Vanguard Variable Insurance Funds—SmallCompany Growth PortfolioVanguard Variable Insurance Funds—EquityIncome Portfolio

Supplement Dated February 26, 2021, to the Prospectusesand Summary Prospectuses Dated April 28, 2020

Important Changes to Vanguard Variable Insurance Funds—SmallCompany Growth Portfolio (the Small Company Growth Portfolio) andVanguard Variable Insurance Funds—Equity Income Portfolio (the EquityIncome Portfolio)

Effective immediately, Cesar Orosco will be added as a co-portfolio manager ofVanguard’s portion of the Small Company Growth Portfolio and Sharon Hill will beadded as a co-portfolio manager of Vanguard’s portion of the Equity IncomePortfolio (each, a Portfolio, and collectively, the Portfolios). James P. Stetler willretire from Vanguard in July 2021 and will no longer serve as a co-portfoliomanager for Vanguard’s portion of the Portfolios. Each Portfolio’s investmentobjective, strategies, and policies remain unchanged.

Prospectus and Summary Prospectus Text ChangesThe following is added under the heading “Investment Advisors” in the PortfolioSummary section for the Small Company Growth Portfolio:

Cesar Orosco, CFA, Ph.D., Senior Portfolio Manager at Vanguard. He hasco-managed a portion of the Portfolio since February 2021.

The following is added under the heading “Investment Advisors” in the PortfolioSummary section for the Equity Income Portfolio:

Sharon Hill, Ph.D., Senior Portfolio Manager and head of the Alpha Equity Globaland Income Investment team within Vanguard’s Quantitative Equity Group. Shehas co-managed a portion of the Portfolio since February 2021.

Prospectus Text ChangesThe following is added under the heading “Investment Advisors” in the More onthe Portfolio section for the Small Company Growth Portfolio:

Cesar Orosco, CFA, Ph.D., Senior Portfolio Manager at Vanguard. He has beenwith Vanguard since April 2020, has worked in investment management since2004, has managed investment portfolios since 2004, and has co-managed aportion of the Portfolio since February 2021. Education: B.S., Universidad deLima; Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania.

The following is added under the heading “Investment Advisors” in the More onthe Portfolio section for the Equity Income Portfolio:

Sharon Hill, Ph.D., Senior Portfolio Manager and head of the Alpha Equity Globaland Income Investment team within Vanguard’s Quantitative Equity Group. Shehas been with Vanguard since August 2019, has worked in investmentmanagement since 2000, has managed investment portfolios since 2009, andhas co-managed a portion of the Portfolio since February 2021. Education: B.S.,City University of New York at Brooklyn College; M.S. and Ph.D., Universityof Connecticut.

© 2021 The Vanguard Group, Inc. All rights reserved.Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor. PSVVIF 022021

CFA® is a registered trademark owned by CFA Institute.

Vanguard Variable Insurance FundEquity Income Portfolio

April 28, 2020

Prospectus

See the inside front cover for important information about access to yourfund’s annual and semiannual shareholder reports.

This prospectus contains financial data for the Portfolio through the fiscal year endedDecember 31, 2019.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved thesesecurities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary isa criminal offense.

Important information about access to shareholder reports

Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by theSEC, paper copies of your fund’s annual and semiannual shareholder reportswill no longer be sent to you by mail, unless you specifically request them.Instead, you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted on thewebsite and will be provided with a link to access the report.

If you have already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, youwill not be affected by this change and do not need to take any action. You mayelect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the fundelectronically by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealeror bank) or, if you invest directly with the fund, by calling Vanguard at one ofthe phone numbers on the back cover of this prospectus or by logging on tovanguard.com.

You may elect to receive paper copies of all future shareholder reports free ofcharge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact theintermediary to request that you continue to receive paper copies. If you investdirectly with the fund, you can call Vanguard at one of the phone numbers onthe back cover of this prospectus or log on to vanguard.com. Your election toreceive paper copies will apply to all the funds you hold through anintermediary or directly with Vanguard.

Contents

Portfolio Summary 1

More on the Portfolio 5

The Portfolio and Vanguard 12

Investment Advisors 12

Taxes 14

Share Price 15

Financial Highlights 17

General Information 19

Glossary of Investment Terms 21

Portfolio Summary

Investment ObjectiveThe Portfolio seeks to provide an above-average level of current income andreasonable long-term capital appreciation.

Fees and ExpensesThe following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy andhold shares of the Portfolio. The expenses shown in the table and in the examplethat follows do not reflect additional fees and expenses associated with theannuity or life insurance program through which you invest. If those additionalfees and expenses were included, overall expenses would be higher.

Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Management Fees 0.28%12b-1 Distribution Fee NoneOther Expenses 0.02%Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses 0.30%

Example

The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing inthe Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. It illustrates thehypothetical expenses that you would incur over various periods if you were toinvest $10,000 in the Portfolio’s shares. This example assumes that the Portfolioprovides a return of 5% each year and that total annual portfolio operatingexpenses remain as stated in the preceding table. You would incur thesehypothetical expenses whether or not you were to redeem your investment atthe end of the given period. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower,based on these assumptions your costs would be:

1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years$31 $97 $169 $381

Portfolio Turnover

The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys andsells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate mayindicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annualportfolio operating expenses or in the previous expense example, reduce thePortfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio’sturnover rate was 33% of the average value of its portfolio.

