A Fund’s Peculiar Pruning

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Now, listen closely. A rather portly financial fellow, operating from within the Financial Connections Group – a name that sounds suspiciously like a secret society, doesn’t it? – recently decided to trim a bit of greenery from his investment garden. He lopped off 34,146 shares of the Vanguard International Dividend Appreciation ETF – a mouthful, I agree, and one that requires a good polishing before uttering – amounting to roughly $3.09 million. A tidy sum, even for a fellow who likely counts his money with a magnifying glass.

What’s Been Going On?

This pruning took place, according to a rather official-looking document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (a place filled with even more portly fellows, I suspect), during the last quarter. It wasn’t that the ETF was performing terribly – not at all! – but our portly fellow decided to reduce his stake. The value of the position shrank a bit, not from any dreadful performance, but because he sold some bits and the price wobbled about like a jelly. It’s a bit like deciding you have too many plums in your orchard – perfectly good plums, mind you, but perhaps a touch excessive.

A Little More Detail

After this bit of gardening, the ETF now accounts for only 2.66% of the fund’s holdings – a significantly smaller slice of the pie than the 4.1% it occupied previously. It’s as if he decided the ETF was getting a bit too comfortable, a bit too…important. A sensible precaution, perhaps, for a fellow who likes to keep his options open.

The fund’s top holdings, as of late, look like this:

  • NYSEMKT:DFAU: $45.21 million (15.5% of AUM)
  • NYSEMKT:ESGV: $21.13 million (7.3% of AUM)
  • NYSEMKT:DFIV: $16.59 million (5.7% of AUM)
  • NYSEMKT:JCPB: $15.79 million (5.4% of AUM)
  • NYSEMKT:VUG: $15.56 million (5.3% of AUM)

As of January 22nd, shares of VIGI were trading at $92.66, up a respectable 13% over the past year – nearly matching the S&P 500. A 17% total return over the year is not bad, especially if you consider the low 0.10% expense ratio. A clever little earner, this ETF, though it doesn’t shout about it.

A Closer Look at the ETF

Metric Value
AUM $9.39 billion
Yield 2.10%
Price (as of January 22) $92.66

What Does it All Mean?

This ETF, you see, is a rather peculiar contraption. It focuses on tracking an index of high-quality international companies (excluding the U.S.) that consistently grow their dividends. It’s a bit like collecting particularly well-behaved snails – slow and steady, but reliably producing…well, not dividends, exactly, but you get the idea. The portfolio is a diverse mix of companies from around the globe, weighted to closely mirror the underlying index. It’s a passive strategy, which means it doesn’t involve any frantic trading or clever schemes – just a quiet, methodical approach.

Now, why did our portly fellow trim his holdings? After a good run for international equities, reducing exposure can be a way to manage concentration rather than signal a loss of conviction. The sale reduced the position from roughly 4.1% of assets to 2.66%, freeing capital while keeping a meaningful allocation to overseas dividend growers. It seems he’s decided to lean more heavily toward U.S. equities and ESG-tilted strategies, suggesting a preference for domestic growth and thematic exposure over incremental international income. It’s a reweighting decision, not a directional call on global markets.

In short, this isn’t a tale of doom and gloom. It’s simply a story of a portly fellow tending his investment garden, pruning a bit here, planting a bit there, and generally ensuring that everything grows in a sensible, orderly fashion. And, if you ask me, that’s perfectly alright.

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2026-01-25 01:04