Vanguard employees won’t have an S&P 500 index fund in their 401(k) plan

Employees at investment giant Vanguard Group will no longer have access to an S&P 500 index fund  as a choice in its 401(k) retirement plan, according to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The company, which popularized low-cost index investing, will remove the option to invest in the Vanguard Institutional Index Fund  for employees this month and the money currently in those funds will be put into target-date retirement funds based on the worker’s age, the report said.

The move part of a larger strategy to streamline fund options for employees, the report said, citing the company. A company spokesman told the Inquirer that Vanguard eliminated 12 funds from its retirement-plan menu. The list of the dozen funds published by the Inquirer comprises a mix of actively managed and passive index funds.

A Vanguard representative was not immediately available to provide more details.