Vanguard Closes Two Funds, Preps Another for Q2 Launch

Vanguard Group today closed two funds to new investors while prepping another to launch in the second quarter.

Effective immediately, the Vanguard Wellington Fund and Vanguard Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt Fund have stopped accepting money from institutional clients and financial advisors. The Vanguard Wellington Fund is Vanguard's oldest mutual fund $68 billion in assets, according to the firm, citing data from Lipper. The fund bests on stocks and investment-grade corporate bonds, with some holdings in U.S. Treasury, government agency, and mortgage-backed securities.

"Vanguard is proactively taking steps to reduce cash flow into the Wellington and Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt Funds to ensure that their investment advisors can continue to effectively manage the portfolios," stated Vanguard CEO Bill McNabb.

In addition, the firm is currently prepping the Vanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Fund and exchange-traded fund to launch during the second quarter.

The fund will track the Barclays USD Emerging Markets Government RIC Capped Index, which features approximately 540 government, agency, and local authority bonds from 155 issuers. The expense ratios for the new fund's Institutional, Investor, Admiral, and ETF share classes will range from 30 basis points to 50 bps.