The Vanguard Tax-Managed International Fund and its ETF shares changed indexes Wednesday and now track the FTSE Developed ex-North America index.
The mutual fund and ETF shares, with a combined $15.7 billion in assets, had been tracking the MSCI EAFE index. The move by Vanguard was announced Oct. 2 when the money manager said it would replace MSCI-based indexes on 22 index funds.
The ETF will now be called the Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF; it had been the Vanguard MSCI EAFE ETF. Its ticker symbol will remain VEA.
The change in index is expected to lower expense ratios, though not immediately, said Linda Wolohan, Vanguard spokeswoman.
The Tax-Managed International Fund and its ETF shares are among six Vanguard international equity index funds, with a combined $170 billion, that were slated to move to FTSE benchmarks, along with Vanguard's Target Retirement, LifeStrategy and Managed Payout funds of funds. Vanguard also announced in October that it would benchmark 16 of its domestic equity and balanced index funds, with aggregate assets of $367 billion, to a new index developed by the University of Chicago's Center for Research in Security Prices.
Ms. Wolohan said Vanguard still has 23 funds — 10 U.S. sector index funds, the Vanguard REIT Index Fund, and 12 active funds — benchmarked to MSCI indexes. She said most of the 22 funds announced in October have been moved to their new benchmarks, but she couldn't provide specific numbers.
