Vanguard Direct Indexing Alternatives: Vanguard Personalized Indexing Is Advisor-Only
Vanguard Personalized Indexing is a serious institutional product, built on the Just Invest business Vanguard bought in 2021, and it does the direct-indexing job properly: it owns the individual stocks in a separately managed account, scans daily for tax-loss harvesting, and applies screens and tilts the client asks for. The problem for most people researching it is simply that they cannot buy it.
Last updated July 2026
Educational only · Never places a trade
In short
You cannot sign up for Vanguard direct indexing as a retail investor. Vanguard Personalized Indexing is distributed through financial advisors, and vanguard.com displays no pricing for it. The pricing is public, though, just not there: Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management, LLC files its own Form ADV, and the version dated July 22, 2026 prices the strategy from 0.20% a year with a preferred minimum account size of $250,000 when an adviser places it, rising to 0.27% with a $10,000,000 minimum if you go direct. Your adviser's own fee stacks on top of either. Indexes is not a brokerage and does not own shares or harvest losses. It is the design step in front of that decision: build a weighted index from stocks and crypto, backtest it against real market history, and track it versus the S&P 500 or BTC, with no advisor, no account and no minimum.
Side by side
Indexes vs Vanguard
| Capability | Indexes | Vanguard |
|---|---|---|
| Design a custom weighted index yourself | Advisor-configured screens and tilts | |
| Stocks and crypto in one index | US equities only | |
| Backtest against real market history | ||
| Available without a financial advisor | ||
| Owns the shares for you | ||
| Automated daily tax-loss harvesting | ||
| Account minimum | None | $250,000 via an adviser, $10M direct |
| Annual fee model | Flat software fee | From 0.20% filed, plus your advisor fee |
| Analyze-only, never places trades |
Comparison reflects general product positioning and is provided in good faith. Verify current capabilities with each vendor.
Where each one fits
Indexes and Vanguard, without the sales pitch
Vanguard Personalized Indexing is a serious institutional product, built on the Just Invest business Vanguard bought in 2021, and it does the direct-indexing job properly: it owns the individual stocks in a separately managed account, scans daily for tax-loss harvesting, and applies screens and tilts the client asks for. The problem for most people researching it is simply that they cannot buy it. It is an advisor-distributed product, so the path runs through a financial advisor rather than a Vanguard login.
The fee is not a mystery, despite what most reviews say: it is filed with the SEC, and it starts at 0.20% a year on the sub-advisory schedule. What matters more is the layer above it. Your advisor charges their own fee on top, frequently around 1% a year, which can dwarf the direct-indexing fee itself.
Its Form ADV also shows how narrow the retail door really is: of $11.35 billion under management, 99.4% belongs to 203 other investment advisers and exactly one client is an individual. Indexes is a different tool for a different moment. It is informational and educational, track-and-analyze not trade.
You design the index yourself, weight stocks and crypto in the same basket, backtest it against real market history, and follow it against benchmarks over time. Nothing is custodied, no trade is placed, and there is no gatekeeper. If you are trying to work out what you would actually want a direct-indexing account to hold before you call an advisor, that is the question this answers.
Questions
Vanguard direct indexing, answered
What is Vanguard Personalized Indexing?
Vanguard Personalized Indexing is Vanguard's direct-indexing product, built on the Just Invest business it acquired in 2021. It holds the individual stocks of an index in a separately managed account, scans daily for tax-loss harvesting opportunities, and applies the screens or tilts a client wants. It is delivered to clients through financial advisors rather than sold direct.
Can I get Vanguard direct indexing as a retail investor?
Not directly. Vanguard Personalized Indexing is distributed through financial advisors, and Vanguard's product page is marked "For financial advisors only. Not for public distribution." To access it you generally need to work with an advisor who offers it, rather than turning it on inside a regular Vanguard brokerage account.
What is the minimum for Vanguard Personalized Indexing?
There are three, all stated in Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management's Form ADV Part 2A dated July 22, 2026. The preferred minimum account size is $250,000 when an adviser places the account. Clients introduced through a Turnkey Asset Management Program face $1,000,000. Direct clients of VPIM face an account minimum of $10,000,000, waivable at the firm's discretion. The $250,000 figure quoted in most reviews is the smallest of the three.
How much does Vanguard direct indexing cost?
The sub-advisory schedule starts at 0.20% a year and steps down to 0.18% and 0.15% as your adviser's aggregate book with VPIM grows, per its Form ADV Part 2A dated July 22, 2026. Direct clients pay a separate, higher schedule starting at 0.27%. Index licensing fees of 0.010% to 0.0275% can apply on top. The number that usually matters more is your advisor's own fee, often around 1% a year. Get the all-in cost before comparing it to a 0.03% index fund.
Is there a Vanguard direct indexing alternative with no minimum?
If you want an account that owns the shares and harvests losses, the self-serve options are Fidelity Managed FidFolios at $5,000, Wealthfront S&P 500 Direct at $5,000, or Frec from $20,000, none of which need an advisor. If you want to design, backtest and track an index without funding anything, Indexes does that with no minimum because it is an analysis tool, not a brokerage.
New to the strategy? Start with our guide to direct indexing, what it costs and who it suits, or see direct indexing fees compared across providers. If you are still deciding which category of tool you need, the portfolio analyzer comparison sets out the difference between account aggregators, modeling tools and construction tools. To see every provider's published minimum and annual fee in one table, including the advisor-only firms, compare direct indexing platforms on fees and minimums.
Going deeper on Vanguard: the filed Vanguard direct indexing fee schedule and all three minimums, how the adviser-only providers compare on fees .
Other comparisons
Build your index and see how it backtests
Bundle stocks or crypto into your own weighted index, backtest it against real market history, and track it against the S&P 500 or BTC. Prosumer pricing, no brokerage account. Indexes is educational and informational only, and it never places a trade. Decide for yourself.