You Own Wall Street › Voting choice › Vanguard Investor Choice › Company Board-Aligned Policy
Company Board-Aligned Policy, in Vanguard Investor Choice
Votes your share the way each company's board recommends. It is one of the 5 policies the holders of a listed Vanguard fund can choose. Who writes it: Vanguard (mechanical).
Choose the Company Board-Aligned Policy
Hold a listed Vanguard fund in a brokerage account or IRA?
Set your policy on Vanguard’s or Broadridge’s site. Your voting policy selection can be made or updated at any time.
(Vanguard Investor Choice)
Vanguard brokerage account → Any other broker, via ProxyVote →
Vanguard says a choice made through ProxyVote may not apply if Broadridge, which runs it, cannot see your Vanguard fund holdings.
Hold it through your employer’s 401(k)?
The plan sponsor makes this choice for the whole plan. Nearly 80 retirement plan sponsors now take part, for more than one million plan participants (Vanguard, September 29, 2026). Ask yours:
Draft the letter to my plan →It opens in your own email. Send it to your HR or benefits team.
What it does, in its own words
- Every proposal
Under this policy, proportionate positions will be voted in accordance with the recommendations on each proposal made by the portfolio company’s board of directors pursuant to the board’s own fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the company’s shareholders.
- No recommendation
In the absence of a recommendation from the portfolio company’s board on a specific proposal, the Participating Fund will cast ABSTAIN votes on the shareholder’s behalf.
SourceVanguard, Company Board-Aligned Policy
How Vanguard describes it
The proportionate shares of participating investors that select the Company Board-Aligned Policy will be voted in accordance with the recommendations on each proposal made by the portfolio company’s board of directors pursuant to the company board’s fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the company’s shareholders.
SourceVanguard Investor Choice
The other policies
- Egan-Jones Wealth-Focused Policy: Follows proxy adviser Egan-Jones; by rule it rejects environmental, social or political proposals unless they directly add to the company's revenue.
- Glass Lewis ESG Policy: Follows proxy adviser Glass Lewis, on the view that more disclosure on environmental, social and governance issues can reduce company risks.
- Mirror Voting Policy: Votes your share in about the same proportions as the other shareholders voting at each meeting.
- Fund Proxy Policy (the default): The fund's own policy, adopted by its trustees. Your share votes this way if you choose nothing.
We quote each policy’s publishers; we don’t recommend one. How Vanguard Investor Choice works.
The funds where you can choose it
Every share class of Vanguard Growth Index Fund (VUG), Vanguard Value Index Fund (VTV), Vanguard Large-Cap Index Fund (VV), Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Fund (VO), Vanguard S&P 500 Growth Index Fund (VOOG), Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF (ESGV), Vanguard Russell 1000 Index Fund (VONE), Vanguard Mega Cap Index Fund (MGC), Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund (VIG), Vanguard High Dividend Yield Index Fund (VYM), Vanguard Tax-Managed Capital Appreciation Fund (VTCLX), Vanguard Tax-Managed Small-Cap Fund (VTMSX), Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VOO), Vanguard Extended Market Index Fund (VXF), Vanguard Institutional Index Fund (VINIX), Vanguard Energy Index Fund (VDE), Vanguard Materials Index Fund (VAW), Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS), Vanguard Consumer Discretionary Index Fund (VCR), Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund (VDC), Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT), Vanguard Financials Index Fund (VFH), Vanguard Information Technology Index Fund (VGT), Vanguard Communication Services Index Fund (VOX), Vanguard Utilities Index Fund (VPU), Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Index Fund (IVOO), Vanguard S&P 500 Value Index Fund (VOOV), Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth Index Fund (IVOG), Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value Index Fund (IVOV), Vanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 Index Fund (VIOO), Vanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 Value Index Fund (VIOV), Vanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 Growth ETF (VIOG).