A Bond Fund’s Tale & Some Folks Moving Money

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Now, listen here. A fellow named PFG Private Wealth, a concern that manages other folks’ fortunes – and takes a tidy cut for the privilege, mind you – recently decided to unload its entire stake in a bond fund called VPLS. Some $4.91 million worth, if you believe the ledgers. Happened ’round the 15th of January, 2026. Seems a simple enough transaction, but in this world of high finance, nothing is ever as straightforward as it appears.

What All the Fuss Was About

According to a filing with the SEC – a government agency tasked with keeping track of these things, and doing a middlin’ job of it, if you ask me – PFG sold off all 62,410 shares of the Vanguard Malvern Funds – Core Plus Bond Fund (VPLS 0.03%) during the last quarter of 2025. Four and ninety-one hundred thousand dollars, gone like a puff of smoke. The fund itself reported a drop in value of the same amount, which is just a fancy way of saying money moved from one pocket to another. A perfectly ordinary occurrence, if you don’t dwell on the details.

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More Than Meets the Eye, Likely

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. This VPLS fund, it seems, represented a sizable chunk of PFG’s holdings – or rather, did represent. After this sale, it’s gone from their books entirely. Vanished. They’ve been shuffling their money around, putting it into other bond funds, like the iShares iBonds Dec 2030 ETF and the iShares iBonds Dec 2034 ETF. Folks are always movin’ money around, of course, but it makes a body wonder what prompted this particular shift.

  • They sold off all of VPLS; it now represents a grand total of nothin’ of their reportable assets.
  • Their top holdings now include:
    • NYSEMKT:IVV: $31.12 million (13.6% of their managed funds)
    • NYSEMKT:SPYG: $25.31 million (11.1% of their managed funds)
    • NYSEMKT:VEA: $23.38 million (10.2% of their managed funds)
    • NYSEMKT:IBDV: $12.94 million (5.7% of their managed funds)
    • NYSEMKT:IBDZ: $12.83 million (5.6% of their managed funds)
  • As of the 14th of January, 2026, shares of VPLS were trading at $78.53, down a bit from their high.
  • Over the past year, VPLS returned 9.5%, which is respectable enough, but underperformed the S&P 500 by a good ten and a half percentage points. A difference, to be sure.
  • The fund’s dividend yield is a tidy 4.8% as of the 15th of January, 2026.

A Closer Look at the Fund

Metric Value
AUM N/A
Price (as of market close 2026-01-14) $78.53
Dividend yield 4.76%
1-year total return 9.54%

This VPLS fund, you see, is built on a collection of bonds – corporate bonds, government bonds, the whole shebang. They aim for a balance between earning a good return and not taking on too much risk. It’s all packaged up as an ETF, traded on the NASDAQ exchange, which is just a fancy way of saying it’s easy to buy and sell.

What Does it All Mean for Us Common Folks?

Well, it means that folks with a lot of money are always making decisions based on what they think is going to happen next. PFG seems to be shifting away from a fund that includes some riskier bonds toward ones that are a bit more predictable. The iShares ETFs they’re investing in have set maturity dates, which means you know when you’re going to get your money back. That’s appealin’ to some, I reckon.

Keep in mind, though, that PFG manages money for a lot of different clients, and each client has their own ideas about how much risk they’re willing to take. So, this move might be about pleasing some clients more than others. It’s a complicated business, this finance game, and I suspect a good deal of it is just guesswork dressed up as science.

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2026-01-29 00:53