Vanguard Opens Windsor Fund to New Investors

Vanguard Group opened its Windsor Fund to new investors Tuesday for the first time in more than a decade after an estimated $4.2 billion was withdrawn from the fund during the last year.

“The fund was bleeding assets, so it makes sense to reopen it,” said Daniel Wiener, editor of Independent Adviser for Vanguard Investors, an independent newsletter that tracks Vanguard’s funds.

The $18.4-billion fund’s long-time investments in stocks such as Alcoa Inc. have improved returns in 1999, following two years of subpar results. The fund rose 14.7% this year through last week, exceeding the 6.5% return of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.

Most of the fund’s gains occurred in the six-week period between April 1 and May 13, as the “value” stocks it holds, such as Alcoa, rallied. Since then, Windsor has tumbled 6%, compared with a 4.8% drop in the S&P; 500.

Valley Forge, Pa.-based Vanguard, the second-biggest U.S. fund company, said neither Windsor’s recent gain nor its decline since mid-May has anything to do with reopening the fund.

The fund’s three-year record is less than exceptional, with an average annual rise of 17.2%, compared with 26.5% for the S&P; 500.