation. This liquidation policy
applies to nonretirement fund accounts and accounts that are held through
intermediaries. Any such liquidation will be preceded by written notice to the
investor.
Right
to Change Policies
In addition to the
rights expressly stated elsewhere in this prospectus, Vanguard reserves the
right, without notice, to (1) alter, add, or discontinue any conditions of
purchase (including eligibility requirements), redemption, exchange, conversion,
service, or privilege at any time and (2) alter, impose, discontinue, or
57
waive any purchase
fee, redemption fee, account service fee, or other fee charged to a shareholder
or a group of shareholders. Changes may affect any or all investors. These
actions will be taken when, at the sole discretion of Vanguard management,
Vanguard believes they are in the best interest of a fund.
Account
Restrictions
Vanguard reserves
the right to: (1) redeem all or a portion of a fund/account to meet a legal
obligation, including tax withholding, tax lien, garnishment order, or other
obligation imposed on your account by a court or government agency; (2) redeem
shares, close an account, or suspend account privileges, features, or options in
the case of threatening conduct or activity; (3) redeem shares, close an
account, or suspend account privileges, features, or options if Vanguard
believes or suspects that not doing so could result in a suspicious, fraudulent,
or illegal transaction; (4) place restrictions on the ability to redeem any or
all shares in an account if it is required to do so by a court or government
agency; (5) place restrictions on the ability to redeem any or all shares in an
account if Vanguard believes that doing so will prevent fraud, financial
exploitation or abuse, or to protect vulnerable investors; (6) freeze any
account and/or suspend account services if Vanguard has received reasonable
notice of a dispute regarding the assets in an account, including notice of a
dispute between the registered or beneficial account owners; and (7) freeze any
account and/or suspend account services upon initial notification to Vanguard of
the death of an account owner.
Share
Classes
Vanguard reserves
the right, without notice, to change the eligibility requirements of its share
classes, including the types of clients who are eligible to purchase each share
class.
Shareholder
Rights
Each Fund’s Agreement and
Declaration of Trust, as amended, requires a shareholder bringing a derivative
action on behalf of Vanguard International Equity Index Funds (the Trust) that
is subject to a pre-suit demand to collectively hold at least 10% of the
outstanding shares of the Trust or at least 10% of the outstanding shares of the
series or class to which the demand relates and to undertake to reimburse the
Trust for the expense of any counsel or advisors used when considering the
merits of the demand in the event that the board of trustees determines not to
bring such action. In each case, these requirements do not apply to claims
arising under the federal securities laws to the extent that any such federal
securities laws, rules, or regulations do not permit such
application.
58
Fund
and Account Updates
Confirmation
Statements
We will send (or
provide through our website, whichever you prefer) a confirmation of your trade
date and the amount of your transaction when you buy, sell, exchange, or convert
shares. However, we will not send confirmations reflecting only checkwriting
redemptions or the reinvestment of dividend or capital gains distributions. For
any month in which you had a checkwriting redemption, a Checkwriting Activity
Statement will be sent to you itemizing the checkwriting redemptions for that
month. Promptly review each confirmation statement that we provide to you. It is
important that you contact Vanguard immediately with any questions you may have
about any transaction reflected on a confirmation statement, or Vanguard will
consider the transaction properly processed.
Portfolio
Summaries
We will send (or
provide through our website, whichever you prefer) quarterly portfolio summaries
to help you keep track of your accounts throughout the year. Each summary shows
the market value of your account at the close of the statement period, as well
as all distributions, purchases, redemptions, exchanges, transfers, and
conversions for the current calendar quarter (or month). Promptly review each
summary that we provide to you. It is important that you contact Vanguard
immediately with any questions you may have about any transaction reflected on
the summary, or Vanguard will consider the transaction properly
processed.
Tax
Information Statements
For most accounts,
Vanguard (or your intermediary) is required to provide annual tax forms to
assist you in preparing your income tax returns. These forms are generally
available for each calendar year early in the following year. Registered users
of vanguard.com
can
also view certain forms through our website. Vanguard (or your intermediary) may
also provide you with additional tax-related documentation. For more
information, consult our website at vanguard.com
or see
Contacting
Vanguard.
59
Annual
and Semiannual Reports
We will send (or
provide through our website, whichever you prefer) reports about Vanguard
International Stock Index Funds twice a year, in June and December. These
reports include overviews of the financial markets and provide the following
specific Fund information:
• Performance
assessments and comparisons with industry benchmarks.
• Financial
statements with listings of Fund holdings.
Portfolio
Holdings
Please consult the
Funds' Statement
of Additional Information or our website for
a description of the policies and procedures that govern disclosure of a Fund’s
portfolio holdings.
Employer-Sponsored
Plans
Your plan
administrator or your employee benefits office can provide you with detailed
information on how to participate in your plan and how to elect a Fund as an
investment option.
• If you have any
questions about a Fund or Vanguard, including those about a Fund’s investment
objective, strategies, or risks, contact Vanguard Participant Services toll-free
at 800-523-1188 or visit our website at vanguard.com.
