By comparison, the Vanguard 500 fund actually delivered 14.46 percent.

"In the late 1990's, we did very well when the markets were going up, and that wasn't particularly true of the Vanguard fund at the time."

The Vanguard fund is one of the oldest focusing on foreign markets.

Its investors paid $2.3 million more than they would have in the Vanguard fund.

The changes would be the first in a wave of reorganizations planned for the 85 Vanguard funds.

One drawback to the program was highlighted by how it treated my Vanguard fund.

The Vanguard fund owns stocks in just 14 countries, he said.

It returned 8.2 percent a year, on average, compared with 10.5 percent for the Vanguard fund over the last three years.

If people have a retirement plan at work that includes Vanguard funds, the service might be a natural fit.

Over the last three years, the Vanguard fund has distributed 36 cents a share in gains.