Vanguard's ETF family may no longer be vipers, but it is continuing to add offspring. The Valley Forge, Pennsylvania-based fund firm is adding ETFs to reach brokers and financial advisors.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Vanguard filed paperwork with the SEC for another three ETFs and changed the benchmark for a fourth ETF. The new funds include the Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF and Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF -- both based on MSCI indexes -- as well as a dividend focused ETF.

Dan Weiner, editor of the Independent Adviser for Vanguard Investors newsletter, told the paper that he believes the new ETFs are part of an effort by Vanguard to provide products that can be used by reps and advisors. Because ETFs trade like stocks, registered reps can collect a commission on the Vanguard ETFs, something that they cannot easily do with the firm's mutual funds.

"Vanguard has a whole new 'customer-based' marketplace they're marketing to," Wiener told the paper.

Paul Lohrey, a principal at Vanguard, explained that the fund firm sees an increase in financial advisors' interest in its ETFs and that the firm's advisor business is growing more quickly than its core business.

"ETFs are a primary offering to that segment [intermediaries] of the market," Lohrey is quoted as saying. 

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