Vanguard Group registered with the
SEC today to issue two new international index funds and add institutional share classes to its three existing international index offerings, bringing down the expense ratios substantially.
The new funds, the
Vanguard Developed Foreign Markets Stock Index fund and the
Vanguard Institutional Developed Foreign Markets Stock Index fund will be launched in the second quarter, a spokesperson for Vanguard said. They will offer investors exposure to 20 developed European and Pacific equity markets with an objective of matching the
The Morgan Stanley EAFE.
The minimum investment in the developed foreign markets fund is $3,000 and $1,000 in IRAs. The weighted expense ratio is expected to be 0.34%. The institutional developed foreign markets stock fund has a minimum initial investment of $10 million and an expense ratio expected to be 0.23%.
Institutional classes are also being added to three of the existing international index funds.
The Vanguard European Stock Index fund, which tracks the
MSCI International Europe Index has an expense ration of 0.32% and the proposed institutional class is expected to have a sales ratio of 0.20%.
The Vanguard Pacific Stock Index fund which tracks the
MSCI Pacific Free Index has an expense ratio of 0.37% and the institutional price is expected to be 0.29%. T
he Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index fund which seeks to track the
MSCI Select Emerging Markets Free Index has an expense ratio of 0.59% and an proposed institutional fee of 0.45%.
The Vanguard Total International Stock Index fund which tracks the
Total International Composite Index will not be
changing. This fund has $2.5 billion in net assets and has an expense ratio of
0.34%. 
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