The Independent Vanguard Adviser

Topic

Quick Take

A collection of 15 stories

Liquidity or Assets, Which Came First?

All things equal, does a lower share price for an ETF mean the ETF will attract more assets? Vanguard must hope so. The company recently announced that they’ll execute a 2-for-1 share split for six ETFs on March 14, 2023. The six ETFs track S&P’s mid-cap and

Vanguard Shuffles Index Fund Managers

Does it matter who (specifically) is managing your index fund? Or is it just enough to know that Vanguard or, say, BlackRock and its iShares division, is managing the fund? Vanguard seems to take the view that it’s the firm, not the individual manager that counts. Or at least,

Vanguard’s Active Managers Cry Uncle

Vanguard is throwing in the towel on two of its active strategies: Alternative Strategies (VASFX) and Managed Allocation (VPGDX). The firm hasn’t given up on active entirely, but this is a big admission that, as I’ve said many times, adding complexity doesn’t lead to better investment outcomes.

Proxy Pilot

Not cleared for takeoff. As previewed late last year, Vanguard is testing out how to give mutual fund shareholders more control when it comes to voting the proxy statements of the companies that are held by their funds. Well, today we got some more details on Vanguard's limited pilot program.

Out of the Oven

Vanguard has decided that after 15 months in the oven, Multi-Sector Income (VMSIX and VMSAX) is ready to eat. Vanguard seeded the global income fund with $25 million when they launched it in October 2021 but didn’t allow outside investors to participate—until now. Yesterday, I was scratching my

Weathering Government Shutdowns

With the U.S. government’s finances bumping up against the debt ceiling, I’m (not surprisingly) hearing from concerned investors on both sides of the political aisle asking what this means for our investments. First, we’ve been here before. And it’s important to recognized that we’ve

Alternative Costs

Did Alternative Strategies (VASFX) run into some trouble earlier this year? Some time between November 2021 and April 2022 Vanguard paid $637,000 into the fund to cover “higher-than-anticipated costs associated with short sale transactions.” As you may recall, the fund uses a variety of strategies to achieve a goal

No More Cuts

Prices of goods and services of all shapes and sizes shot higher last year. Not even Vanguard, historically a cost-cutting machine, was able to buck the trend. Yes, costs (read, expense ratios) rose at Vanguard in 2022.

More or Less Confusing?

Imagine changing your name after 45 years! Launched in September 1977, Short-Term Tax-Exempt (VWSTX) will be called Ultra-Short-Term Tax-Exempt starting at the end of February 2023. Frankly, the name change is overdue as it always created some confusion among investors—or maybe it was just me who got tripped up

Vanguard Shuffles the Deck … Again

When I reviewed MidCap Growth (VMGRX) at the start of the month, I said that “Vanguard continues to shuffle the managers at MidCap Growth in search of a winning hand.” Well, I had no idea that Vanguard was about to take a card out of the deck so quickly. Today