Vanguard World Fund

09/29/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/29/2025 07:01

Summary Prospectus by Investment Company (Form 497K)

 
September 29, 2025
Summary Prospectus
Vanguard Emerging Markets Ex-China ETF
Exchange-traded fund shares that are not individually redeemable and are listed on NYSE Arca
Vanguard Emerging Markets Ex-China ETF Shares (VEXC)
The Fund's statutory Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information dated September 29, 2025, as may be amended or supplemented, are incorporated into and made part of this Summary Prospectus by reference.
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund's Prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund's Prospectus and other information about the Fund online at www.vanguard.com/prospectus and https://personal.vanguard.com/us/literature/reports/ETFs. You can also obtain this information at no cost by calling 866-499-8473 or by sending an email request to [email protected].
 
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Investment Objective
The Fund seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of stocks issued by companies located in emerging market countries, excluding China.
Fees and Expenses
The following tables describe the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and example below.
Shareholder Fees
(Fees paid directly from your investment) 
Transaction Fee on Purchases and Sales
None*
Transaction Fee on Reinvested Dividends
None*
*
None through Vanguard (Broker fees vary)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 
Management Fees
0.01
%
12b-1 Distribution Fee
None
Other Expenses
0.06
%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses1
0.07
%
1
The expense information shown in the table reflects estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.
Example
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. It illustrates the hypothetical expenses that you would incur over various periods if you were to invest $10,000 in the Fund's shares. This example assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% each year and that total annual fund operating expenses remain as stated in the preceding table. You would incur these hypothetical expenses whether or not you were to sell your shares at the end of the given period. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: 
1 Year
3 Years
$7
$23
1
This example does not include the brokerage commissions that you may pay to buy and sell shares of the Fund.
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in more taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the previous expense example, reduce the Fund's performance. The Fund has no operating history and therefore has no portfolio turnover information.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the FTSE Emerging ex-China Index (the Index), a market-capitalization weighted index that is made up of approximately 1,012 common stocks of large- and mid-cap companies located in emerging markets around the world, excluding China, as of August 29, 2025. The Fund invests by sampling the Index, meaning that it holds a broadly diversified collection of securities that, in the aggregate, approximates the Index in terms of key characteristics. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will generally invest all, but at least 80%, of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in the securities comprising the Index and in securities that the advisor determines have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of the securities that comprise the Index. These key characteristics include the industry weightings and market capitalization, as well as certain financial measures, such as price/earnings ratio and dividend yield. The Fund may become nondiversified, as defined under the Investment Company Act of 1940, solely as a result of an index rebalance or market movement.
Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund could lose money over short or long periods of time. You should expect the Fund's share price and total return to fluctuate within a wide range. The Fund is subject to the following risks, which could affect the Fund's performance:
• Stock market risk, which is the chance that stock prices overall will decline. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices. The Fund's investments in foreign stocks can be riskier than U.S. stock investments. Foreign stocks may be more volatile and less liquid than U.S. stocks. The prices of foreign stocks and the prices of U.S. stocks may move in opposite directions. In addition, the Fund's target index may, at times, become focused in stocks of a particular market sector, which would subject the Fund to proportionately higher exposure to the risks of that sector.
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• Investing in Foreign Markets. Foreign markets can perform differently than U.S. markets. World events could adversely affect the value and/or liquidity of securities of foreign companies or foreign issuers, potentially in ways that differ from impacts to U.S. companies or issuers. Further, global economies and financial markets are becoming increasingly interconnected, which increases the possibility that conditions in one country or region could adversely impact a different country or region. In addition, the rights and remedies associated with investments in a fund that invests in foreign securities may be different than a fund that invests in domestic securities. Because the Fund may invest a large portion of its assets in securities of companies located in any one country or region, the Fund's performance may be hurt disproportionately by the poor performance of its investments in that area.
