The Lifetarget portfolios - of which there are three - were launched earlier this year and are currently only available on the Transact platform, though Vanguard has said they will become available more widely.
Giulio Renzi Ricci, senior investment strategist at Vanguard, said while the Lifestrategy range was strategic, in that the sub-asset allocation of each fund is based on market cap, this would not be the case for the Lifetarget range.
He said: "What we are trying to do with Lifetarget is something a bit different which is not relying on what the weighting would be on how markets move, but based on our views.
"From that perspective, they are more active in nature. They take a specific view and the asset allocation can change over time, but they try to reflect what the optimum asset allocation will be, based on our thinking."
Renzi Ricci said the Lifetarget portfolios were aimed at delivering an outcome to the investor rather than targeting an asset allocation, with each one targeting a different minimum long-term return.
He said this gave the Lifetarget portfolios, which each cost 0.33 per cent, a decumulation "flavour".
Renzi Ricci added the focus on minimum return targets had come from Vanguard's discussions with advisers about how they dealt with investors close to or in retirement.
Peter Westaway, Vanguard's head of investment strategy, said: "Active here needs to be interpreted as responding to a long-run signal.
"That reaction may take place only once a year. We constrain ourselves not to be looking at this every day because it very quickly becomes a tactical fund."
He pointed out the building blocks of these portfolios are all tracker funds.
damian.fantato@ft.com