• If you have
questions about your account, contact your plan administrator or the
organization that provides recordkeeping services for your plan.
• Be sure to
carefully read each topic that pertains to your transactions with
Vanguard.
Vanguard reserves
the right to change its policies without notice to shareholders.
Transactions
Processing times
for your transaction requests may differ among recordkeepers or among
transaction and funding types. Your plan’s recordkeeper (which may also be
Vanguard) will determine the necessary processing time frames for your
transaction requests prior to submission to a Fund. Consult your recordkeeper or
plan administrator for more information.
If Vanguard is
serving as your plan recordkeeper and if your transaction involves one or more
investments with an early cut-off time for processing or another trading
restriction, your entire transaction will be subject to the restriction when the
trade date for your transaction is determined.
60
Contacting
Vanguard
|
Web |
|
|
Vanguard.com |
For
the most complete source of Vanguard news
For
fund, account, and service information
For
most account transactions
For
literature requests
24
hours a day, 7 days a week |
|
Phone | |
|
Investor
Information 800-662-7447
(Text
telephone for people with
hearing
impairment at 800-749-7273) |
For
fund and service information
For
literature requests |
|
Client
Services 800-662-2739
(Text
telephone for people with
hearing
impairment at 800-749-7273) |
For
account information
For
most account transactions |
|
Participant
Services 800-523-1188
(Text
telephone for people with
hearing
impairment at 800-749-7273) |
For
information and services for participants in
employer-sponsored
plans |
|
Institutional
Division
888-809-8102 |
For
information and services for large institutional
investors |
|
Financial
Advisor and Intermediary
Sales
Support 800-997-2798 |
For
information and services for financial intermediaries
including
financial advisors, broker-dealers, trust
institutions,
and insurance companies |
|
Financial
Advisory and Intermediary
Trading
Support 800-669-0498 |
For
account information and trading support for
financial
intermediaries including financial advisors,
broker-dealers,
trust institutions, and insurance
companies |
61
Additional
Information
Each Fund’s Bylaws require, unless
the Trust otherwise consents in writing, that the U.S. Federal District Courts
be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of complaints under the
Securities Act of 1933. This provision may limit a shareholder’s ability to
bring a claim in a different forum and may result in increased shareholder costs
in pursuing such a claim.
|
Vanguard
Fund |
Inception
Date |
Newspaper
Abbreviation |
Vanguard
Fund
Number |
CUSIP
Number |
|
Vanguard
European Stock Index
Fund |
|
|
|
|
|
Institutional
Shares |
5/15/2000 |
EuroInst |
235 |
922042502 |
|
Institutional
Plus Shares |
12/5/2014 |
EuroInstPl |
1863 |
922042627 |
|
Vanguard
Pacific Stock Index
Fund |
|
|
|
|
|
Institutional
Shares |
05/15/2000 |
PacInst |
237 |
922042403 |
|
Vanguard
Emerging Markets
Stock
Index Fund |
|
|
|
|
|
Institutional
Shares |
6/22/2000 |
EmergInst |
239 |
922042601 |
|
Institutional
Plus Shares |
12/15/2010 |
EmerMktInstPl |
1865 |
922042650 |
CGS identifiers have been provided by
CUSIP Global Services, managed on behalf of the American Bankers Association by
Standard & Poor’s Financial Services, LLC, and are not for use or
dissemination in a manner that would serve as a substitute for any CUSIP
service. The CUSIP Database, © 2024 American Bankers Association. “CUSIP” is a
registered trademark of the American Bankers Association.
CFA® is a registered
trademark owned by CFA Institute.
London Stock Exchange
Group companies include FTSE International Limited (“FTSE”), Frank Russell
Company (“Russell”), MTS Next Limited (“MTS”), and FTSE TMX Global Debt Capital
Markets Inc. (“FTSE TMX”). All rights reserved. “FTSE®”,
“Russell®”, “MTS®“, “FTSE
TMX®” and “FTSE Russell”
and other service marks and trademarks related to the FTSE or Russell indexes
are trademarks of the London Stock Exchange Group companies and are used by
FTSE, MTS, FTSE TMX and Russell under license. All information is provided for
information purposes only. Every effort is made to ensure that all information
given in this publication is accurate, but no responsibility or liability can be
accepted by the London Stock Exchange Group companies nor its licensors for any
errors or for any loss from use of this publication. Neither the London Stock
Exchange Group companies nor any of their licensors make any claim, prediction,
warranty or representation whatsoever, expressly or impliedly, either as to the
results to be obtained from the use of the Indices or the fitness or suitability
of the Indices for any particular purpose to which they might be put. The London
Stock Exchange Group companies do not provide investment advice and nothing in
this document should be taken as constituting financial or investment advice.
The London Stock Exchange Group companies make no representation regarding the
advisability of investing in any asset. A decision to invest in any such asset
should
62
not be made in
reliance on any information herein. Indexes cannot be invested in directly.
Inclusion of an asset in an index is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold
that asset. The general information contained in this publication should not be
acted upon without obtaining specific legal, tax, and investment advice from a
licensed professional. No part of this information may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written
permission of the London Stock Exchange Group companies. Distribution of the
London Stock Exchange Group companies’ index values and the use of their indexes
to create financial products require a license with FTSE, FTSE TMX, MTS and/or
Russell and/or its licensors.