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Principal Investment StrategiesThe Portfolio invests mainly in common stocks of mid-size and large companieswhose stocks typically pay above-average levels of dividend income and are, inthe opinion of the purchasing advisor, undervalued relative to similar stocks. Inaddition, the advisors generally look for companies that they believe arecommitted to paying dividends consistently. Under normal circumstances, thePortfolio will invest at least 80% of its assets in equity securities. The Portfolio’s80% policy may be changed only upon 60 days’ notice to shareholders. ThePortfolio uses multiple investment advisors. Each advisor independently selectsand maintains a portfolio of common stocks for the Portfolio.

Principal RisksAn investment in the Portfolio could lose money over short or long periods oftime. You should expect the Portfolio’s share price and total return to fluctuatewithin a wide range. The Portfolio is subject to the following risks, which couldaffect the Portfolio’s performance:

• Stock market risk, which is the chance that stock prices overall will decline.Stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising prices and periodsof falling prices.

• Investment style risk, which is the chance that returns from mid- and large-capitalization dividend-paying value stocks will trail returns from the overall stockmarket. Mid- and large-cap stocks each tend to go through cycles of doingbetter—or worse—than other segments of the stock market or the stock marketin general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for as long as several years.Historically, mid-cap stocks have been more volatile in price than large-capstocks. The stock prices of mid-size companies tend to experience greatervolatility because, among other things, these companies tend to be moresensitive to changing economic conditions.

• Manager risk, which is the chance that poor security selection will cause thePortfolio to underperform relevant benchmarks or other funds with a similarinvestment objective.

An investment in the Portfolio is not a deposit of a bank and is not insuredor guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any othergovernment agency.

Annual Total ReturnsThe following bar chart and table are intended to help you understand the risksof investing in the Portfolio. The bar chart shows how the performance of thePortfolio has varied from one calendar year to another over the periods shown.The table shows how the average annual total returns of the Portfolio compare

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with those of a relevant market index and a comparative benchmark, which haveinvestment characteristics similar to those of the Portfolio. The Portfolio’s returnsare net of its expenses but do not reflect additional fees and expenses that arededucted by the annuity or life insurance program through which you invest. Ifsuch fees and expenses were included in the calculation of the Portfolio’sreturns, the returns would be lower. Returns for the Variable Insurance EquityIncome Funds Average are derived from data provided by Lipper, a ThomsonReuters Company. Keep in mind that the Portfolio’s past performance does notindicate how the Portfolio will perform in the future. Updated performanceinformation is available on our website for Financial Advisors atadvisors.vanguard.com or by calling Vanguard toll-free at 800-522-5555.

Annual Total Returns — Equity Income Portfolio

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

-10%

-20%

14.7110.27 13.40

30.04

11.41

0.85

15.07 18.25

–5.96

24.43

During the periods shown in the bar chart, the highest and lowest returns for acalendar quarter were:

Total Return QuarterHighest 13.79% December 31, 2011Lowest -10.71% September 30, 2011

Average Annual Total Returns for Periods Ended December 31, 2019

1 Year 5 Years 10 YearsEquity Income Portfolio 24.43% 9.93% 12.81%Comparative Benchmarks(reflect no deduction for fees or expenses)FTSE High Dividend Yield Index 24.24% 9.86% 12.95%Variable Insurance Equity Income Funds Average 24.33 7.63 10.42

Investment AdvisorsWellington Management Company LLP (Wellington Management)

The Vanguard Group, Inc. (Vanguard)

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Portfolio Managers

W. Michael Reckmeyer, III, CFA, Senior Managing Director and Equity PortfolioManager of Wellington Management. He has managed a portion of the Portfoliosince 2007.

James P. Stetler, Senior Portfolio Manager at Vanguard. He has managed aportion of the Portfolio since 2003 (co-managed since 2012).

Binbin Guo, Ph.D., Principal of Vanguard and head of the Alpha EquityInvestment team within Vanguard’s Quantitative Equity Group. He hasco-managed a portion of the Portfolio since 2016.

Tax InformationThe Portfolio normally distributes its net investment income and net realizedcapital gains, if any, to its shareholders, which are the insurance companyseparate accounts that sponsor your variable annuity or variable life insurancecontract. The tax consequences to you of your investment in the Portfoliodepend on the provisions of the annuity or life insurance contract through whichyou invest. For more information on taxes, please refer to the prospectus of theannuity or life insurance contract through which Portfolio shares are offered.

Payments to Financial IntermediariesThe Portfolio and its investment advisors do not pay financial intermediaries forsales of Portfolio shares.

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More on the Portfolio

This prospectus describes the principal risks you would face as an investor inthis Portfolio. It is important to keep in mind one of the main principles ofinvesting: generally, the higher the risk of losing money, the higher the potentialreward. The reverse, also, is generally true: the lower the risk, the lower thepotential reward. As you consider an investment in any mutual fund, you shouldtake into account your personal tolerance for fluctuations in the securitiesmarkets. Look for this symbol throughout the prospectus. It is used tomark detailed information about the more significant risks that you wouldconfront as a Portfolio investor. To highlight terms and concepts important tomutual fund investors, we have provided Plain Talk® explanations along the way.Reading the prospectus will help you decide whether the Portfolio is the rightinvestment for you. We suggest that you keep this prospectus forfuture reference.

A Note About Vanguard Variable Insurance FundThe Equity Income Portfolio of Vanguard Variable Insurance Fund is a mutual fundused solely as an investment option for annuity or life insurance contractsoffered by insurance companies. This means that you cannot purchase shares ofthe Portfolio directly, but only through a contract offered by aninsurance company.