• Emerging Markets Risk. Investments in emerging markets are subject to higher degrees of risk and volatility than investments in developed markets. Compared with developed markets, emerging markets can have greater custodial and operational risks; less developed legal, tax, regulatory, financial reporting, accounting, and recordkeeping systems; and greater political, social, and economic instability than developed markets. In addition, emerging markets generally have less efficient trading markets with lower overall liquidity and more volatile currency exchange rates. Each of these risks could cause losses to the Fund's investments and/or impact the Fund's performance.
• Ex-China Investing Risk. As described in the Fund's principal investment strategies, the index provider excludes certain stocks from the Index based on its own assessment of whether the issuer is a Chinese company. The index provider relies on a proprietary method to determine whether an issuer meets its specified criteria to be defined as a Chinese company; however, the index provider's criteria may differ from other assessments of what it means for an issuer to be a Chinese company. Additionally, the Index is a market-capitalization weighted index, and its exclusion of Chinese companies causes the Fund to invest more heavily in stocks from other emerging markets, thereby increasing the Fund's weighting in fewer markets. As a result, the Fund's investment performance may be impacted by the economic, political, and social conditions in those markets. Lastly, though the Index's methodology is designed to exclude Chinese companies, the Index, and therefore the Fund, may have significant exposure to countries that could be materially impacted politically, economically, or otherwise by China. For example, the Fund has significant investments in Taiwan that are subject to legal, regulatory, political, currency and economic risks which may be heightened by Taiwan's geographic proximity to and ongoing geopolitical tensions with China.
• Currency risk, which is the chance that the value of a foreign investment, measured in U.S. dollars, will decrease because of unfavorable changes in currency exchange rates.
• Indexing risks. The Fund is subject to risks associated with index investing. Because the Fund generally seeks to track the performance of its target index
3
regardless of how that index is performing, the Fund's performance may be lower than it would be if the Fund were actively managed. Additionally, because the Fund does not hold all of the securities included in its target index, it is subject to the risk that the representative sample of securities selected by the advisor will, in the aggregate, vary from the investment profile of its full target index. The performance of the Fund's investments, in the aggregate, may not match the investment performance of its target index. This risk, known as tracking error risk, may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or under other unusual market conditions. The Fund also could be negatively impacted by changes to the target index made by the index provider or by errors made by the index provider. Any gains, losses, or costs associated with or resulting from an error made by the index provider will generally be borne by the Fund and, as a result, the Fund's shareholders.
• Nondiversification risk. By tracking its broad-based index, the Fund may become nondiversified, as defined by the Investment Company Act of 1940, solely as a result of an index rebalance or market movement. Nondiversified funds invest a greater percentage of their assets in a small number of issuers than diversified funds, which means their performance may be negatively impacted by relatively few stocks, or even a single stock, and their shares may experience significant fluctuations in value.
• Index concentration risk. Except as may be necessary to approximate the composition of its Index, the Fund will not concentrate its investments in the securities of issuers whose principal business activities are in the same industry or group of industries. If the Index becomes concentrated and the Fund needs to concentrate in the same industry or group of industries, its performance may be negatively impacted by the industry or industries in which it is concentrated.
Because the Fund is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) and the Fund's shares are traded on an exchange, the Fund is subject to additional risks:
• The Fund's ETF Shares are listed for trading on NYSE Arca and are bought and sold on the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of an ETF Share typically will approximate its net asset value (NAV), there may be times when the market price and the NAV differ significantly. Thus, you may pay more or less than NAV when you buy ETF Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive more or less than NAV when you sell those shares.
• Although the Fund's ETF Shares are listed for trading on NYSE Arca, it is possible that an active trading market may not be maintained.
