Vanguard Moves Beyond Institutional Investors in Europe

Vanguard Investments Europe, which has traditionally targeted the institutional investor, is now setting its sights on retail distribution on the continent, initially in Belgium.

The European arm of the Valley Forge, Pa.-based fund giant said it has entered into its first retail distribution agreement with European online broker Cortal Belgium. Retail investors will have access to Vanguard’s broadly diversified equity and bond index funds via a risk profiled managed account program called Cortal Avenue. The minimum initial investment is EUR25,000, as opposed to the EUR100,000 required to open an account for an institutional investor.

The Cortal Avenue program will be 60% comprised of the mix of Vanguard funds and 40% made up of actively managed funds selected by Cortal. "This innovative product will bring for the first time in Belgium the highly performing and sophisticated ‘core/satellite’ approach traditionally reserved to institutional or ultra-high-net-worth investors" said Guillaume Prache of Vanguard Investments Europe.

Vanguard offers indexed and active European-domiciled UCITS funds, which cover all major asset classes. The firm manages more than $620 billion in assets worldwide.

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