The Equity Income Portfolio is separate from other Vanguard mutual funds, evenwhen the Portfolio and a fund have the same investment objective and advisor.The Portfolio’s investment performance will differ from the performance of otherVanguard funds because of differences in the securities held and because ofadministrative and insurance costs associated with the annuity or life insuranceprogram through which you invest.

Plain Talk About Costs of Investing

Costs are an important consideration in choosing a mutual fund. That isbecause you, as a contract owner, pay a proportionate share of the costs ofoperating a fund and any transaction costs incurred when the fund buys orsells securities. These costs can erode a substantial portion of the grossincome or the capital appreciation a fund achieves. Even seemingly smalldifferences in expenses can, over time, have a dramatic effect on afund’s performance.

The following sections explain the principal investment strategies and policiesthat the Portfolio uses in pursuit of its objective. The board of trustees ofVanguard Variable Insurance Fund (the Board), which oversees the Portfolio’s

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management, may change investment strategies or policies in the interest ofshareholders without a shareholder vote, unless those strategies or policies aredesignated as fundamental.

Market ExposureThe Portfolio invests mainly in common stocks of U.S. companies.

The Portfolio is subject to stock market risk, which is the chance that stockprices overall will decline. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, withperiods of rising prices and periods of falling prices.

Stocks of publicly traded companies are often classified according to marketcapitalization, which is the market value of a company’s outstanding shares.These classifications typically include small-cap, mid-cap, and large-cap. It isimportant to understand that there are no “official” definitions of small-, mid-,and large-cap, even among Vanguard fund advisors, and that marketcapitalization ranges can change over time. The asset-weighted median marketcapitalization of the Portfolio’s stock holdings as of December 31, 2019, was$109.8 billion.

Stock funds can also be categorized according to whether the stocks they holdare value or growth stocks or a blend of both. The Equity Income Portfoliogenerally fits into the large-cap value category.

The Portfolio is subject to investment style risk, which is the chance thatreturns from mid- and large-capitalization dividend-paying value stockswill trail returns from the overall stock market. Mid- and large-cap stockseach tend to go through cycles of doing better—or worse—than othersegments of the stock market or the stock market in general. Theseperiods have, in the past, lasted for as long as several years. Historically,mid-cap stocks have been more volatile in price than large-cap stocks.The stock prices of mid-size companies tend to experience greatervolatility because, among other things, these companies tend to be moresensitive to changing economic conditions.

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Plain Talk About Growth Funds and Value Funds

Growth investing and value investing are two styles employed by stock-fundmanagers. Growth funds generally invest in stocks of companies believed tohave above-average potential for growth in revenue, earnings, cash flow, orother similar criteria. These stocks typically have low dividend yields, if any,and above-average prices in relation to measures such as earnings and bookvalue. Value funds typically invest in stocks whose prices are below averagein relation to those measures; these stocks often have above-averagedividend yields. Value stocks also may remain undervalued by the market forlong periods of time. Growth and value stocks have historically producedsimilar long-term returns, though each category has periods when itoutperforms the other.

Market disruptions can adversely affect local and global markets as well asnormal market conditions and operations. Any such disruptions could have anadverse impact on the value of the Portfolio’s investments andPortfolio performance.

Security SelectionThe Portfolio invests mainly in common stocks of mid-size and large companieswhose stocks typically pay above-average dividends. At the time of purchase bythe Portfolio, a stock can be out of favor with the investment community. Stockspurchased by the Portfolio are generally expected to produce an above-averagelevel of current income and to have the potential for long-termcapital appreciation.

The Portfolio uses multiple investment advisors. Each advisor independentlyselects and maintains a portfolio of common stocks for the Portfolio. Theseadvisors employ active investment management methods, which means thatsecurities are bought and sold according to the advisors’ evaluations ofcompanies and their financial prospects, the prices of the securities, and thestock market and the economy in general. Each advisor will sell a security when,in the view of the advisor, it is no longer as attractive as an alternativeinvestment or if the advisor deems it to be in the best interest of the Portfolio.Different advisors may reach different conclusions on the same security. Eachadvisor uses a different process to select securities for its portion of thePortfolio’s assets; however, each is committed to buying stocks that it believeswill produce above-average income and that, in the advisor’s opinion, have thepotential for long-term capital appreciation.

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Wellington Management employs a fundamental security analysis approach toidentify desirable individual stocks, seeking those that typically offerabove-average dividend yields, below-average valuations, and the potential fordividend increases in the future.

Vanguard constructs a diversified portfolio of dividend-paying stocks based on itsassessment of the relative return potential of the securities. The advisor selectssecurities that it believes offer an appropriate balance between strong growthprospects and reasonable valuations relative to their industry peers. Vanguardmanages the portfolio through the use of a quantitative process to evaluate all ofthe securities in the Portfolio’s benchmark, the FTSE High Dividend Yield Index,while seeking to maintain a risk profile similar to that of the Index. This processwas developed and is managed by Vanguard’s Alpha Equity Investment team andis continually evolving. All potential enhancements to the process go throughrigorous peer vetting and validation before being implemented.

The Portfolio is subject to manager risk, which is the chance that poorsecurity selection will cause the Portfolio to underperform relevantbenchmarks or other funds with a similar investment objective.

Other Investment Policies and RisksIn addition to investing in dividend-paying stocks, the Portfolio may make otherkinds of investments to achieve its objective.

