No commissions, no ads, no advice. This Vanguard Personal Advisor profile draws only on public records, each linked so you can confirm it yourself.

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The short answer: is Vanguard Personal Advisor a fiduciary?

It depends on your account: Vanguard Personal Advisor is a fiduciary in its advisory programs, and follows the Regulation Best Interest standard as a broker. Publicly, it files with the SEC as Vanguard Advisers (CRD #106715). As of its latest Form ADV (filed September 24, 2026), the firm reported $344.6 billion in regulatory assets under management, with approximately 790,000 clients per its latest Form ADV. Its Form ADV (Item 5.E) lists how it is paid: a percentage of assets under management and fixed fees. You don't have to take this on trust. The filings are public, and checking them is quick.

Vanguard Personal Advisor is a dual registrant, so the standard of care changes with the type of account you hold. In its advisory programs it acts as an investment adviser with a fiduciary duty. In brokerage accounts it acts as a broker-dealer under Regulation Best Interest (a best-interest obligation at the time of a recommendation, not a continuous fiduciary relationship). The practical move is to ask which type of account you have.

What "fiduciary" means: a fiduciary is legally bound to place a client's interests above its own. (More on fiduciary duty)

Vanguard Personal Advisor at a glance

✅ Verified from public filings, last checked October 5, 2026. Vanguard Personal Advisor (SEC CRD #106715) is a fiduciary in its advisory programs, on a fee-based basis, with $344.6 billion in regulatory assets under management. Every figure below links to its primary source.

What	Vanguard Personal Advisor	Source
SEC CRD	#106715	IAPD
Registration	Investment adviser and broker-dealer (dual registrant)	IAPD
Registered since	July 28, 1995 (SEC)	IAPD
Fiduciary?	Yes in advisory programs, Reg BI in brokerage	SEC Reg BI
Fee model	Fee-based (commissions + advisory)	Form ADV Item 5.E
How it's paid	A percentage of assets under management and fixed fees	Form ADV Item 5.E
Regulatory Assets Under Management	$344.6 billion (Form ADV filed September 24, 2026)	IAPD
Client accounts	791,528 (592,636 discretionary)	IAPD
Employees	2,208 (1,903 in advisory roles)	IAPD
Ownership	Parent-owned	Form ADV Schedule A
Disclosures	Records carry disclosure items (common at this size). Review them directly	IAPD
HQ	Malvern, PA	IAPD

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Vanguard Personal Advisor fees: what you'll pay

What Vanguard Personal Advisor costs you tracks how Vanguard Personal Advisor earns, and the fee structure makes it plain. Vanguard Personal Advisor fees depend on the account type: commissions in a brokerage account, an asset-based fee in an advisory program. In a brokerage account you generally pay commissions and product costs (mutual fund sales loads, markups, annuity commissions). In an advisory program you pay an asset-based advisory fee instead of per-trade commissions, plus the underlying fund expenses. Knowing which account you're in tells you what you're paying. Its Form ADV (Item 5.E) lists how it is paid: a percentage of assets under management and fixed fees.

Fee-based means cost can come from both an advisory fee and commissions, depending on the account.

Who owns Vanguard Personal Advisor, and what conflicts does it disclose?

Vanguard Personal Advisor's ownership is spelled out in the public record. Vanguard Personal Advisor is owned by Goliath, Inc., A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of the Vanguard Group Inc., as listed in Schedule A of its Form ADV. (Form ADV Schedule A)

Its Form ADV Part 2A describes the firm's conflicts of interest, including how it and its advisers are paid.

Vanguard Personal Advisor SEC record: disclosures

To check Vanguard Personal Advisor's regulatory record, start with the firm's own filings. Like most large firms, Vanguard Personal Advisor's regulatory records may carry disclosure items, and at that scale the number of disclosures is not by itself a measure of wrongdoing or of the firm's quality. Disclosure counts track headcount, not misconduct. A large firm will show more total items than a small one because more people are registered under it. Read any that matter to you at the source. If there are Vanguard Personal Advisor disclosures to read, the public record is where they are, and where they should be read.

On the record, the firm has been registered with the SEC since July 28, 1995, makes notice filings in 53 jurisdictions, and reports 2,208 employees, 1,903 of them in investment advisory roles. "Is Vanguard Personal Advisor legit?" comes up a lot. Its registration, CRD and filings are public and verifiable. That confirms it's a real, regulated adviser. The part worth your time is what you're paying and earning.

Reading Vanguard Personal Advisor reviews against the public record

Star ratings and client comments describe what working with a firm felt like. They usually don't show what the firm reports to regulators. Before you weigh Vanguard Personal Advisor reviews, check three things this profile takes from the public record. First, how the firm is paid: advisory accounts and brokerage accounts are paid differently, so the standard that applies depends on your account. Second, who owns it and what conflicts it discloses. Third, whether its Form ADV reports any disciplinary history. Read reviews alongside the record, not instead of it.

How to verify Vanguard Personal Advisor yourself

Here's how to confirm all of it in three steps:

1. Check the SEC adviser record (IAPD): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/106715.
2. Read the filings (Form ADV / Form CRS): linked from the IAPD page.
3. Confirm the entity: match Vanguard Personal Advisor (CRD #106715, legal name VANGUARD ADVISERS, INC.) so you're reading the right firm.

