does vanguard have admiral TIPS?

[genjix]

does vanguard have admiral TIPS?
I was going to rebalance today and upgrade to admiral tips but i didnt see it on the list?
Thanks

[tomd37]

Yes, the symbol is VAIPX which I hold.

[Taylor Larimore]

Yes. The ticker symbol is VAIPX. However, the minimum investment is $50,000.

Best wishes.
Taylor

[genjix]

Yes. The ticker symbol is VAIPX. However, the minimum investment is $50,000.

Best wishes.
Taylor

ohhhh... ok nm, i thought it was the typical 10k. Thanks for the info guys

[Langkawi]

ohhhh... ok nm, i thought it was the typical 10k.

10K is the minumum only for index funds.

[archbish99]

ohhhh... ok nm, i thought it was the typical 10k.

10K is the minumum only for index funds.

Interestingly, their new short-term TIPS fund is an index, and therefore its Admiral shares start at $10k. I wonder why the full-term TIPS fund isn't simply an index -- are they actively moving up and down the yield curve in search of better return?

[nisiprius]

ohhhh... ok nm, i thought it was the typical 10k.

10K is the minumum only for index funds.

Interestingly, their new short-term TIPS fund is an index, and therefore its Admiral shares start at $10k. I wonder why the full-term TIPS fund isn't simply an index -- are they actively moving up and down the yield curve in search of better return?

They have said publicly that they do try to get slightly better returns by active management... it was the fund's previous manager, what was his name, Vollmer, Volcker... Volpert! Kenneth Volpert who said that. In reality, the fund has tracked the TIPS index almost perfectly. Morningstar is showing me some teaser snippets of premium content in which a David Falkof says "Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities succeeds with a straightlaced approach. Manager Gemma Wright-Casparius, who became the fund's lead manager in early 2012, keeps this fund's portfolio tightly aligned with its benchmark, the Barclays U.S. TIPS..." and "Management runs the fund closely in line with its benchmark, the Barclays U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities Index. While it's not an index fund, management prefers to let the fund's low expense..."

But if not being an index makes the entry point $50,000 instead of $10,000, it's a pity.

There have actually been several times I've wonder "why Vanguard doesn't just..." do some seemingly obvious thing, and, in due course, be gratified when they did. It wouldn't surprise me if they do revamp it to be an index fund someday, and I hope they do.

[archbish99]

In fairness, a couple of their other bond funds aren't indexed (and thus still have $50k Admiral shares) either, so it's in good company.

[Geologist]

Keep in mind that the savings of Admiral shares compared to Investor shares is pretty small for modest fund holdings. Even if you had $49,000 in the TIPS fund, your extra expense is less than $50/year. Speaking personally, I'm always happier to pay less but the difference is not much to get worked up over.

[grabiner]

ohhhh... ok nm, i thought it was the typical 10k.

10K is the minumum only for index funds.

Interestingly, their new short-term TIPS fund is an index, and therefore its Admiral shares start at $10k. I wonder why the full-term TIPS fund isn't simply an index -- are they actively moving up and down the yield curve in search of better return?

When the fund was started, indexing didn't make much sense; there were so few different maturities of TIPS, issued irregularly, sometimes with 10-year maturity and sometimes with 30-year maturity, and in varying amounts, that a TIPS index would not have a consistent duration as new TIPS were issued. A fund which kept a constant duration of 7-8 years would be more appropriate for investors who wanted a given risk level than an index with duration varying between 5-10 years.