The Portfolio may invest up to 25% of its assets in foreign securities. To theextent that it owns foreign securities, the Portfolio is subject to country risk andcurrency risk. Country risk is the chance that world events—such as politicalupheaval, financial troubles, or natural disasters—will adversely affect the valueof securities issued by companies in foreign countries. In addition, the prices offoreign stocks and the prices of U.S. stocks have, at times, moved in oppositedirections. Currency risk is the chance that the value of a foreign investment,measured in U.S. dollars, will decrease because of unfavorable changes incurrency exchange rates.

The Portfolio may also invest, to a limited extent, in derivatives. Generallyspeaking, a derivative is a financial contract whose value is based on the value ofa financial asset (such as a stock, a bond, or a currency), a physical asset (suchas gold, oil, or wheat), a market index, or a reference rate. Investments inderivatives may subject the Portfolio to risks different from, and possibly greaterthan, those of investments directly in the underlying securities or assets. ThePortfolio will not use derivatives for speculation or for the purpose of leveraging(magnifying) investment returns.

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The Portfolio may enter into foreign currency exchange forward contracts, whichare a type of derivative. A foreign currency exchange forward contract is anagreement to buy or sell a currency at a specific price on a specific date, usually30, 60, or 90 days in the future. In other words, the contract guarantees anexchange rate on a given date. Advisors of portfolios that invest in foreignsecurities can use these contracts to guard against unfavorable changes incurrency exchange rates. These contracts, however, would not prevent thePortfolio’s securities from falling in value as a result of risks other thanunfavorable currency exchange movements.

Plain Talk About Derivatives

Derivatives can take many forms. Some forms of derivatives—such asexchange-traded futures and options on securities, commodities, orindexes—have been trading on regulated exchanges for decades. Thesetypes of derivatives are standardized contracts that can easily be bought andsold and whose market values are determined and published daily. On theother hand, non-exchange-traded derivatives—such as certain swapagreements and foreign currency exchange forward contracts—tend to bemore specialized or complex and may be more difficult to accurately value.

Vanguard administers a small portion of the Portfolio‘s assets to facilitate cashflows to and from the Portfolio‘s advisors. The Portfolio may invest these assetsin equity futures, which are a type of derivative, and/or shares ofexchange-traded funds (ETFs), including ETF Shares issued by Vanguard stockfunds. These equity futures and ETFs typically provide returns similar to those ofcommon stocks. The Portfolio may also purchase futures or ETFs when doing sowill reduce the Portfolio‘s transaction costs or have the potential to add valuebecause the instruments are favorably priced. Vanguard receives no additionalrevenue from Portfolio assets invested in ETF Shares of other Vanguard funds.Portfolio assets invested in ETF Shares are excluded when allocating to thePortfolio its share of the costs of Vanguard operations.

Cash ManagementThe Portfolio’s daily cash balance may be invested in Vanguard Market LiquidityFund and/or Vanguard Municipal Cash Management Fund (each, a CMT Fund),which are low-cost money market funds. When investing in a CMT Fund, thePortfolio bears its proportionate share of the expenses of the CMT Fund in whichit invests. Vanguard receives no additional revenue from Portfolio assets investedin a CMT Fund.

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Temporary Investment MeasuresThe Portfolio may temporarily depart from its normal investment policies andstrategies when an advisor believes that doing so is in the Portfolio’s bestinterest, so long as the strategy or policy employed is consistent with thePortfolio’s investment objective. For instance, the Portfolio may invest beyond itsnormal limits in derivatives or exchange-traded funds that are consistent with thePortfolio’s investment objective when those instruments are more favorablypriced or provide needed liquidity, as might be the case if the Portfolio istransitioning assets from one advisor to another or receives large cash flows thatit cannot prudently invest immediately.

In addition, the Portfolio may take temporary defensive positions that areinconsistent with its normal investment policies and strategies—for instance, byallocating substantial assets to cash equivalent investments or other less volatileinstruments—in response to adverse or unusual market, economic, political, orother conditions. In doing so, the Portfolio may succeed in avoiding losses butmay otherwise fail to achieve its investment objective.

Frequent Trading or Market-TimingBackground. Some investors try to profit from strategies involving frequenttrading of mutual fund shares, such as market-timing. For funds holding foreignsecurities, investors may try to take advantage of an anticipated differencebetween the price of the fund’s shares and price movements in overseasmarkets, a practice also known as time-zone arbitrage. Investors also may try toengage in frequent trading of funds holding investments such as small-capstocks and high-yield bonds. As money is shifted into and out of a fund by aninvestor engaging in frequent trading, the fund incurs costs for buying and sellingsecurities, resulting in increased brokerage and administrative costs. These costsare borne by all fund investors, including the long-term investors who do notgenerate the costs. In addition, frequent trading may interfere with an advisor’sability to efficiently manage the fund.

Policies to address frequent trading. The Vanguard funds (other than moneymarket funds and short-term bond funds, but including Vanguard Short-TermInflation-Protected Securities Index Fund) do not knowingly accommodatefrequent trading. The board of trustees of each Vanguard fund (other than moneymarket funds and short-term bond funds, but including Vanguard Short-TermInflation-Protected Securities Index Fund) has adopted policies and proceduresreasonably designed to detect and discourage frequent trading and, in somecases, to compensate the fund for the costs associated with it. These policiesand procedures do not apply to ETF Shares because frequent trading in ETFShares generally does not disrupt portfolio management or otherwise harm fund

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investors. Although there is no assurance that Vanguard will be able to detect orprevent frequent trading or market-timing in all circumstances, the followingpolicies have been adopted to address these issues:

• Each Vanguard fund reserves the right to reject any purchaserequest—including exchanges from other Vanguard funds—without notice andregardless of size. For example, a purchase request could be rejected becausethe investor has a history of frequent trading or if Vanguard determines that suchpurchase may negatively affect a fund’s operation or performance.

