Vanguard Australia will publish the portfolio holdings for the full range of its funds from October this year.
Vanguard is the first Australian manager to provide full disclosure of investment fund holdings and will provide investors with access to the details from 11 October 2012.
"One of the core propositions at Vanguard espoused through history has been around transparency and disclosure so this is a continuation of what we do in the United States with portfolio holdings," Vanguard corporate affairs and market development principal Robin Bowerman told InvestorDaily.
"In that sense, it's not particularly anything new or radical, it's an opportunity for us to take a leadership position in the industry and [demonstrate] that we fully support what ASIC is asking for."
According to the 2011 Morningstar Global Investors Report, of the 22 constituents in the MSCI World Index, Australia and New Zealand were the only two countries that do not disclose fund holdings.
The Australian market has lagged in fund disclosure as the demand from institutions and advisers hasn't been as strong as the United States, Bowerman said, adding that ASIC, institutions and investors via advisers have become the catalyst for change.
"We think the industry will head in that direction with the regulatory change and the greater need for disclosure," he said.
"It's inevitable that the industry will get there, it's just more a matter of 'when' not 'if'."
Holdings will be published with a "responsible amount" of time lag of three month and 10 days, to ensure portfolios are not at risk of being front-run and therefore protecting investors already invested in the funds, Bowerman said.
"It's important that people understand why the lag factor is critical," he said.
