For Personal Use Only Use Personal for Annual Report | October 31, 2012
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
US SEC Filing Announcement for the Vanguard® Exchange Traded Funds 2 January 2013 Vanguard Investments Australia Ltd announces the following: ETF ASX ANNOUNCEMENT CODE Vanguard® All-World ex-US Shares Index ETF VEU US SEC Filing of Form N-CSR The Vanguard Group, Inc. in the US has completed and filed Form N-CSR (certified annual shareholder report) for Registered Investment Companies with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US as part of the regulatory requirements of the SEC. The completed form is attached and can be viewed online at the SEC website pages at: • http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/857489/000093247112005979/0000932471-12-005979-index.htm Further details of the SEC requirements for this filing are available at: • sec.gov/about/forms/formn-csr.pdf For personal use only Further Information If you have any queries on Vanguard ETFs, please visit vanguard.com.au/etf © 2013 Vanguard Investments Australia Ltd (ABN 72 072 881 086 / AFS Licence 227263) (Vanguard) is the issuer of the Prospectus on behalf of the US listed ETFs described in the Prospectus. Vanguard has arranged for the interests in the US ETFs to be made available to Australian investors via CHESS Depositary Interests (CDIs) that are quoted on the AQUA market of the ASX. Vanguard is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Vanguard Group, Inc. based in the US. All rights reserved. Vanguard Investments Australia Ltd, Level 34, Freshwater Place, 2 Southbank Boulevard, Southbank VIC 3006 vanguard.com.au 1300 655 888 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM N-CSR CERTIFIED SHAREHOLDER REPORT OF REGISTERED MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES Investment Company Act file number: 811-05972 Name of Registrant: Vanguard International Equity Index Funds Address of Registrant: P.O. Box 2600 Valley Forge, PA 19482 Name and address of agent for service: Heidi Stam, Esquire P.O. Box 876 Valley Forge, PA 19482 Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (610) 669-1000 Date of fiscal year end: October 31 Date of reporting period: November 1, 2011 – October 31, 2012 Item 1: Reports to Shareholders For personal use only Annual Report | October 31, 2012 Vanguard FTSE International Index Funds FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap Index Fund For personal use only > For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2012, Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund returned more than 5% and Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap Index Fund returned about 5%. > As anxiety regarding the debt crisis in Europe lifted slightly, international stocks gained ground, although not as much as their U.S. counterparts. > Because of temporary price differences arising from fair-value pricing policies, the funds’ returns diverged from those of their benchmarks. Contents Your Fund’s Total Returns. 1 Chairman’s Letter. 2 FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund. 10 FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap Index Fund. 36 Your Fund’s After-Tax Returns. 57 About Your Fund’s Expenses. 58 Glossary. 60 For personal use only Please note: The opinions expressed in this report are just that—informed opinions. They should not be considered promises or advice. Also, please keep in mind that the information and opinions cover the period through the date on the front of this report. Of course, the risks of investing in your fund are spelled out in the prospectus. See the Glossary for definitions of investment terms used in this report. About the cover: Our cover photograph shows rigging on the HMS Surprise, a replica of an 18th-century Royal Navy frigate. It was featured in the 2003 movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, which was based on Patrick O’Brian’s sea novels, set amid the Napoleonic Wars. Vanguard was named for another ship of that era, the HMS Vanguard, which was the flagship of British Admiral Horatio Nelson at the Battle of the Nile. Your Fund’s Total Returns Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2012 Total Returns Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund Investor Shares 5.30% Admiral™ Shares 5.46 Institutional Shares 5.51 Institutional Plus Shares 5.54 ETF Shares Market Price 5.72 Net Asset Value 5.51 FTSE All-World ex US Index 4.26 International Funds Average 5.88 International Funds Average: Derived from data provided by Lipper Inc. Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap Index Fund Investor Shares 4.77% Institutional Shares 5.00 ETF Shares Market Price 6.06 Net Asset Value 4.99 FTSE Global Small Cap ex US Index 4.20 International Small-Cap Funds Average 9.11 International Small-Cap Funds Average: Derived from data provided by Lipper Inc. Admiral Shares carry lower expenses and are available to investors who meet certain account-balance requirements. Institutional Shares and Institutional Plus Shares are available to certain institutional investors who meet specific administrative, service, and account-size criteria. The Vanguard ETF® Shares shown are traded on the NYSE Arca exchange and are available only through brokers. The table provides ETF returns based on both the NYSE Arca market price and the net asset value for a share. U.S. Pat. No. 6,879,964 B2; 7,337,138; 7,720,749; 7,925,573; 8,090,646. For the ETF Shares, the market price is determined by the midpoint of the bid-offer spread as of the closing time of the New York Stock Exchange (generally 4 p.m., Eastern time). The net asset value is also determined as of the NYSE closing time. For more information about how the ETF Shares' market prices have compared with their net asset value, visit vanguard.com, select your ETF, and then select the Price andFor personal use only Performance tab. The ETF premium/discount analysis there shows the percentages of days on which the ETF Shares' market price was above or below the NAV. 1 Dear Shareholder, International stock markets were choppy but finished the 12 months ended October 31, 2012, modestly higher overall. Both funds saw monthly gains of more than 7% and losses of more than 10%, largely because of swings in sentiment regarding the ongoing sovereign-debt crisis in Europe and signs of a slowdown in emerging- Chairman’s Letter market economies, which have been a major support for global growth. As investor anxiety ratcheted down a few notches by the end of the period, the five share classes of Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund, which invests in international large- and mid-capitalization stocks, posted returns of between 5.30% and 5.54%. That was a little better than the fund’s small-cap counterpart, Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap Index Fund, whose three share classes returned between 4.77% and 5.00%. As you know, the funds seek to track the returns of benchmark indexes. However, because of temporary price differences arising from fair-value pricing policies (please see the text box on page 6), the funds’ returns diverged from those of their benchmarks, which are not adjusted for fair value. Both funds lagged the average returns of their respective peer groups, For personal use only which include actively and passively managed international funds. 2 If you hold your shares in a taxable account, declared in July that policymakers would you may wish to review information on the do whatever was needed to preserve the funds’ after-tax returns later in this report. euro common currency. International stocks lagged Although investors’ worries have eased, their U.S. counterparts Europe’s financial troubles are by no means U.S. stocks returned about 14% for the resolved. Vanguard economists believe the 12 months ended October 31, putting most likely scenario is that the Eurozone domestic equities ahead of their inter- will “muddle through” for several years, national counterparts. Stocks in Europe with occasional spikes in market volatility, and Asia, meanwhile, posted modestly as fiscal tightening persists in the face of positive results. weak economic growth. The advances came amid moves by U.S. Bonds continued their march, and European central bankers to manage but leaner times may lie ahead risks to the U.S. economy and the finances The broad U.S. taxable bond market of European governments and banks. The returned about 5% for the 12 months. president of the European Central Bank Municipal bonds delivered a robust performance, returning about 9%. Market Barometer Average Annual Total Returns Periods Ended October 31, 2012 One Three Five Year Years Years Stocks Russell 1000 Index (Large-caps) 14.97% 13.48% 0.53% Russell 2000 Index (Small-caps) 12.08 14.82 1.19 Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index 14.45 13.62 0.75 MSCI All Country World Index ex USA (International) 3.98 3.74 -5.08 Bonds BarclaysFor personal use only U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (Broad taxable market) 5.25% 6.08% 6.38% Barclays Municipal Bond Index (Broad tax-exempt market) 9.03 6.84 6.02 Citigroup Three-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index 0.06 0.08 0.56 CPI Consumer Price Index 2.16% 2.28% 2.06% 3 As bond prices rose, the yield of the between 0% and 0.25% at least through 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to a record mid-2015. The exceptionally low rates, in low in July, closing below 1.5%. (Bond place since late 2008, kept a tight lid on yields and prices move in opposite returns from money market funds and directions.) By the end of the period, the savings accounts.