• Trading of the Fund's ETF Shares may be halted by the activation of individual or marketwide trading halts (which halt trading for a specific period of time when the price of a particular security or overall market prices decline by a specified percentage). Trading of the Fund's ETF Shares may also be halted if (1) the shares are delisted from NYSE Arca without first being listed on another
4
exchange or (2) NYSE Arca officials determine that such action is appropriate in the interest of a fair and orderly market or for the protection of investors.
An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Annual Total Returns
This is the Fund's initial prospectus, so it does not contain performance data.
Investment Advisor
The Vanguard Group, Inc. (Vanguard)
Portfolio Managers
Michael Perre, Principal of Vanguard. He has co-managed the Fund since its inception in September 2025.
Jeffrey D. Miller, Portfolio Manager at Vanguard. He has co-managed the Fund since its inception in September 2025.
John Kraynak, CFA, Portfolio Manager at Vanguard. He has co-managed the Fund since its inception in September 2025.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
ETF Shares may only be bought and sold in the secondary market through a brokerage firm. The price you pay or receive for ETF Shares will be the prevailing market price, which may be more (premium) or less (discount) than the NAV of the shares. The brokerage firm may charge you a commission to execute the transaction. Unless imposed by your brokerage firm, there is no minimum dollar amount you must invest and no minimum number of shares you must buy. ETF Shares of the Fund cannot be directly purchased from or redeemed with the Fund, except by certain authorized broker-dealers. These broker-dealers may purchase and redeem ETF Shares only in large blocks (Creation Units), typically in exchange for baskets of securities.
An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase ETF Shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for ETF Shares (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (bid-ask spread). Recent information, including information on the Fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, is available online at vanguard.com.
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Tax Information
The Fund's distributions may be taxable as ordinary income or capital gains. If you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as an IRA or an employer-sponsored retirement or savings plan, special tax rules apply. You should consult your own tax advisor with respect to any particular U.S. or non-U.S. tax consequences of your investment in the Fund.
Payments to Financial Intermediaries
The Fund and its investment advisor do not pay financial intermediaries for sales of Fund shares.
CFA® is a registered trademark owned by CFA Institute.
London Stock Exchange Group companies include FTSE International Limited ("FTSE"), Frank Russell Company ("Russell"), MTS Next Limited ("MTS"), and FTSE TMX Global Debt Capital Markets Inc. ("FTSE TMX"). All rights reserved. "FTSE®", "Russell®", "MTS®", "FTSE TMX®" and "FTSE Russell" and other service marks and trademarks related to the FTSE or Russell indexes are trademarks of the London Stock Exchange Group companies and are used by FTSE, MTS, FTSE TMX and Russell under license. All information is provided for information purposes only. Every effort is made to ensure that all information given in this publication is accurate, but no responsibility or liability can be accepted by the London Stock Exchange Group companies nor its licensors for any errors or for any loss from use of this publication. Neither the London Stock Exchange Group companies nor any of their licensors make any claim, prediction, warranty or representation whatsoever, expressly or impliedly, either as to the results to be obtained from the use of the Indices or the fitness or suitability of the Indices for any particular purpose to which they might be put. The London Stock Exchange Group companies do not provide investment advice and nothing in this document should be taken as constituting financial or investment advice. The London Stock Exchange Group companies make no representation regarding the advisability of investing in any asset. A decision to invest in any such asset should not be made in reliance on any information herein. Indexes cannot be invested in directly. Inclusion of an asset in an index is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold that asset. The general information contained in this publication should not be acted upon without obtaining specific legal, tax, and investment advice from a licensed professional. No part of this information may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the London Stock Exchange Group companies. Distribution of the London Stock Exchange Group companies' index values and the use of their indexes to create financial products require a license with FTSE, FTSE TMX, MTS and/or Russell and/or its licensors.
Vanguard Emerging Markets Ex-China ETF-Fund Number V051
To request additional information about the Fund, please visit vanguard.com or contact us at 866-499-8473.
© 2025 The Vanguard Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor.
SP V051 092025

Vanguard World Fund published this content on September 29, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT) on September 29, 2025 at 13:01 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]