Vanguard registers for new small-cap index fund

The new Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap Index Fund is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2009, the Valley Forge, Pa.-based company said. The fund will invest in a broad sampling of securities from the benchmark FTSE Global Small Cap ex US Index, which comprises more than 3,300 stocks of companies in 47 countries outside the U.S.

The fund will offer three share classes--exchange-traded fund shares, investor shares and institutional shares.

The fund's ETF shares have an estimated expense ratio of 0.38 percent. The investor shares, which will require a $3,000 minimum initial investment, have an estimated expense ratio of 0.60 percent. The institutional shares have a $5 million minimum initial investment requirement and an estimated expense ratio of 0.35 percent.