497K 1 sp41022016.htm STTE INV & ADM SUMMARY sp41022016.htm - Generated by SEC Publisher for SEC Filing

Vanguard Short-Term Tax-Exempt Fund
 
Summary Prospectus
 
 
February 26, 2016
 
 
Investor Shares & Admiral™ Shares
 
Vanguard Short-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Investor Shares (VWSTX)
Vanguard Short-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Admiral Shares (VWSUX)
 
 
 
 
The Fund’s statutory Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information dated
February 26, 2016, as may be amended or supplemented, are incorporated into
and made part of this Summary Prospectus by reference.
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s Prospectus, which
contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find
the Fund’s Prospectus and other information about the Fund online at
www.vanguard.com/prospectus. You can also obtain this information at no
cost by calling 800-662-7447 or by sending an email request to
online@vanguard.com.
 
 
 
 
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or
passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 


 

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks to provide current income that is exempt from federal personal income taxes, with limited price volatility.

Fees and Expenses

The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold Investor Shares or Admiral Shares of the Fund.

Shareholder Fees    
(Fees paid directly from your investment)    
  Investor Shares Admiral Shares
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases None None
Purchase Fee None None
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends None None
Redemption Fee None None
Account Service Fee (for certain fund account balances below $20/year $20/year
$10,000)    
 
Annual Fund Operating Expenses    
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)  
  Investor Shares Admiral Shares
Management Fees 0.17% 0.10%
12b-1 Distribution Fee None None
Other Expenses 0.03% 0.02%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.20% 0.12%

 

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Examples

The following examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund’s Investor Shares or Admiral Shares with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. They illustrate the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over various periods if you invested $10,000 in the Fund’s shares. These examples assume that the Shares provide a return of 5% each year and that total annual fund operating expenses remain as stated in the preceding table. You would incur these hypothetical expenses whether or not you redeem your investment at the end of the given period. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

  1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years
Investor Shares $20 $64 $113 $255
Admiral Shares $12 $39 $68 $154

 

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in more taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the previous expense examples, reduce the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 32% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund has no limitations on the maturity of individual securities but is expected to maintain a dollar-weighted average maturity of 1 to 2 years. At least 75% of the securities held by the Fund are municipal bonds in the top three credit-rating categories as determined by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) (e.g., Aaa, Aa, and A by Moody‘s Investors Service, Inc. (Moody‘s)) or, if unrated, determined to be of comparable quality by the advisor. No more than 20% of the Fund’s assets may be invested in bonds in a medium-grade category as determined by an NRSRO (e.g., Baa by Moody‘s) or, if unrated, determined to be of comparable quality by the advisor. The remaining 5% may be invested in securities with lower credit ratings or, if unrated, determined to be of comparable quality by the advisor.

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Principal Risks

The Fund is designed for investors with a low tolerance for risk, but you could still lose money by investing in it. The Fund is subject to the following risks, which could affect the Fund’s performance:

Income risk, which is the chance that the Fund’s income will decline because of falling interest rates. Income risk is generally high for short-term bond funds, so investors should expect the Fund’s monthly income to fluctuate.

Interest rate risk, which is the chance that bond prices will decline because of rising interest rates. Interest rate risk should be low for the Fund because it invests primarily in short-term bonds, whose prices are less sensitive to interest rate changes than are the prices of longer-term bonds.

Call risk, which is the chance that during periods of falling interest rates, issuers of callable bonds may call (redeem) securities with higher coupon rates or interest rates before their maturity dates. The Fund would then lose any price appreciation above the bond’s call price and would be forced to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income. Such redemptions and subsequent reinvestments would also increase the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate. Call risk is generally low for short-term bond funds.

Extension risk, which is the chance that during periods of rising interest rates, certain debt securities will be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated, and the value of those securities may fall. Extension risk is generally low for short-term bond funds.

Credit risk, which is the chance that a bond issuer will fail to pay interest or principal in a timely manner or that negative perceptions of the issuer’s ability to make such payments will cause the price of that bond to decline. In general, credit risk should be low for the Fund because it invests primarily in bonds that are considered to be of high quality.

