This is the second phase of the rollout, with joint accounts and financial adviser access to come, it said.

Vanguard stated that many Australians want full control of their retirement journey and that superannuation is a vital component of that process.

SMSFs who meet the eligibility criteria can open a Vanguard Personal Investor SMSF account from today, it said.

“As a global fund manager with a deeply rooted commitment to advocating for the end investor, Vanguard Personal Investor represents our pledge to challenging the status quo and provid[e] Australian investors with more low-cost investment options,” Vanguard said.

“We decided to proceed with the launch of the Personal Investor offer amid the COVID-19 health pandemic and resulting sharemarket volatility because we wanted to give Australian investors the ability to benefit from lower investment costs, irrespective of the prevailing market conditions. Since that initial launch, we have seen Australian investors respond positively to the offer despite the challenging market conditions.”