A. Security Valuation: Securities are valued as of the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (generally 4 p.m., Eastern time) on the valuation date. Equity securities are valued at the latest quoted sales prices or official closing prices taken from the primary market in which each security trades; such securities not traded on the valuation date are valued at the mean of the latest quoted bid and asked prices. Securities for which market quotations are not readily available, or whose values have been affected by events occurring before the fund's pricing time but after the close of the securities’ primary markets, are valued by methods deemed by the valuation designee to represent fair value and subject to oversight by the board of trustees. Investments in Vanguard Market Liquidity Fund are valued at that fund's net asset value.
B. Futures Contracts: The fund uses index futures contracts to a limited extent, with the objective of maintaining full exposure to the stock market while maintaining liquidity. The fund may purchase or sell futures contracts to achieve a desired level of investment, whether to accommodate portfolio turnover or cash flows from capital share transactions. The primary risks associated with the use of futures contracts are imperfect correlation between changes in market values of stocks held by the fund and the prices of futures contracts, and the possibility of an illiquid market. Counterparty risk involving futures is mitigated because a regulated clearinghouse is the counterparty instead of the clearing broker. To further mitigate counterparty risk, the fund trades futures contracts on an exchange, monitors the financial strength of its clearing brokers and clearinghouse, and has entered into clearing agreements with its clearing brokers. The clearinghouse imposes initial margin requirements to secure the fund’s performance and requires daily settlement of variation margin representing changes in the market value of each contract. Any securities pledged as initial margin for open contracts are noted in the Schedule of Investments.
Futures contracts are valued at their quoted daily settlement prices. Fluctuations in the value of the contracts are recorded as an asset (liability).
C. Various inputs may be used to determine the value of the fund’s investments and derivatives. These inputs are summarized in three broad levels for financial statement purposes. The inputs or methodologies used to value securities are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in those securities.
Level 1—Quoted prices in active markets for identical securities.
Level 2—Other significant observable inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, etc.).
Level 3—Significant unobservable inputs (including the fund’s own assumptions used to determine the fair value of investments). Any investments and derivatives valued with significant unobservable inputs are noted on the Schedule of Investments.
The following table summarizes the market value of the fund's investments and derivatives as of September 30, 2024, based on the inputs used to value them:
| | Level 1
($000) | Level 2
($000) | Level 3
($000) | Total
($000) |
| Investments | | | | |
| Assets | | | | |
| Common Stocks | 9,578,151 | — | — | 9,578,151 |
| Temporary Cash Investments | 65,994 | — | — | 65,994 |
| Total | 9,644,145 | — | — | 9,644,145 |
| | | | |
| Derivative Financial Instruments | | | | |
| Assets | | | | |
| Futures Contracts1 | 3 | — | — | 3 |
| 1 | Includes cumulative appreciation (depreciation) on futures contracts and centrally cleared swaps, if any, as reported in the Schedule of Investments. |