• Certain Vanguard funds charge investors purchase and/or redemption feeson transactions.

You may purchase or sell Portfolio shares through a contract offered by aninsurance company. When insurance companies establish omnibus accounts inthe Portfolio for their clients, we cannot monitor the individual clients’ tradingactivity. However, we review trading activity at the omnibus account level, andwe look for activity that may indicate potential frequent trading or market-timing.If we detect suspicious trading activity, we will seek the assistance of theinsurance company to investigate that trading activity and take appropriateaction, including prohibiting additional purchases of Portfolio shares by a client.Insurance companies may apply frequent-trading policies that differ from oneanother. Please read the insurance company contract and program materialscarefully to learn of any rules or fees that may apply.

See the accompanying prospectus for the annuity or insurance programthrough which Portfolio shares are offered for further details ontransaction policies.

The Portfolio, in determining its net asset value, will use fair-value pricing whenappropriate, as described in the Share Price section. Fair-value pricing mayreduce or eliminate the profitability of certain frequent-trading strategies.

Do not invest with Vanguard if you are a market-timer.

Turnover RateA mutual fund’s turnover rate is a measure of its trading activity. The Portfoliomay sell securities regardless of how long they have been held. The historicalturnover rates for the Portfolio can be found in the Financial Highlights sectionof this prospectus. A turnover rate of 100%, for example, would mean that thePortfolio had sold and replaced securities valued at 100% of its net assets withina one-year period. In general, the greater the turnover rate, the greater theimpact transaction costs will have on a fund’s return. Also, funds with high

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turnover rates may be more likely to generate capital gains, including short-termcapital gains, that must be distributed to shareholders and will be taxable toshareholders investing through a taxable account.

The Portfolio and Vanguard

Vanguard Variable Insurance Fund is a member of The Vanguard Group, a familyof over 200 funds. All of the funds that are members of The Vanguard Group(other than funds of funds) share in the expenses associated with administrativeservices and business operations, such as personnel, office space,and equipment.

Vanguard Marketing Corporation provides marketing services to the funds.Although fund shareholders do not pay sales commissions or 12b-1 distributionfees, each fund (other than a fund of funds) or each share class of a fund (in thecase of a fund with multiple share classes) pays its allocated share of theVanguard funds’ marketing costs.

Plain Talk About Vanguard’s Unique Corporate Structure

The Vanguard Group is owned jointly by the funds it oversees and thusindirectly by the shareholders in those funds. Most other mutual funds areoperated by management companies that are owned by third parties—eitherpublic or private stockholders—and not by the funds they serve.

Investment Advisors

The Portfolio uses a multimanager approach. Each advisor independentlymanages its assigned portion of the Portfolio’s assets, subject to the supervisionand oversight of Vanguard and the Board. The Board designates the proportion ofPortfolio assets to be managed by each advisor and may change theseproportions at any time.

Wellington Management Company LLP, 280 Congress Street, Boston, MA02210, is a Delaware limited liability partnership and an investment counselingfirm that provides investment services to investment companies, employeebenefit plans, endowments, foundations, and other institutions. WellingtonManagement and its predecessor organizations have provided investmentadvisory services for over 80 years. Wellington Management is owned by thepartners of Wellington Management Group LLP, a Massachusetts limited liability

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partnership. As of December 31, 2019, Wellington Management and itsinvestment advisory affiliates had investment management authority withrespect to approximately $1.2 trillion in assets. The firm manages the Portfoliosubject to the supervision and oversight of Vanguard and the Board.

The Vanguard Group, Inc., P.O. Box 2600, Valley Forge, PA 19482, which beganoperations in 1975, provides investment advisory services to the Portfoliothrough its Quantitative Equity Group. As of December 31, 2019, Vanguardserved as advisor for approximately $5 trillion in assets.

The Portfolio pays Wellington Management a base fee plus or minus aperformance adjustment. The base fee, which is paid quarterly, is a percentageof average daily net assets managed by the advisor during the most recent fiscalquarter. The performance adjustment, also paid quarterly, is based on thecumulative total return of the advisor’s portion of the Portfolio relative to that ofthe FTSE High Dividend Yield Index over the preceding 36-month period. Whenthe performance adjustment is positive, the Portfolio’s expenses increase; whenit is negative, expenses decrease.

Vanguard provides investment advisory services to the Portfolio pursuant to theFunds’ Service Agreement and subject to the supervision and oversight of thetrustees and officers of Vanguard Variable Insurance Fund.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, the aggregate advisory fees andexpenses represented an effective annual rate of 0.09% of the Portfolio’saverage net assets before a performance-based increase of 0.01%.

Under the terms of an SEC exemption, the board of trustees of VanguardVariable Insurance Fund may, without prior approval from shareholders, changethe terms of an advisory agreement with a third-party investment advisor or hirea new third-party investment advisor—either as a replacement for an existingadvisor or as an additional advisor. Any significant change in the Portfolio’sadvisory arrangements will be communicated to shareholders in writing. As thePortfolio’s sponsor and overall manager, Vanguard may provide investmentadvisory services to the Portfolio at any time. Vanguard may also recommend tothe board of trustees that an advisor be hired, terminated, or replaced or that theterms of an existing advisory agreement be revised. The Vanguard VariableInsurance Fund has filed an application seeking a similar SEC exemption withrespect to investment advisors that are wholly owned subsidiaries of Vanguard.If the exemption is granted, the Portfolio may rely on the new SEC relief.

