In July 2026, investors who use Vanguard funds may have noticed a slight change in the names of the funds in which they invest. Vanguard added “Morningstar” to the name of many of its funds and ETFs. For example, the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund became the Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market Fund.

The good news for investors who were happy with how their funds were managed is that the name changes result in no real change in fund strategy or management. However, it’s normal to wonder why Vanguard made the change at all.

What Is Morningstar?

Morningstar is a financial services company located in Chicago that operates in nearly 30 countries across the globe. The company is well known and regarded for its investment research and recommendations. The company offers ratings for many different investment funds, and fund managers often tout high ratings from Morningstar to advertise their services.

Another thing that Morningstar does is create market indices that investors can use to track the performance of a broad swath of the market. For example, the Morningstar Developed Markets ex-US Target Market Exposure index measures the performance of large and mid cap stocks from companies outside of the United States.

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Why Did Vanguard Add Morningstar to Its Index Fund Names?

The stock indices that Morningstar creates and tracks are the root of why Vanguard added Morningstar to the names of many of its funds. One of the reasons that Vanguard is popular with investors is that it offers low-cost index funds. These funds aim to track, rather than beat, specific market indices, like the S&P 500.

Many of the funds offered by Vanguard tracked indices monitored by the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP). In late 2025, Morningstar purchased CRSP and absorbed its market indices, which at the time tracked more than $3 trillion in American stocks across a wide range of industries, company sizes, and more.
Because Vanguard’s funds tracked CRSP indices that were purchased by Morningstar, those funds now began to track Morningstar indices, leading to a change of name to ensure fund names “align with how Vanguard identifies funds that track indexes from other providers, ensuring clarity and consistency for investors.”

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What It Means for You

If you have invested in Vanguard funds that have undergone name changes, you don’t need to worry about changes in investment strategy or style. Vanguard has assured its customers that:

“This is purely a name change. There are no changes to:

  • Investment objectives, strategies, or policies

  • Index construction methodology – The way the indexes are built remains identical

  • Rebalancing frequency

  • Securities included in the indexes

  • Fund tickers (e.g., VTI, VO, VB)

  • CUSIPs

  • Expense ratios”

If you were happy with the funds at Vanguard prior to the name change, you can stick with the funds and expect the same investment strategies to be followed.

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