Vanguard Investor Choice
A voice for investors
Vanguard is reimagining proxy voting to empower investors with a greater voice on important corporate governance questions put to company shareholders.
How to participate
Have a Vanguard brokerage account?
Vanguard funds held elsewhere?
- About
- How to participate
- Policy options
- Insights & updates
About Investor Choice
Vanguard Investor Choice empowers equity index fund investors with a more direct voice in the proxy voting process.
With Investor Choice, individual investors, financial advisors, and plan sponsors can select from a menu of distinct voting policy options an approach to proxy voting that is best aligned with their preferences. Their chosen policy directs how their proportionate share of eligible mutual funds and ETFs are voted at corporate shareholder meetings on important topics such as executive pay and the election of board members.1
Launched in 2023 and now available across 12 Vanguard funds, the Investor Choice program represents nearly $1 trillion in eligible assets under management (AUM) and is available to nearly 10 million eligible investors, extending Vanguard’s mission to give investors the best chance for investment success.
As we look to 2026 and beyond, Vanguard is committed to expanding Investor Choice to all U.S. equity index fund investors and exploring program offerings to regions outside the U.S.
$1T
Eligible equity index fund AUM in the program
$9B
Participating equity index fund AUM in the program—more than triple 2024 participation level
82K
Participating fund shareholders—more than double the 2024 total
Sources: Vanguard, as of September 10, 2025.
1 Vanguard will rely on the share ownership information provided by an investor’s broker or custodian in its calculations. Due to rounding or other factors, the proportionate share of portfolio company shares that are voted according to a Pilot Fund shareholder’s policy selection may not always exactly match that shareholder’s proportionate ownership. Additionally, shares of a security that are on loan pursuant to Vanguard’s securities lending activities or shares that are subject to vote restrictions or ownership limitations could impact the total number of shares available for the fund to vote. In such cases, an investor’s proportionate share will be calculated utilizing the number of shares eligible to be voted by the fund after excluding shares on loan or subject to such voting restrictions and ownership limitations.
Why it matters
Our program is built on two beliefs: investors should have a greater say in how their share of fund holdings are voted and elevating more investors’ voices supports a healthy corporate governance ecosystem.
Learn more about how you can get involved.
Video transcript:
Vanguard has a 50-year history of making investing more accessible for millions of people . . .
. . . from creating the world’s first index fund for everyday investors, to innovating low-cost target-date funds and investment advice.
More recently, we’ve reimagined proxy voting so that individual investors, their advisors, and retirement plan sponsors can participate more directly in the proxy voting process. We call it Investor Choice, and it empowers our investors with a voice on how proxies are voted.
It’s easy to sign up: If you invest in a Vanguard equity index fund, with one click, you can choose a voting policy that aligns with your preferences.
Your policy selection determines how your shares vote at the companies in which your fund invests on important topics such as executive pay and the election of board members.
Vanguard has expanded Investor Choice since launching its first pilot in 2023, and we continue to see more and more investors eager to have their voices heard.
Learn more about how you can get involved.
How it works
Vanguard Investor Choice offers a menu of five distinct voting policy options that reflect a range of approaches to proxy voting.
Through a simple process, investors who choose to participate select a voting policy aligned with their preferences. Participating investors’ share of the fund is then voted according to the policy they selected.
Voting policy selections by Vanguard participating funds
* Voting policy added in 2025.
Notes: Percentages may not sum to 100% because of rounding. Vanguard Growth Index Fund, Vanguard Value Index Fund, Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Fund, and Vanguard Large-Cap Index Fund joined the proxy voting pilot around August 2025.
Source: Vanguard, as of July 31, 2025.
How to participate
With Investor Choice, Vanguard is providing a way for index fund investors to help direct how their proportionate share of their mutual funds and ETFs vote at portfolio company shareholder meetings.
Whether you hold a Vanguard fund directly through a Vanguard brokerage account or at another firm, participation is simple.
If you have a Vanguard brokerage account
Step 1: Log in to your Vanguard brokerage account.
Step 2: Choose a voting policy that aligns with your personal preferences.
Step 3: Your policy selection will be applied to current and future funds in your Vanguard brokerage account that participate in Vanguard Investor Choice.
Your voting policy selection can be made or updated any time throughout the year.
If you invest in a Vanguard fund somewhere else
Step 1: Watch for an email or letter communication containing your unique link to participate.
Step 2: Choose a voting policy that aligns with your personal preferences.
Step 3: Your policy selection will be applied to current and future funds at that provider that participate in Vanguard Investor Choice.
Fund shareholders who receive the invitation to participate can make or update a voting policy selection any time throughout the year.
Questions? Let's connect:
Policy options
Vanguard’s Investor Choice program includes a menu of five proxy voting policies from which investors can choose.2 The voting policy menu offers a clear, differentiated set of mechanical and discretionary options for investors to choose an approach to proxy voting that best align with their personal views regarding proxy voting matters.3
A policy selection determines how an investor's share of the fund votes on important topics at the companies the fund invests in such as executive pay and the election of board members.
