Vanguard broadens scope of 5 ETFs: Fund Scan

Our weekly roundup of new fund activity.

Name changes for 5 Vanguard tax-exempt money market funds

Vanguard is changing the name of five tax-exempt money market funds to include the word "municipal" in an effort to broaden their universe of securities. Each of the funds has an investment policy to allocate 80% of their assets in securities indicated by their individual names, Vanguard said.

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The fund manager reported $277 billion in new money to its U.S. mutual funds and ETFs last year, while Fidelity and Franklin reported some of the largest outflows.

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The Vanguard Tax-Exempt Money Market Fund (VMSXX) has changed to the Vanguard Municipal Money Market Fund; the Vanguard California Tax-Exempt Money Market Fund (VCTXX) has changed to the Vanguard California Municipal Money Market Fund; the Vanguard New Jersey Tax-Exempt Money Market Fund (VNJXX) has changed to the Vanguard New Jersey Municipal Money Market Fund; the Vanguard New York Tax-Exempt Money Market Fund (VYFXX) has changed to the Vanguard New York Municipal Money Market Fund; and the Vanguard Pennsylvania Tax-Exempt Money Market Fund (VPTXX) has changed to the Vanguard Pennsylvania Municipal Money Market Fund.

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Although they will now be known by different names, Vanguard said their investment objectives will remain the same — each fund will continue to include a 20% limitation on investments in securities subject to the alternative minimum tax.

Vanguard's tax-exempt money market fund's name change will go into effect on or near Feb. 24 and its state tax-exempt money market funds' changes are expected on or near March 28, the firm said.

Victory Capital develops ETF business

Victory Capital, a New York-based multi-boutique asset manager with roughly $55 billion in AUM, announced efforts to expand its ETF business with a new platform.

Eleven of the firm’s existing ETFs tracking the CEMP indexes, and six new index-tracking ETFs, will soon be added to its newly launched VictoryShares platform, according to the firm. To date, Victory Capital’s CEMP volatility weighted ETFs account for roughly $960 million in AUM, the firm said.

The newly branded ETFs, constructed in order to improve the risk, return and diversification profile of client portfolios, will begin to launch in the second quarter, according to Victory Capital.

"As investor behavior continues to evolve away from style box investing into factor- and risk-based investing, VictoryShares will serve as building blocks for next-generation portfolios," said Mannik Dhillon, the firm's head of investment solutions.

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