Claude and Vanguard Advisor Tools: model portfolio data

Overview

What changes when Claude can look up Vanguard models

You ask Claude about a series or a whole category and it fetches the data itself. Vanguard describes the content as its public US model portfolio data: allocations, expense ratios, asset classes and portfolio characteristics, meant for advisors who research and compare solutions.

See which models exist in a category. Ask for a broad look and get_model_portfolios lists the series in that category with each sleeve's allocation and its weighted average expense ratio.

Open one series in full. Name a series, a fragment of its name is enough, and the same tool returns the funds and their percentage weights, which a category browse leaves out.

Narrow to one share class. When a series exists both as ETFs and as mutual funds, Claude can keep only one of the two; otherwise both come back.

Now the boundaries. The directory sheet says the connector reads public US model data only and never touches client, account or personal information, so it cannot look at your book of business. The sheet also states that third-party tools are informational and are not investment advice. Nothing runs on its own either: Claude calls the tool while it answers, never on a schedule. Tasks that must fire by themselves belong to automation platforms, listed in the Integrations hub; they do a different job rather than a better one.

Vocabulary

Five words to know first

The Claude vocabulary this page uses, in one minute.

Connector: A link set up once between Claude and an outside service, so Claude can draw on that service while it answers your questions.
Tool: One named action a connector gives Claude. Claude chooses on its own which tools to call, and the directory lists them by name.
Authorization: The service's own sign-in screen, where you grant the access Claude will use. Given once per person, and it can be withdrawn the same way.
Approval: The confirmation Claude waits for before doing something that changes an account, shown inside the conversation when it matters.
MCP: The shared standard connectors are built on: it is what lets an assistant such as Claude talk to an outside service like this one.

Connect

Connect Vanguard Advisor Tools in three steps

01
Find it in Claude's settings
Open Claude's settings, go to Customize and then Connectors, and look for Vanguard Advisor Tools in the list. On a Team or Enterprise workspace, an Owner or Primary Owner turns the connector on before members can each sign in.
02
Start the connection
Click Connect on its row. If the service opens a window of its own, complete it there. Should the link break later, use Disconnect and connect again to rebuild it from scratch.
03
Check what you are granting
Read any authorization screen before you accept it. That screen belongs to the service, not to Claude, and it is what defines the reach of the access. Access granted there can also be withdrawn from the service's side.

Tools

The single tool, and what it returns

Vanguard Advisor Tools gives Claude 1 tool: 1 that read your account, 0 that change something in it.

One tool, filed under reading. Its name stays exactly as Claude shows it.

1 read

What Claude reads (1)

1 tool

One tool that fetches model portfolio data and changes nothing.

`get_model_portfolios`

Brings back Vanguard model portfolio series, the prebuilt fund lineups advisors use as blueprints. Browse a category to see what exists, or name one series to get its funds and their percentage allocations along with each sleeve's weighted average expense ratio.

When it helps

you need the fund lineup and costs of a specific series before comparing it with another one.

Watch out

a broad word in the name matches many series and returns them without holdings.

Sourcemcp.vanguard.com · October 1, 2026 ↗

Approvals

What Claude checks with you first

By default, Claude stops and asks before each action it takes on an account for someone. The prompt shows up in the conversation at the moment it matters.

On Team and Enterprise workspaces, owners decide whether a member may let some actions pass without being asked each time. They can also cap what a connector may do across the organization, keeping reading open and writing closed, and nobody lifts that from a personal account. Claude works with the rights of the person who connected and nothing more: what that person cannot reach in the service stays out of its reach as well.

Plans

Which plans include it

None of the 819 sheets in the official directory shows plan availability. Connector by connector, that answer is published nowhere.

The published rule is general: remote connectors are open to all users on Claude, Cowork, Claude Desktop and mobile, and on Team and Enterprise an Owner or Primary Owner opens a connector for the organization first. For the live state of this one, the connector's sheet in the official directory is where to look. Everything on this page also comes from Vanguard itself: no Claude help article covers this connector.

Limits

Where this connector stops

A connector is not an automation. Claude calls the tool while it answers, so nothing happens when a model is updated or a new series appears.

A tool list that shows only reading is an observed floor, not a guarantee: an administrator can open actions that appear on no public sheet. The partner badge in the directory is not a security audit, and Anthropic states on every sheet that it does not choose the tools a publisher exposes nor guarantee they behave as announced. Connect what comes from a publisher you know. For workflows that should run without you, the Integrations hub lists the automation side.

Need help

Need help connecting Vanguard Advisor Tools to Claude?

A person reads every message.

FAQ

Questions about the Claude Vanguard Advisor Tools connector

01What can Claude do with the Vanguard Advisor Tools connector?

Claude can look up Vanguard model portfolio series and bring their data into the conversation. Its only tool browses a category to show which series exist, or opens one named series with its funds, their percentage allocations and each sleeve's weighted average expense ratio. The directory sheet describes the content as expense ratios, asset class, start date and portfolio characteristics, aimed at advisors who research and compare model solutions before implementing them.

02Can Claude change anything through this connector?

No tool on the sheet changes anything: the single tool reads model data, and the directory describes the connector as read-only. That is what the public sheet exposes by default, not a promise about every setup, since an administrator can open actions that never show on a public page. In practice the connector has nothing to write to anyway, because it covers public model data and no client account or personal record of yours.

03Does Claude ask before it uses the tool?

No source describes a confirmation specific to get_model_portfolios. The general rule is that Claude asks before each action it takes on an account for someone, and the per-tool label of read versus write only appears in the settings of a connected account. On Team and Enterprise workspaces, owners decide whether members may let some actions run without being asked every time, and they can restrict the connector for everyone in the organization.

04Which plans is it available on?

No official source publishes plan availability connector by connector, and none of the 819 directory sheets shows it. The general rule says remote connectors are open to all users on Claude, Cowork, Claude Desktop and mobile, while on Team and Enterprise an Owner or Primary Owner has to enable a connector before members can use it. The connector's sheet in the directory is the only place that shows its current state for your account.

05Can Claude see my clients' accounts through it?

No. The directory sheet states that the connector exposes only publicly available US model data and does not access, return or store any client, account or personally identifiable information. Claude therefore sees Vanguard's model series, their sleeves, funds and expense ratios, and nothing about the portfolios you manage. On top of that, Claude always works within the rights of the person who connected, and an owner can narrow the connector further for the whole organization.

06Why does a category search show no fund names?

Because fund-level detail only comes back when a series is named. A category browse returns each series with its sleeve allocations and their expense ratios, but no fund names, percentage weights or tickers. Naming a series, even with a fragment of its name, brings the full lineup. A very broad word works against you here: it matches many series at once, and those are returned without their holdings, so precision pays off.

07Should I use Claude or an automation tool with Vanguard data?

They serve different needs, so the choice depends on the task. Claude works inside a conversation: you ask about a model series, it fetches the data and helps you read it, and nothing happens once you stop asking. It does not watch for changes or run on a schedule. If you need a process that fires on its own, that is an automation tool's job; for on-demand research and comparison, the connector fits.

Find it in Claude's settings

Start the connection

Check what you are granting

Need help connecting Vanguard Advisor Tools to Claude?