News release
October 21, 2025
With the addition of Vanguard’s oldest index fund, Vanguard is empowering 20 million investors and their over $3 trillion in assets to make their voices heard
VALLEY FORGE, PA (October 21, 2025)—Vanguard today announced the addition of three new funds to its Investor Choice program in 2026, including its flagship 500 Index Fund. The expansion will double the number of eligible investors to approximately 20 million, and triple the assets eligible to participate in the program from $1 trillion to over $3 trillion.1 Vanguard Investor Choice continues to provide more individual investors access to proxy voting choice than any other program.
“The Vanguard 500 Index Fund, the first ever retail index fund, revolutionized asset management by making it more accessible to everyday investors,” said John Galloway, Global Head of Investment Stewardship at Vanguard. “Central to Vanguard Investor Choice is the core belief that investors should have the option to express a preference for how their index fund holdings vote. As we enter the fourth year of our program with strong momentum, we are committed to building on our legacy of accessibility by continuing to expand Investor Choice to all our U.S. equity index funds.”
Vanguard Investor Choice empowers individual investors, their advisors, 529 plans, and retirement plan sponsors to make their voices heard on important shareholder matters at portfolio companies held in participating Vanguard funds. During the 2025 proxy season, Vanguard more than doubled participation in Investor Choice with more than 80,000 investors making a policy selection. Notably, participating investors continued to express a range of perspectives on proxy voting matters, as illustrated by the dispersal of policy selections with no single option on the Investor Choice menu receiving more than 35% adoption. Rising participation reflects recent Vanguard research, which revealed strong individual interest in proxy voting choice, finding that most investors (83%) believe it’s important that asset managers consider their preferences when casting proxy votes.
Expanding to New Funds
With the expansion, Vanguard Investor Choice will span all share classes of the 15 participating funds, representing more than 50% of Vanguard’s total U.S.-based equity index assets. The participating funds are:
Participating in Investor Choice
Vanguard Investor Choice offers a range of straightforward, distinct, and deliberately curated voting policy options that determine how investors’ proportionate shares are voted. To learn more about the proxy voting policy options, please click here. As the Investor Choice program expands to include additional Vanguard funds, investors holding one or more Vanguard funds directly through Vanguard can select a proxy voting policy here. Policy selections for those investors will automatically be applied as additional funds are added to the program.
Vanguard also recently introduced the ability for all Vanguard brokerage investors to make an Investor Choice policy selection via its Mobile app. Investors can easily access Investor Choice on the mobile app by navigating to Profile > Account Preferences > Proxy voting through Investor Choice.
For more information about Vanguard Investor Choice, please click here.
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About Vanguard
Founded in 1975, Vanguard is one of the world's leading investment management companies. The firm offers investments, advice, and retirement services to tens of millions of individual investors around the globe—directly, through workplace plans, and through financial intermediaries. Vanguard operates under a unique, investor-owned structure where Vanguard fund shareholders own the funds, which in turn own Vanguard. As such, Vanguard adheres to a simple purpose: To take a stand for all investors, to treat them fairly, and to give them the best chance for investment success. For more information, visit vanguard.com
1 As of September 30, 2025.
2 *indicates newly added fund.
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