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Vanguard hit a milestone this week when it officially launched its first actively managed equity exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Vanguard is a pioneer in passive management, launching the first ever index mutual fund for retail investors, the Vanguard 500, in 1976. It has built its reputation — and assets under management — as a low-fee indexing leader.

It has some $4.1 trillion in ETF assets under management and is the second largest, behind only BlackRock. But it is the fastest growing large manager, as it has attracted more inflows in recent years than its competitors.

So, when Vanguard announced earlier this year that it was launching active stock ETFs, it was kind of a big deal. It should be noted that Vanguard has several actively managed bond ETFs as well as some factor-based active ETFs that use quantitative screens. But these three new offerings are the first fundamental stock ETFs run entirely by stock pickers.

As of this week, those first three Vanguard active ETFs became available to investors,

Vanguard’s 3 new ETFs

The three new Vanguard active ETFs are managed by Wellington Management, an advisor that manages many of Vanguard’s active mutual funds. The new ETFs are:

• Vanguard Wellington U.S. Value Active ETF (VUSV).
• Vanguard Wellington U.S. Growth Active ETF (VUSG).
• Vanguard Wellington Dividend Growth Active ETF (VDIG).

“Each strategy is designed to deliver long-term value, leveraging deep research and disciplined portfolio management. We believe that the transparency, tax efficiency, and accessibility of the ETF structure, combined with Welington’s proven investment approach—will empower investors to build resilient, diversified portfolios for the long term,” Dan Reyes, global head of investment product at Vanguard, said.

The VUSV ETF will be managed similarly to the $24 billion Vanguard Windsor mutual fund (VWNEX). It is an opportunistic value strategy that invests in 60 to 100 stocks that may be at depressed valuations due to a shift in market sentiment. Its benchmark is the Russell 1000 Value Index and its expense ratio of 0.30%.

The VUSG ETF is similar to the $8 billion Vanguard Global Equity mutual fund (VHGEX), managed by Wellington. It is a concentrated strategy with 30 to 60 stocks that invest in disruptive firms with high earnings and revenue growth across sectors. Its benchmark is the Russell 1000 Growth Index. Its expense ratio is 0.35%.

The VDIG ETF is run by the same team that managed the $44 billion Vanguard Dividend Growth mutual fund (VDIGX). It is a concentrated equity strategy with 20 to 40 stocks of high-quality companies with strong balance sheets and growing dividends. Its benchmark is S&P U.S. Dividend Growers Index. It has an expense ratio of 0.40%.

“These new ETFs offer investors access to proven managers and fundamental active equity exposure in an ETF wrapper—an extension of the long-term success Wellington Management has had as an advisor on many of Vanguard’s active equity mutual funds,” Kim Gailun, head of equity boutiques at Wellington Management, said.

Active ETF boom

Index funds have consistently outperformed active funds over time, but 2025 has been the year of the active ETF.

According to a recent analysis by American Century Investments, about 86% of all new ETF launches in 2025 have been active ETFs. There are now more active ETFs than passive ETFs, despite having only been made widely available since an SEC ruling in 2019.

Further, active ETFs have already set a record for net inflows in a year with about $378 billion as of October 31, according to American Century.

While there may be many reasons for the surge in active ETF interest, one of them is likely increased market volatility and ongoing uncertainty, as investors seek a steady hand to manage the ETFs through these bouts of volatility.

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