Vanguard Unwraps Three International ETFs

March 9, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Vanguard Group announced that exchange-traded shares of three Vanguard international index funds will start trading on the American Stock Exchange on Thursday.

According to a Vanguard news release, the three international VIPERs track Morgan Stanley Capital International, Inc. (MSCI) benchmarks, as follows (with their expense ratios):

  • Vanguard European VIPER seeks to track performance of the MSCI Europe Index, which is made up of stocks from 16 European  countries –  0.18%    
  • Vanguard Pacific VIPER seeks to track the performance of the MSCI Pacific Index, which is made up of stocks from companies inJapan, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore – 0.18%    
  • Vanguard Emerging Markets VIPER seeks to  track the performance of the MSCI Emerging Markets Select Index, which consists of  stocks that can be bought free of restrictions in 18 emerging markets in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America –   0.30%    

“With the new Pacific and European VIPERs, investors will have – for the first time – the opportunity to invest in both of the developed international market regions through ETFs targeting broad benchmarks,” said Gus Sauter, Vanguard’s chief investment officer, in the news release. “The new Emerging Markets VIPERs provide diversified exposure to developing international markets at an expense ratio that is less than half of comparable ETFs.”

The addition of the international VIPERs brings Vanguard’s ETF line-up to 23 offerings, with nine tracking broad domestic stock markets, eleven tracking specific domestic stock sectors, and three tracking broad international stock markets, the company said.

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