Vanguard today said it changed the investment advisory teams at some of its stock funds.
M&G Investment Management Limited was added to the advisory team of the $18.3 billion Vanguard International Growth Fund and the $1.9 billion Vanguard Variable Insurance Fund-International Portfolio. M&G joins the existing managers at these funds-Schroder Investment Management North America Inc. and Baillie Gifford Overseas Ltd.
M&G, which has managed Vanguard Precious Metals and Mining Fund since its inception, uses a long-term, bottom-up investment approach that focuses on identifying underappreciated, quality companies with growth potential. Vanguard expects that M&G's approach will complement strategies used by Schroder and Baillie Gifford and further diversify the portfolios. Schroder has served as investment advisor for the Vanguard International Growth Fund since its inception in 1981; Baillie Gifford joined the fund's management team in 2003. Both firms have advised the VVIF-International Portfolio since its introduction in 2003.
Elsewhere, Vanguard Quantitative Equity Group now manages portions of the $975 million Vanguard U.S. Value Fund and the $695 million VVIF-Small Company Growth Portfolio previously managed by Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co. LLC (GMO). Vanguard also is taking the lead role in managing assets for the $10.5 billion Vanguard Explorer Fund previously managed by GMO.
Vanguard's Quantitative Equity Group joins AXA Rosenberg Investment Management LLC as a co-advisor for Vanguard U.S. Value Fund. Vanguard's internal equity management team, which now oversees approximately one-third of the fund, employs a quantitative investment approach to select stocks from the Russell 3000 Value Index. Vanguard has used a similar value-oriented quantitative process in managing Vanguard Windsor II Fund.
Vanguard Quantitative Equity Group oversees more than $550 billion in indexed assets and $25 billion in active quantitative equity fund assets for the Valley Forge, Pa.-based investment management company.