The Vanguard Group recently made the following announcement. For more information, please contact Michael Smith (610.503.5897) or Amy Chain (610.669.2149).

ROBERT B. THOMAS NAMED PRINCIPAL OF THE VANGUARD GROUP

VALLEY FORGE, PA, February 10, 2005 – Robert B. Thomas has been named Principal of The Vanguard Group. Mr. Thomas joined Vanguard in 1997 as an online services delivery manager and has spent the bulk of his career as a systems development manager in the Institutional Systems department. Prior to joining Vanguard he worked for Lockheed Martin in Valley Forge, PA. His responsibilities as Principal include managing a team responsible for business technology planning and user interface design in Vanguard’s Institutional Retirement Plan Services division.Mr. Thomas graduated from Drexel University in 1989 with a B.S. degree in electrical engineering, and earned an M.S. degree in computer engineering and software engineering from Villanova University in 1995. He resides in Collegeville, PA. The Vanguard Group, headquartered in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, is the nation’s second largest mutual fund firm and a leading provider of company-sponsored retirement plan services. Vanguard manages more than $800 billion in U.S. mutual fund assets, including more than $245 billion in employer-sponsored retirement plans. Vanguard offers 129 funds to U.S. investors and more than 40 additional funds in foreign markets.

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