Vanguard Asset Management soft closes two funds

The Vanguard US Discoveries and US Opportunities funds have been closed to all new accounts, although existing shareholders may still add to their holdings. The group has acted following a sharp jump in assets under management for both, with the Discoveries fund growing from $25m at the end of 2012 to more than $160m by 31 December 2013, and the Opportunities fund moving from $850m to $1.8bn. Both funds focus predominantly on mid-and-small-cap names in the US market, prompting Vanguard to shut the funds to new money to preserve the investment mandate. Vanguard’s Europe managing dir...