Liquidity risk, which is the chance that the Fund may not be able to sell a security in a timely manner at a desired price. Liquidity risk is generally low for short-term bond funds.

Manager risk, which is the chance that poor security selection will cause the Fund to underperform relevant benchmarks or other funds with a similar investment objective.

Tax risk, which is the chance that all or a portion of the tax-exempt income from municipal bonds held by the Fund will be declared taxable, possibly with retroactive effect, because of unfavorable changes in tax laws, adverse interpretations by the Internal Revenue Service or state or local tax authorities, or noncompliant conduct of a bond issuer.

Derivatives risk. The Fund may invest in derivatives, which may involve risks different from, and possibly greater than, those of investments directly in the underlying securities, assets, or market indexes.

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An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.

Annual Total Returns

The following bar chart and table are intended to help you understand the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the performance of the Fund‘s Investor Shares has varied from one calendar year to another over the periods shown. The table shows how the average annual total returns of the share classes presented compare with those of a relevant market index, which has investment characteristics similar to those of the Fund. Keep in mind that the Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does not indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available on our website at vanguard.com/performance or by calling Vanguard toll-free at 800-662-7447.

Annual Total Returns — Vanguard Short-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Investor Shares


During the periods shown in the bar chart, the highest return for a calendar quarter was 1.43% (quarter ended December 31, 2008), and the lowest return for a quarter was –0.34% (quarter ended June 30, 2013).

Average Annual Total Returns for Periods Ended December 31, 2015    
  1 Year 5 Years 10 Years
Vanguard Short-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Investor Shares      
Return Before Taxes 0.45% 0.83% 1.93%
Return After Taxes on Distributions 0.45 0.83 1.93
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares 0.56 0.85 1.89
Vanguard Short-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Admiral Shares      
Return Before Taxes 0.53% 0.91% 2.01%
Barclays 1 Year Municipal Bond Index      
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) 0.61% 0.88% 2.11%

 

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Actual after-tax returns depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown in the preceding table. When after-tax returns are calculated, it is assumed that the shareholder was in the highest individual federal marginal income tax bracket at the time of each distribution of income or capital gains or upon redemption. State and local income taxes are not reflected in the calculations. Please note that after-tax returns are shown only for the Investor Shares and may differ for each share class. After-tax returns are not relevant for a shareholder who holds fund shares in a tax-deferred account, such as an individual retirement account or a 401(k) plan. Also, figures captioned Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares may be higher than other figures for the same period if a capital loss occurs upon redemption and results in an assumed tax deduction for the shareholder.

Investment Advisor
The Vanguard Group, Inc. (Vanguard)

Portfolio Manager

Justin A. Schwartz, CFA, Portfolio Manager at Vanguard and head of Vanguard’s Municipal Money Market Funds. He has managed the Fund since February 2016.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

You may purchase or redeem shares online through our website (vanguard.com), by mail (The Vanguard Group, P.O. Box 1110, Valley Forge, PA 19482-1110), or by telephone (800-662-2739). The minimum investment amount required to open and maintain a Fund account for Investor Shares or Admiral Shares is $3,000 or $50,000, respectively. The minimum investment amount required to add to an existing Fund account is generally $1. Institutional, financial intermediary, and Vanguard retail managed clients should contact Vanguard for information on special eligibility rules that may apply to them regarding Admiral Shares.

Tax Information

The Fund’s distributions may be taxable as ordinary income or capital gain. A majority of the income dividends that you receive from the Fund are expected to be exempt from federal income taxes. However, a portion of the Fund’s distributions may be subject to federal, state, or local income taxes or the federal alternative minimum tax.

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

The Fund and its investment advisor do not pay financial intermediaries for sales of Fund shares.

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Vanguard Short-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Investor Shares—Fund Number 41 Vanguard Short-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Admiral Shares—Fund Number 541

CFA® is a registered trademark owned by CFA Institute.

© 2016 The Vanguard Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor.

SP 41 022016