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For a discussion of why the Board approved the Portfolio’s investment advisoryarrangements, see the most recent semiannual report to shareholders coveringthe fiscal period ended June 30.

The managers primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of thePortfolio are:

W. Michael Reckmeyer, III, CFA, Senior Managing Director and Equity PortfolioManager of Wellington Management. He has worked in investmentmanagement since 1984, has been with Wellington Management since 1994,and has managed a portion of the Portfolio since 2007. Education: B.S. andM.B.A., University of Wisconsin.

James P. Stetler, Senior Portfolio Manager at Vanguard. He has been withVanguard since 1982; has worked in investment management since 1996; andhas managed investment portfolios, including a portion of the Portfolio, since2003 (co-managed since 2012). Education: B.S., Susquehanna University;M.B.A., Saint Joseph’s University.

Binbin Guo, Ph.D., Principal of Vanguard and head of the Alpha EquityInvestment team within Vanguard’s Quantitative Equity Group. He oversees theactive quantitative equity funds and separately managed equity accounts. Hehas been with Vanguard since 2007 and has co-managed a portion of thePortfolio since 2016. Education: B.S. and M.S., Tsinghua University, China; Ph.D.and M.Phil., Yale University.

The Vanguard Variable Insurance Fund’s Statement of Additional Informationprovides information about each portfolio manager’s compensation, otheraccounts under management, and ownership of shares of the Portfolio.

Taxes

The Portfolio normally distributes its net investment income and net realizedshort-term or long-term capital gains, if any, to its shareholders, which are theinsurance company separate accounts that fund your variable annuity or variablelife insurance contract. The tax consequences to you of your investment in thePortfolio depend on the provisions of the annuity or life insurance contractthrough which you invest; please refer to the prospectus of such contract formore information.

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The Portfolio intends to operate in such a manner that a separate accountinvesting only in Portfolio shares will result in the variable annuity and variable lifeinsurance contracts supported by that account receiving favorable tax treatment.This favorable treatment means that you generally will not be taxed on Portfoliodistributions or proceeds on dispositions of Portfolio shares received by theseparate account funding your contract. In order to qualify for this favorabletreatment, the insurance company separate accounts that invest in the Portfoliomust satisfy certain requirements. If a Portfolio funding your contract does notmeet such requirements, your contract could lose its favorable tax treatment andincome and gain allocable to your contract could be taxable to you. Also, if theIRS were to determine that contract holders have an impermissible level ofcontrol over the investments funding their contracts, your contract could lose itsfavorable tax treatment and income and gain allocable to your contract could betaxable currently to you. Please see Vanguard Variable Insurance Fund’sStatement of Additional Information for more information.

Share Price

Share price, also known as net asset value (NAV), is calculated as of the close ofregular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), generally 4 p.m.,Eastern time, on each day that the NYSE is open for business (a business day).In the rare event the NYSE experiences unanticipated disruptions and isunavailable at the close of the trading day, the Portfolio reserves the right to treatsuch day as a business day and calculate NAVs as of the close of regular tradingon the Nasdaq (or another alternate exchange if the Nasdaq is unavailable, asdetermined at Vanguard’s discretion), generally 4 p.m., Eastern time. The NAVper share is computed by dividing the total assets, minus liabilities, of thePortfolio by the number of Portfolio shares outstanding. On U.S. holidays or otherdays when the NYSE is closed, the NAV is not calculated, and the Portfolio doesnot sell or redeem shares. However, on those days the value of the Portfolio’sassets may be affected to the extent that the Portfolio holds securities thatchange in value on those days (such as foreign securities that trade on foreignmarkets that are open).

Stocks held by a Vanguard portfolio are valued at their market value when reliablemarket quotations are readily available from the principal exchange or market onwhich they are traded. Such securities are generally valued at their official closingprice, the last reported sales price, or if there were no sales that day, the meanbetween the closing bid and asking prices. When a portfolio determines thatpricing-service information or market quotations either are not readily available or

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do not accurately reflect the value of a security, the security is priced at its fairvalue (the amount that the owner might reasonably expect to receive upon thecurrent sale of the security).

The values of any foreign securities held by a portfolio are converted into U.S.dollars using an exchange rate obtained from an independent third party as ofthe close of regular trading on the NYSE. The values of any mutual fund shares,including institutional money market fund shares, held by a portfolio are basedon the NAVs of the shares. The values of any ETF shares or closed-end fundshares held by a portfolio are based on the market value of the shares.

A portfolio also will use fair-value pricing if the value of a security it holds hasbeen materially affected by events occurring before the portfolio’s pricing timebut after the close of the principal exchange or market on which the security istraded. This most commonly occurs with foreign securities, which may trade onforeign exchanges that close many hours before the portfolio’s pricing time.Intervening events might be company-specific (e.g., earnings report, mergerannouncement) or country-specific or regional/global (e.g., natural disaster,economic or political news, act of terrorism, interest rate change). Interveningevents include price movements in U.S. markets that exceed a specifiedthreshold or that are otherwise deemed to affect the value of foreign securities.

Fair-value pricing may be used for domestic securities—for example, if (1) tradingin a security is halted and does not resume before the portfolio’s pricing time ora security does not trade in the course of a day and (2) the portfolio holdsenough of the security that its price could affect the portfolio’s NAV.

