Vanguard plans to introduce two international bond index funds: Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund and Vanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Fund. The funds represent Vanguard's first international fixed income offerings for U.S. investors.

The Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund will seek to track the investment performance of the Barclays Global Aggregate ex-USD Float Adjusted Index. The target benchmark comprises a wide spectrum of more than 7,000 global government, agency and corporate securities in 57 countries including Canada, countries in Asia, Europe and South America.

"The new Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund will provide a low-cost way to obtain diversified exposure to one of the world's largest asset classes," says Vanguard CEO Bill McNabb.