The board of trustees of Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund and the board of trustees of Vanguard Real Estate II Index Fund have renewed their respective fund’s investment advisory arrangement with The Vanguard Group, Inc. (Vanguard), through its Equity Index Group. Each board determined that continuing the respective fund’s internalized management structure was in the best interests of the fund and its shareholders.
Each board based its decision upon an evaluation of the advisor’s investment staff, portfolio management process, and performance. This evaluation included information provided to the board by Vanguard’s Portfolio Review Department, which is responsible for fund and advisor oversight and product management. The Portfolio Review Department met regularly with the advisor and made monthly presentations to the board during the fiscal year that directed the board’s focus to relevant information and topics.
Each board, or an investment committee made up of board members, also received information throughout the year during advisor presentations. For each advisor presentation, the board was provided with letters and reports that included information about, among other things, the advisory firm and the advisor’s assessment of the investment environment, portfolio performance, and portfolio characteristics.
In addition, each board received monthly reports, which included a Market and Economic Report, a Fund Dashboard Monthly Summary, and a Fund Performance Report.
Prior to their meeting, the trustees of each board were provided with a memo and materials that summarized the information they received over the course of the year. They also considered the factors discussed below, among others. However, no single factor determined whether either board approved its respective fund’s arrangement. Rather, it was the totality of the circumstances that drove each board’s decision.
Nature, extent, and quality of services
The board of the Real Estate Index Fund reviewed the quality of that fund’s investment management services over both the short and long term, while the board of the Real Estate II Index Fund reviewed the quality of that fund’s investment management services since its inception in 2017; they each took into account the organizational depth and stability of the advisor. Each board considered that Vanguard has been managing investments for more than four decades. The Equity Index Group adheres to a sound, disciplined investment management process; the team has considerable experience, stability, and depth.
Each board concluded that Vanguard’s experience, stability, depth, and performance, among other factors, warranted continuation of the advisory arrangement with its respective fund.
Investment performance
The board of the Real Estate Index Fund considered the short- and long-term performance of that fund, including any periods of outperformance or underperformance compared with its target index and peer group, while the board of the Real Estate II Index Fund considered the short-term and since-inception performance of that fund compared with its target index and peer group. Each board concluded that the performance of its respective fund was such that its advisory arrangement should continue.
Cost
Each board concluded that the respective fund’s expense ratio was well below the average expense ratio charged by funds in its peer group and that the respective fund’s advisory expenses were also well below the peer-group average.