Vanguard Adds T. Rowe Price as Advisor to Three Active Equity Funds
Vanguard announced changes to the investment advisory arrangements for three of its active equity funds, naming T. Rowe Price as an advisor to Vanguard Explorer Fund, Vanguard Variable Insurance Fund - Small Company Growth Portfolio, and Vanguard Growth and Income Fund. The Valley Forge, Pa.-based firm disclosed the move on June 29, 2026.
Key takeaways
- Vanguard named T. Rowe Price as an advisor to three of its active equity funds, disclosed on June 29, 2026.
- The affected funds are Vanguard Explorer Fund, Vanguard Variable Insurance Fund - Small Company Growth Portfolio, and Vanguard Growth and Income Fund.
- T. Rowe Price, the Baltimore-based asset manager, joins under Vanguard's multi-manager sub-advisory model that uses external sub-advisors to run portions of each portfolio.
- The simultaneous addition across three distinct mandates suggests a coordinated realignment and a broad extension of T. Rowe Price's role rather than filling a narrow gap.
- No financial terms, effective dates, or asset figures were disclosed in the announcement.
Vanguard announced changes to the investment advisory arrangements for three of its active equity funds, naming T. Rowe Price as an advisor to Vanguard Explorer Fund, Vanguard Variable Insurance Fund - Small Company Growth Portfolio, and Vanguard Growth and Income Fund. The Valley Forge, Pa.-based firm disclosed the move on June 29, 2026.
The Funds Affected
The three funds span growth and income mandates within Vanguard's active equity lineup. Vanguard Explorer Fund and the Vanguard Variable Insurance Fund - Small Company Growth Portfolio both carry a small-company growth orientation, while Vanguard Growth and Income Fund targets a broader growth-and-income profile. The advisory change applies across all three vehicles simultaneously, suggesting a coordinated realignment rather than a fund-specific adjustment.
T. Rowe Price Joins the Sub-Advisory Roster
Vanguard operates its active equity funds through a multi-manager model, engaging external sub-advisors to run portions of each portfolio. T. Rowe Price, the Baltimore-based asset manager, is being brought in under that framework. The announcement identifies T. Rowe Price specifically as the incoming advisor across the affected funds; the source does not detail which existing advisors, if any, are being retained, replaced, or repositioned alongside the addition.
What It Signals
Sub-advisory changes at Vanguard are relatively infrequent and tend to reflect deliberate views on manager capability within a given style box. The simultaneous addition of a single firm across three distinct mandates — small-cap growth, variable insurance small-cap growth, and growth-and-income — points to Vanguard extending T. Rowe Price's role broadly rather than filling a narrow gap. No financial terms, effective dates, or asset figures were disclosed in the announcement.
Vanguard did not provide additional commentary beyond the formal disclosure. T. Rowe Price had no immediate statement available at publication time.