Fund Evaluator:

Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral Overview

Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral (VTEAX) is a passively managed Municipal Bond Muni National Interm fund. Vanguard launched the fund in 2015.

The investment seeks to track the Standard & Poor's National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index, which measures the performance of the investment-grade segment of the U.S. municipal bond market. The Target Index includes municipal bonds issued by states, local governments, or agencies whose interest is exempt from U.S. federal income taxes and the federal alternative minimum tax (AMT). Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in the bonds that make up the Target Index.

About Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral (VTEAX)

There are 1 members of the management team with an average tenure of 2.74 years: Justin Schwartz (2023). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg Municipal TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and S&P National AMT Free Muni TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral has 10372 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 1.1% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Municipal Bond fund group. Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral has 0.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.0%. There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 97.1% (97.1% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral has 2.9% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $2 billion in total assets, which is above the $1 billion average for the Muni National Interm category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

VTEAX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral expense ratio is low compared to funds in the Muni National Interm category. Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral has an expense ratio of 0.07%, which is 90% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a A. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral has a portfolio turnover rate of 23%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 39% for the Muni National Interm category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral returned 0.8%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Muni National Interm category had an average return of 0.7%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral has a trailing yield of 3.03%, which is below the 3.21% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 2.1%, 0.1 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 6.8% over the past year (grade of A), 3.5% over the past three years (grade of D) and 1.0% per year over the past five years (grade of D) and 2.0% per year over the past 10 years (grade of C).

Additional Fund Information

Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral is open to new investors. Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral is part of the ADM share class. The minimum initial purchase is $3,000 if purchased directly from Vanguard.

The fund has a maximum front-end load of 0.00% and maximum deferred sales charge of 0.00%.

Redemption fees are paid to the fund for selling your shares or switching funds and often are reduced or eliminated over time. Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral has a maximum redemption charge of 0.00%.

Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral does not have a 12b-1 fee. This fee is paid out of assets to cover the costs of marketing and selling fund shares as well as to cover the costs of providing shareholder services. The 12b-1 fee is reflected in the expense ratio.

The fund meets the classification of being considered a True No-Load fund.

Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral Risk

A basic investment concept is that risk should be rewarded. Standard deviation measures the degree of variation in return experienced relative to the average return for a fund. It notes the recent volatility of the fund but does not explain the elements impacting the volatility. For example, portfolio concentration or exposure to foreign investments can impact the volatility and should be examined to gain an understanding of the fund.

The total risk index relates the volatility of the fund to the volatility of all funds. It can help you understand the volatility of a fund across all categories. Ratios above 1.00 indicate higher risk than average. Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral has a low total risk index of 0.44 because of its standard deviation of 5.3%.

The category risk index relates the volatility of a fund to the average volatility for funds in the same investment category. Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Admiral has high category risk of 1.15, giving it a category risk grade of F. Letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon these relative rankings.