63
Glossary
of Investment Terms
Capital
Gains Distributions. Payments to mutual
fund shareholders of gains realized on securities that a fund has sold at a
profit, minus any realized losses.
Common
Stock.
A security representing ownership rights in a corporation.
Dividend
Distributions.
Payments to mutual fund shareholders of income from interest or dividends
generated by a fund’s investments.
Expense
Ratio. A fund’s total
annual operating expenses expressed as a percentage of the fund’s average net
assets. The expense ratio includes management and administrative expenses, but
it does not include the transaction costs of buying and selling portfolio
securities.
FTSE
Global All Cap ex US Index. An index
consisting of large-, mid-, and small-cap stocks globally, excluding the U.S.
The index is derived from the FTSE Global Equity Index Series (GEIS), which
covers approximately 98% of the world’s investable market
capitalization.
Inception
Date. The date on
which the assets of a fund (or one of its share classes) are first invested in
accordance with the fund’s investment objective. For funds with a subscription
period, the inception date is the day after that period ends. Investment
performance is generally measured from the inception date.
Indexing. A low-cost
investment strategy in which a mutual fund attempts to track—rather than
outperform—a specified market benchmark, or “index.”
Joint Committed
Credit Facility. Each
Fund participates, along with other funds managed by Vanguard, in a committed
credit facility provided by a syndicate of lenders pursuant to a credit
agreement that may be renewed annually; each Vanguard fund is individually
liable for its borrowings, if any, under the credit facility. The amount and
terms of the committed credit facility are subject to approval by the Funds’
board of trustees and renegotiation with the lender syndicate on an annual
basis.
Median Market
Capitalization. An
indicator of the size of companies in which a fund invests; the midpoint of
market capitalization (market price x shares outstanding) of a fund’s stocks,
weighted by the proportion of the fund’s assets invested in each stock. Stocks
representing half of the fund’s assets have market capitalizations above the
median, and the rest are below it.
Mutual
Fund.
An investment company that pools the money of many people and invests it in a
variety of securities in an effort to achieve a specific objective over
time.
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New
York Stock Exchange (NYSE). A stock exchange
based in New York City that is open for regular trading on business days, Monday
through Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Eastern time.
Price/Earnings
(P/E) Ratio. The current share
price of a stock, divided by its per-share earnings (profits). A stock selling
for $20, with earnings of $2 per share, has a price/earnings ratio of
10.
Return of
Capital. A return of
capital occurs when a fund’s distributions exceed its earnings in a fiscal year.
A return of capital is a return of all or part of your original investment or
amounts paid in excess of your original investment in a fund. In general, a
return of capital reduces your cost basis in a fund’s shares and is not taxable
to you until your cost basis has been reduced to zero.
Securities. Stocks, bonds,
money market instruments, and other investments.
Total
Return. A percentage
change, over a specified time period, in a mutual fund’s net asset value,
assuming the reinvestment of all distributions of dividends and capital
gains.
Volatility. The fluctuations in value of a
mutual fund or other security. The greater a fund’s volatility, the wider the
fluctuations in its returns.
Yield. Income (interest
or dividends) earned by an investment, expressed as a percentage of the
investment’s price.
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with Vanguard®
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For
More Information
If you would like
more information about Vanguard International Stock Index Funds, the following
documents are available free upon request:
Annual/Semiannual
Reports to Shareholders
Additional information about the
Funds’ investments is available in the
Funds’ annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the annual reports, you
will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that
significantly affected the Funds’ performance during their last fiscal
year.
Statement
of Additional Information (SAI)
The SAI provides more
detailed information about the Funds and is incorporated by reference into (and
thus legally a part of) this prospectus.
To receive a free
copy of the latest annual or semiannual reports or the SAI, or to request
additional information about the Funds or other Vanguard funds, please visit
vanguard.com
or
contact us as follows:
If
you are an individual investor:
Telephone: 800-662-7447; Text telephone for people with hearing impairment: 800-749-7273
Telephone: 800-662-7447; Text telephone for people with hearing impairment: 800-749-7273
If
you are a client of Vanguard’s Institutional Division:
Telephone: 888-809-8102; Text telephone for people with hearing impairment: 800-749-7273
Telephone: 888-809-8102; Text telephone for people with hearing impairment: 800-749-7273
If you are a current
Vanguard shareholder and would like information about your account, account
transactions, and/or account statements, please call:
Client Services
Department
Telephone: 800-662-2739; Text telephone for people with hearing impairment: 800-749-7273
Telephone: 800-662-2739; Text telephone for people with hearing impairment: 800-749-7273
Information
Provided by the SEC
Reports and other
information about the Funds are available in the EDGAR database on the SEC’s
website at sec.gov, or you can receive copies of this information, for a fee, by
electronic request at the following email address:
[email protected].
Funds’ Investment Company Act file
number: 811-05972
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Vanguard Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Vanguard
Marketing Corporation, Distributor.
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