Top Portfolio Products: Vanguard Files to Offer Short-Term TIPS Fund

New products introduced over the last week include a short-term TIPS fund from Vanguard and a  managed futures fund from Longboard.

Here are the latest developments of interest to advisors:

1) Vanguard Files to Offer TIPS Fund

Vanguard announced Tuesday that it has filed a registration statement with the SEC for the Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund, which will seek to track the performance of the Barclays U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) 0-5 Year Index. The benchmark index has an effective duration of 2.53 years and an average maturity of 2.59 years, as of June 30. Joshua Barrickman and Gemma Wright-Casparius, both principals and senior portfolio managers in the Vanguard Fixed Income Group, will co-manage the new fund.

Expected to be available in Q4, the fund will offer four share classes, each with its own expense ratio; three classes have a minimum initial investment. The ETF share class has an estimated expense ratio of 0.10%. Investor shares require a $3,000 minimum initial investment and have an estimated expense ratio of 0.20%. Admiral shares require a $10,000 minimum initial investment and have an estimated expense ratio of 0.10%. Institutional shares require a $5 million minimum initial investment and have an estimated expense ratio of 0.07%. To offset the transaction costs of purchasing TIPS, the fund will assess a 0.25% purchase fee on all shares (excluding ETF shares).