497K 1 explorerfundsumm_sp24.htm explorerfundsumm_sp24.htm - Generated by SEC Publisher for SEC Filing

 

 

Vanguard ExplorerFund

Summary Prospectus

 

February 17, 2012

 

Investor Shares & Admiral™ Shares

 
Vanguard Explorer Fund Investor Shares (VEXPX)
Vanguard Explorer Fund Admiral Shares (VEXRX)
 
 
 
 
The Fund’s statutory Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information dated
February 17, 2012, 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 get this information at no
cost by calling 800-662-7447 or by sending an e-mail 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.

 


 

Fund Summary

Investment Objective
The Fund seeks to provide long-term capital appreciation.

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 fund account balances below $10,000) $20/year $20/year

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses    
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)  
  Investor Shares Admiral Shares
Management Expenses 0.47% 0.31%
12b-1 Distribution Fee None None
Other Expenses 0.03% 0.03%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.50% 0.34%

 

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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 invest $10,000 in the Fund’s shares. These examples assume that the
Shares provide a return of 5% a year and that total annual fund operating expenses
remain as stated in the preceding table. The results apply 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 $51 $160 $280 $628
Admiral Shares $35 $109 $191 $431

 

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 89%.

Primary Investment Strategies
The Fund invests mainly in the stocks of small companies. These companies tend to
be unseasoned but are considered by the Fund’s advisors to have superior growth
potential. Also, these companies often provide little or no dividend income. The Fund
uses multiple investment advisors.

Primary Risks
An investment in the Fund could lose money over short or even long periods. You
should expect the Fund’s share price and total return to fluctuate within a wide range,
like the fluctuations of the overall stock market. The Fund’s performance could be
hurt by:

Stock market risk, which is the chance that stock prices overall will decline. Stock
markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices.

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Investment style risk, which is the chance that returns from small-capitalization
growth stocks will trail returns from the overall stock market. Historically, small-cap
stocks have been more volatile in price than the large-cap stocks that dominate the
overall market, and they often perform quite differently.

Manager risk, which is the chance that poor security selection or focus on securities in
a particular sector, category, or group of companies will cause the Fund to underperform
relevant benchmarks or other funds with a similar investment objective.

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 Explorer Fund Investor Shares


During the periods shown in the bar chart, the highest return for a calendar quarter
was 22.39% (quarter ended June 30, 2003), and the lowest return for a quarter was
–26.16% (quarter ended December 31, 2008).

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Average Annual Total Returns for Periods Ended December 31, 2011          
  1 Year 5 Years 10 Years
Vanguard Explorer Fund Investor Shares            
Return Before Taxes –1.89% 1.29% 4.69%
Return After Taxes on Distributions –1.91 0.89 4.15
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares –1.20 1.00 3.96
Vanguard Explorer Fund Admiral Shares            
Return Before Taxes –1.72% 1.47% 4.86%
Russell 2500 Growth Index            
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) –1.57% 2.89% 5.23%

 

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 will 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 Advisors
Century Capital Management, LLC

Chartwell Investment Partners, L.P.

Granahan Investment Management, Inc.

Kalmar Investment Advisers

Wellington Management Company, LLP

The Vanguard Group, Inc.

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Portfolio Managers

Alexander L. Thorndike, Managing Partner at Century Capital. He has managed a
portion of the Fund since 2008.

Edward N. Antoian, CFA, CPA, Managing Partner at Chartwell. He has co-managed a
portion of the Fund since 1997.

John A. Heffern, Managing Partner and Senior Portfolio Manager at Chartwell. He has
co-managed a portion of the Fund since 2006.

John J. Granahan, CFA, co-Founder and Chairman of Granahan. He has managed a
portion of the Fund since 1990.

Gary C. Hatton, CFA, co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Granahan. He has
been a member of the portfolio management team for the Fund since 1998.

Jane M. White, co-Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Granahan. She
has been a member of the portfolio management team for the Fund since 2000.

Ford B. Draper, Jr., President, Chief Investment Officer, and Founder of Kalmar. He has
managed a portion of the Fund since 2005.

Kenneth L. Abrams, Senior Vice President and Equity Portfolio Manager of Wellington
Management. He has managed a portion of the Fund since 1994.

James D. Troyer, CFA, Principal of Vanguard. He has managed a portion of the Fund
since 2006 (co-managed since 2012).

James P. Stetler, Principal of Vanguard. He has co-managed a portion of the Fund
since 2012.

Michael R. Roach, CFA, Portfolio Manager at Vanguard. He has co-managed a portion
of the Fund since 2012.

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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 following table provides the Fund’s minimum initial and subsequent
investment requirements.

Account Minimums Investor Shares Admiral Shares
To open and maintain an account $3,000 $50,000
To add to an existing account Generally $100 (other than Generally $100 (other than
  by Automatic Investment by Automatic Investment
  Plan, which has no Plan, which has no
  established minimum) established minimum)

 

Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions may be taxable as ordinary income or capital gain.

Payments to Financial Intermediaries
The Fund and its investment advisors do not pay financial intermediaries for sales of
Fund shares.


 

Vanguard Explorer Fund Investor Shares—Fund Number 24  
Vanguard Explorer Fund Admiral Shares—Fund Number 5024  
CFA® is a trademark owned by CFA Institute.  
 
© 2012 The Vanguard Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  
Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor.  
  SP 24 022012