Case studies in advocacy

As a leading provider of investment, advisory, and recordkeeping services for defined contribution retirement plans, Vanguard supports efforts to strengthen retirement security.

We actively supported passage of the SECURE Act of 2019 and SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, which expanded automatic enrollment design features, improved performance benchmarking for asset-allocation investments, and enabled automatic portability for small retirement accounts. Vanguard is also working to build support for initiatives that further enhance retirement security, including the Retirement Fairness for Charities and Educational Institutions Act of 2023, which would allow 403(b) plans to invest in low-cost collective investment trusts.

As Congress continues to consider legislation to increase retirement security, Vanguard remains focused on providing insight and expertise to inform sound policy that serves the interests of all savers and investors.

Vanguard has a history of engaging with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to promote equity market structure reforms that serve investors.

We continue to constructively engage with the SEC to ensure that reforms promote a more efficient, competitive, and transparent market without creating potential unintended consequences for investors.

Vanguard has been an active proponent of modernizing the default delivery method for investment notices from paper to electronic delivery (e-delivery) while preserving the right of investors to receive paper documents if they prefer. E-delivery provides for more effective and efficient disclosure than paper documents and retains investor safeguards. Vanguard’s data show that e-delivery leads to lower costs, increased engagement through a tailored online experience, and, ultimately, stronger investment outcomes across all age ranges.

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 choose a proxy voting policy option 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.

Vanguard is also routinely invited to participate on policymaker panels and on various market policy advisory committees. In the United States, these include the Treasury Borrowing Authority Committee, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Market Risk Advisory Committee, and the Securities and Exchange Commission Investor Advisory Committee. These efforts help keep policymakers informed about how markets are working, encourage the sharing of ideas and the development of industry standards, and promote best practices.

Vanguard maintains a federal political action committee, the Vanguard Committee for Responsible Government (VCRG), which is funded solely by voluntary contributions from eligible Vanguard officers. VCRG supports federal candidates on a bipartisan basis, consistent with Vanguard’s giving guidelines and our mission to take a stand for all investors and give them the best chance for investment success. VCRG’s activities are subject to federal regulation, and all contributions are reported to the Federal Election Commission and are available online here. Vanguard does not use corporate funds to contribute to federal, state, or local candidates, political parties, or political committees.