What Vanguard Personal Advisor does and who it serves

On its Form ADV, Vanguard Personal Advisor reports providing financial planning, portfolio management for individuals and small businesses, portfolio management (pooled vehicles), portfolio management for businesses and institutions, and selection of other advisers.

It reports providing financial planning to about 87,827 clients in its last fiscal year (Form ADV Item 5.H), a count the form keeps separate from the client totals below.

Its Form ADV (Item 5.D) breaks its clients down by type, about 791,528 in all:

Client type	Clients	Assets managed
Individuals	711,336	$164.80 billion
High-net-worth individuals	80,159	$164.53 billion
Pooled investment vehicles	12	$15.30 billion
Other investment advisers	21	None reported

It reports 791,528 client accounts, 592,636 discretionary (the firm can trade without seeking your approval first) and 198,892 non-discretionary (Item 5.F). Its main office is in Malvern, PA.

It reports that it or a related person has custody of certain client assets, which brings extra safeguards such as surprise examinations. The specifics are in its Form ADV.

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The firm checks out in minutes. The real work is seeing everything you hold, together.

Confirming Vanguard Personal Advisor is registered takes a few minutes. However diligent the advisor, they see a fraction of the picture by default: the old 401(k) at a former employer, a spouse's holdings, fees folded into a fund. This is where Truthifi comes in.

How Truthifi can help

Truthifi links your accounts read-only and shows what you own, how it's allocated, how it's performing and where the risk sits, including single-stock exposure, returns next to a benchmark, a fee breakdown of the fees on each account, by type, and your Truthifi Score. You can share the accounts you choose with your advisor at Vanguard Personal Advisor.

Prefer your own AI? A paid Truthifi plan lets you connect an AI assistant that supports MCP sign-in, such as Claude. Truthifi Connect is the lighter membership for people who only want to use their own assistant. Questions about your fees need Monitoring or Monitoring Plus+.

Ask AI about your Vanguard Personal Advisor accounts

Once your accounts are connected read-only, you can ask in plain English:

• "What do I own across my Vanguard Personal Advisor accounts and everything else, and how is it allocated?"
• "What am I really paying in fees across all of these accounts?"

Try it with Truthifi: start for free at app.truthifi.com and run a Monitoring Checkup (limits apply).

No commissions, no ads, no advice: Truthifi is not an investment adviser and doesn't give investment, tax or legal advice. Its access to your bank and brokerage accounts is read-only. Start free (limits apply). Monitoring Checkup is free. Link up to 10 connections. Plans and limits are on the pricing page → truthifi.com.

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FAQ

Is Vanguard Personal Advisor a fiduciary? It depends on your account. In its advisory programs it acts as a fiduciary. In brokerage accounts it follows the SEC's Regulation Best Interest standard. Ask which type of account you have.

What are Vanguard Personal Advisor's fees? They depend on the account. Brokerage accounts generally pay commissions and product charges. Advisory programs charge an asset-based fee instead of per-trade commissions, plus underlying fund costs. See the Form CRS.

Who owns Vanguard Personal Advisor? Vanguard Personal Advisor is owned by Goliath, Inc., A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of the Vanguard Group Inc., as listed in Schedule A of its Form ADV.

Does Vanguard Personal Advisor have complaints or disclosures? Its regulatory records may carry disclosure items, as is common at its size. A disclosure is not proof of wrongdoing. Read any directly on BrokerCheck and the firm's Form ADV.

Is Vanguard Personal Advisor legit? Vanguard Personal Advisor is registered with the SEC (CRD #106715) and its filings are public on the SEC's IAPD site, which confirms it is a real, regulated firm. Registration doesn't tell you whether it's the right fit or what you'll pay, so read the fee and conflict sections of its Form ADV.

Can AI help me check whether I'm getting good value? Yes. Start free (limits apply): Monitoring Checkup is free and lets you link up to 10 connections. You can also connect an AI assistant you already use (such as Claude). On Monitoring or Monitoring Plus+ you can ask it, in plain English, about the fees on each of your accounts. Truthifi is not an investment adviser and doesn't give investment, tax or legal advice.

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About this fact pack

About this profile

Truthifi built this profile from the firm's own SEC filings (Form ADV and, where filed, Form CRS). Every page is reviewed by the Truthifi Team before publishing. The Truthifi advisor fact packs are an ongoing series checking U.S. investment advisers against their public filings, one firm at a time.

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• What is a fiduciary?
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• Are you paying too much? Why that might be the wrong question
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• All advisor fact packs on Truthifi

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A note on sources. The facts on this page come from publicly available documents, Vanguard Personal Advisor's SEC and FINRA filings, each linked inline so you can verify it yourself (SEC data current as of October 5, 2026). This is general information, not financial or legal advice, and Truthifi is not affiliated with Vanguard Personal Advisor. Regulatory records change, so always confirm against the official sources linked above. Spot something that should be corrected? Email us at support@truthifi.com.