Under the Hood of Vanguard’s Four New Active Funds

Index investing may be the engine powering Vanguard’s growth, but the fund giant hasn’t given up on active management.

In November, Vanguard launched its first three actively managed U.S. stock ETFs in partnership with Wellington. At the same time, it quietly overhauled MidCap Growth (VMGRX), replacing Frontier Capital and Wellington Management with Tremblant Capital. MidCap Growth isn’t technically new, but it might as well be.

That makes four “new” active funds for Vanguard investors to evaluate.

Three months of returns won’t tell us too much. But that short window is enough to help answer a more important question:

Are they positioned and behaving as I expected?

When I evaluate a new strategy, I focus less on early returns and more on positioning. For active management, is the portfolio meaningfully different from its benchmark? Does it reflect the manager’s stated philosophy? Is it concentrated or cautious? Independent or index-hugging?

To get the answers, I don’t just look at the bright, shiny wrapper; I pop the hood.

I’ve already shared my initial impressions of these ETFs and the revamped MidCap Growth. Today, I want to revisit those early takes and see whether the portfolios—and the early performance patterns—confirm or challenge them.

It’s too soon for verdicts. But it’s not too soon to see if I need to recalibrate my expectations—and whether any of these options deserve a place on your watchlist.

Wellington Dividend Growth Active ETF

First impression (Nov. 2025): Wellington Dividend Growth Active ETF is essentially a “copy-and-paste” of Dividend Growth.