Fair-value prices are determined by Vanguard according to procedures adoptedby the board of trustees. When fair-value pricing is employed, the prices ofsecurities used by a portfolio to calculate the NAV may differ from quoted orpublished prices for the same securities.

The Portfolio’s NAV is used to determine the unit value for the annuity or lifeinsurance program through which you invest. For more information on unitvalues, please refer to the accompanying prospectus of the insurance companythat offers your annuity or life insurance program.

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Financial Highlights

Financial highlights information is intended to help you understand a fund’sperformance for the past five years (or, if shorter, its period of operations).Certain information reflects financial results for a single fund share. Total returnrepresents the rate that an investor would have earned or lost each period on aninvestment in a fund or share class (assuming reinvestment of all distributions).This information has been obtained from the financial statements audited byPricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm,whose report, along with fund financial statements, is included in a fund’s mostrecent annual report to shareholders. You may obtain a free copy of a fund’slatest annual or semiannual report, which is available upon request.

Yields and total returns presented for the Portfolio are net of the Portfolio’soperating expenses, but they do not take into account charges and expensesattributable to the annuity or life insurance program through which you invest.The expenses of the annuity or life insurance program reduce the returns andyields you ultimately receive, so you should bear those expenses in mind whenevaluating the performance of the Portfolio and when comparing the yields andreturns of the Portfolio with those of other mutual funds.

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Equity Income Portfolio

Year Ended December 31,For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period $21.24 $24.64 $22.10 $21.22 $23.04

Investment Operations

Net Investment Income 0.6191 0.6201 0.5821 0.568 0.597Net Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) onInvestments

4.319 (1.977) 3.275 2.361 (0.437)

Total from Investment Operations 4.938 (1.357) 3.857 2.929 0.160Distributions

Dividends from Net Investment Income (0.586) (0.562) (0.583) (0.583) (0.596)Distributions from Realized Capital Gains (1.422) (1.481) (0.734) (1.466) (1.384)Total Distributions (2.008) (2.043) (1.317) (2.049) (1.980)Net Asset Value, End of Period $24.17 $21.24 $24.64 $22.10 $21.22

Total Return 24.43% –5.96% 18.25% 15.07% 0.85%

Ratios/Supplemental Data

Net Assets, End of Period (Millions) $1,834 $1,374 $1,372 $1,172 $940Ratio of Total Expenses to Average Net Assets2 0.30% 0.29% 0.31% 0.30% 0.31%Ratio of Net Investment Income to Average Net Assets 2.76% 2.69% 2.56% 2.89% 2.76%Portfolio Turnover Rate 33% 36% 38% 32% 36%

1 Calculated based on average shares outstanding.2 Includes performance-based investment advisory fee increases (decreases) of 0.01%, (0.00%), (0.00%), (0.01%),

and (0.01%).

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General Information

This Portfolio of the Vanguard Variable Insurance Fund offers its shares toinsurance companies to fund both annuity and life insurance contracts. Becauseof differences in tax treatment or other considerations, the best interests ofvarious contract owners participating in the Portfolio might at some time be inconflict. The Board will monitor for any material conflicts and determine whataction, if any, should be taken.

If the Board determines that continued offering of shares would be detrimentalto the best interests of the Portfolio’s shareholders, the Portfolio may suspendthe offering of shares for a period of time. If the Board determines that a specificpurchase acceptance would be detrimental to the best interests of the Portfolio’sshareholders (for example, because of the size of the purchase request or ahistory of frequent trading by the investor), the Portfolio may reject such apurchase request.

If you wish to redeem money from the Portfolio, please refer to the instructionsprovided in the accompanying prospectus for the annuity or life insuranceprogram. Shares of the Portfolio may be redeemed on any business day that theNYSE is open for trading. The redemption price of shares will be at thenext-determined NAV per share. Redemption proceeds generally will be wired tothe administrator within one business day following receipt of the redemptionrequest, but no later than seven business days. Contract owners will receivetheir redemption checks from the administrator.

Under normal circumstances, the Portfolio typically expects to meetredemptions with positive cash flows. When this is not an option, the Portfolioseeks to first meet redemptions from a cash or cash equivalent reserve.Alternatively, Vanguard may instruct the advisors to sell a cross section of thePortfolio’s holdings to meet redemptions, while also factoring in transactioncosts. Additionally, the Portfolio may work with the insurance companies throughwhich contract owners participate in the Portfolio to implement redemptions in amanner that is least disruptive to the portfolio.

Under certain circumstances, including under stressed market conditions, thereare additional tools that the Portfolio may use in order to meet redemptions,including advancing the settlement of market trades with counterparties tomatch investor redemption payments or delaying settlement of an investor’stransaction to match trade settlement within regulatory requirements. ThePortfolio may also suspend payment of redemption proceeds for up to sevendays. Additionally, under these unusual circumstances, the Portfolio may borrowmoney (subject to certain regulatory conditions and if available under

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board-approved procedures) through an interfund lending facility or through abank line-of-credit, including a joint committed credit facility, in order to meetredemption requests.

The Portfolio may suspend the redemption right or postpone payment at timeswhen the NYSE is closed or during any emergency circumstances, asdetermined by the SEC.

The exchange privilege (your ability to redeem shares from one Portfolio topurchase shares of another Portfolio) may be available to you through yourcontract. Although we make every effort to maintain the exchange privilege,Vanguard reserves the right to revise or terminate this privilege, limit the amountof an exchange, or reject any exchange, at any time, without notice.