If an investor does not select a voting policy option, the participating fund will continue to vote the investor’s share of the fund based on the Vanguard-Advised Funds Policy.
Vanguard Investor Choice policy options
Company Board-Aligned Policy
The proportionate shares of participating investors that select the Company Board-Aligned Policy will be voted in accordance with the recommendations on each proposal made by the portfolio company’s board of directors pursuant to the company board’s fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the company’s shareholders.
Egan-Jones Wealth-Focused Policy
The proportionate shares of participating investors that select the Egan-Jones Wealth-Focused Policy will be voted in accordance with the proxy voting recommendations from Egan-Jones Proxy Services (“Egan-Jones”), a third-party proxy advisor, that is based on the belief, as described by Egan-Jones, that maximizing shareholder value should be the primary focus of corporate governance and management decisions, without being influenced by political or social agendas. This policy by rule rejects proposals based on environmental, social, or political considerations unless they directly contribute to revenue generation at the company receiving the proposal.
Glass Lewis ESG Policy
The proportionate shares of participating investors that select the Glass Lewis ESG Policy will be voted in accordance with proxy voting recommendations from Glass Lewis & Co., LLC (“Glass Lewis”), a third party proxy advisor, that is based on the belief, as described by Glass Lewis, that enhanced disclosures of company policies and practices related to certain environmental, social, and/or governance issues could mitigate company risks and create operational opportunities.
Mirror Voting Policy
The proportionate shares of participating investors that select the Mirror Voting Policy will be voted in approximately the same proportions as votes cast for the meeting by other shareholders of the security. In instances where proportionate voting cannot be reasonably executed, the fund will leave the proportionate shares unvoted. The proportionate votes will be based on the votes that have been cast by beneficial owners of a portfolio security in Broadridge’s network generally as of the day prior to the applicable meeting and, as such, will not reflect all votes that are ultimately cast at the meeting.
Vanguard-Advised Funds Policy
The proportionate shares of participating investors that select the Vanguard-Advised Funds Policy, which is administered by Vanguard Investment Stewardship, will be voted in accordance with the proxy voting policy recommendations that have been adopted by the Fund’s Board of Trustees. This policy seeks to maximize long-term shareholder returns by focusing on certain principles of good corporate governance associated with long-term shareholder returns.
2 The “Not Voting” Policy was applicable during 2023 and 2024 pilots.
3 Two of the policy options available to investors (Company Board-Aligned Policy and Mirror Voting Policy) are executed based on a defined (or “mechanical”) instruction that does not involve any discretion. Three of the policy options available to investors (Egan-Jones Wealth-Focused Policy, Glass Lewis ESG Policy, and Vanguard-Advised Funds Policy) are executed based on defined guidelines that reflect different approaches and perspectives about the appropriate outcomes of proxy ballot proposals. Given the subjective and nuanced nature of many issues on shareholder ballots, the application of these policies is subject to the discretion or judgment of the team or organization responsible for executing the policy. As a result, there may be some variation between an investor’s expectation or how a policy would be applied and particular vote outcomes. That said, the policy options included for the pilot program have been selected after consideration of the clarity and completeness of the underlying written policy guidelines, and the track record of consistency between the guidelines and past voting outcomes.
Insights & updates
Press releases
Vanguard More Than Doubles Participation in Investor Choice
Vanguard Expands Investor Choice, Nearly Tripling Eligible Investors and Quadrupling Eligible Assets
Vanguard Survey Highlights Strong Investor Interest in Proxy Voting Choice
Vanguard Nearly Doubles Eligible Assets in Investor Choice Program with Three New Funds
Vanguard Unveils Data from Investor Choice Proxy Voting Pilot
Additional resources
Important information:
All investing is subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest.
For more information about Vanguard funds, visit vanguard.com to obtain a prospectus or, if available, a summary prospectus. Investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information about a fund are contained in the prospectus; read and consider it carefully before investing.
Vanguard ETF Shares are not redeemable with the issuing Fund other than in very large aggregations worth millions of dollars. Instead, investors must buy and sell Vanguard ETF Shares in the secondary market and hold those shares in a brokerage account. In doing so, the investor may incur brokerage commissions and may pay more than net asset value when buying and receive less than net asset value when selling.
ESG funds are subject to ESG investment risk, which is the chance that the stocks or bonds screened by the index provider or advisor, as applicable, for ESG criteria generally will underperform the market as a whole or, in the aggregate, will trail returns of other funds screened for ESG criteria. The index provider or advisor's assessment of a company, based on the company's level of involvement in a particular industry or their own ESG criteria, may differ from that of other funds or an investor's assessment of such company. As a result, the companies deemed eligible by the index provider or advisor may not reflect the beliefs and values of any particular investor and may not exhibit positive or favorable ESG characteristics. The evaluation of companies for ESG screening or integration is dependent on the timely and accurate reporting of ESG data by the companies. Successful application of the screens will depend on the index provider or advisor's proper identification and analysis of ESG data. The advisor may not be successful in assessing and identifying companies that have or will have a positive impact or support a given position. In some circumstances, companies could ultimately have a negative or no impact or support of a given position.
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