If the Board determines that it would be detrimental to the best interests of thePortfolio’s remaining shareholders to make payment in cash, the Portfolio maypay redemption proceeds, in whole or in part, by an in-kind distribution of readilymarketable securities.

For certain categories of investors, the Portfolio has authorized one or morebrokers to accept on its behalf purchase and redemption orders. The brokers areauthorized to designate other intermediaries to accept purchase and redemptionorders on the Portfolio’s behalf. The Portfolio will be deemed to have received apurchase or redemption order when an authorized broker, or a broker’sauthorized designee, accepts the order in accordance with the Portfolio’sinstructions. In most cases, for these categories of investors, a contract owner’sproperly transmitted order will be priced at the Portfolio’s next-determined NAVafter the order is accepted by the authorized broker or the broker’s designee. Thecontract owner should review the authorized broker’s policies relating to tradingin the Vanguard funds.

Please consult Vanguard Variable Insurance Fund’s Statement of AdditionalInformation or our website for a description of the policies and procedures thatgovern disclosure of the Portfolio’s portfolio holdings.

CFA® is a registered trademark owned by CFA Institute.

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Glossary of Investment Terms

Capital Gains Distributions. Payments to portfolio shareholders of gainsrealized on securities that a portfolio has sold at a profit, minus anyrealized losses.

Cash Equivalent Investments. Cash deposits, short-term bank deposits, andmoney market instruments that include U.S. Treasury bills and notes, bankcertificates of deposit (CDs), repurchase agreements, commercial paper, andbanker’s acceptances.

Common Stock. A security representing ownership rights in a corporation.

Dividend Distributions. Payments to portfolio shareholders of income frominterest or dividends generated by a portfolio’s investments.

Expense Ratio. A portfolio’s total annual operating expenses expressed as apercentage of the portfolio’s average net assets. The expense ratio includesmanagement and administrative expenses, but it does not include thetransaction costs of buying and selling portfolio securities.

FTSE High Dividend Yield Index. An index that tracks common stocks of U.S.companies that have paid above-average dividends for the previous 12 months,excluding REITs.

Inception Date. The date on which the assets of a portfolio are first invested inaccordance with the portfolio’s investment objective. For portfolios with asubscription period, the inception date is the day after that period ends.Investment performance is generally measured from the inception date.

Joint Committed Credit Facility. The Portfolio participates, along with otherfunds managed by Vanguard, in a committed credit facility provided by asyndicate of lenders pursuant to a credit agreement that may be renewedannually; each Vanguard fund is individually liable for its borrowings, if any, underthe credit facility. The amount and terms of the committed credit facility aresubject to approval by the Vanguard Variable Insurance Fund’s board of trusteesand renegotiation with the lender syndicate on an annual basis.

Median Market Capitalization. An indicator of the size of companies in which aportfolio invests; the midpoint of market capitalization (market price x sharesoutstanding) of a portfolio’s stocks, weighted by the proportion of the portfolio’sassets invested in each stock. Stocks representing half of the portfolio’s assetshave market capitalizations above the median, and the rest are below it.

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Mutual Fund. An investment company that pools the money of many peopleand invests it in a variety of securities in an effort to achieve a specific objectiveover time.

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). A stock exchange based in New York Citythat is open for regular trading on business days, Monday through Friday, from9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Eastern time.

Quantitative Process. An assessment of specific measurable factors, such ascost of capital; value of assets; and projections of sales, costs, earnings, andprofits. The use of a quantitative process provides a systematic approach toinvestment decisions and portfolios.

Securities. Stocks, bonds, money market instruments, and other investments.

Total Return. A percentage change, over a specified time period, in a portfolio’snet asset value, assuming the reinvestment of all distributions of dividends andcapital gains.

Variable Insurance Equity Income Funds Average. The average performanceof open-end investment companies classified as variable annuity funds by Lipperthat, by prospectus language and portfolio practice, seek relatively high currentincome and growth of income by investing at least 65% of their portfolio individend-paying equity securities.

Volatility. The fluctuations in value of a mutual fund or other security. The greatera portfolio’s volatility, the wider the fluctuations in its returns.

Yield. Income (interest or dividends) earned by an investment, expressed as apercentage of the investment’s price.

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Connect with Vanguard®

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For More InformationIf you would like more information about VanguardVariable Insurance Fund Equity Income Portfolio, thefollowing documents are available free upon request:

Annual/Semiannual Reports to ShareholdersAdditional information about the Portfolio’sinvestments is available in the Portfolio’s annual andsemiannual reports to shareholders. In the annualreport, you will find a discussion of the marketconditions and investment strategies that significantlyaffected the Portfolio’s performance during its lastfiscal year.

Statement of Additional Information (SAI)The SAI provides more detailed information about thePortfolio and is incorporated by reference into (and thuslegally a part of) this prospectus.

To receive a free copy of the latest annual orsemiannual reports or the SAI, or to request additionalinformation about the Portfolio or other Vanguard funds,please visit vanguard.com or contact us as follows:

Telephone: 800-522-5555Text telephone for people with hearing impairment:800-749-7273

Information Provided by the Securities andExchange Commission (SEC)Reports and other information about the Portfolio areavailable in the EDGAR database on the SEC’s websiteat www.sec.gov, or you can receive copies of thisinformation, for a fee, by electronic request at thefollowing email address: publicinfo@sec.gov.

Portfolio’s Investment Company Act file number:811-05962

© 2020 The Vanguard Group, Inc.All rights reserved. Vanguard MarketingCorporation, Distributor.

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