Fund Evaluator:

Vanguard Global Wellington Admiral Overview

Vanguard Global Wellington Admiral (VGWAX) is an actively managed Allocation Global Moderate Allocation fund. Vanguard launched the fund in 2017.

The investment seeks to provide long-term capital appreciation and moderate current income. The fund invests 60% to 70% of its assets in dividend-paying and, to a lesser extent, non-dividend-paying equity securities of established large and mid-size U.S. and foreign companies. In choosing these securities, the advisor seeks to invest in stocks of companies that appear to be undervalued but have prospects for improvement. These stocks are commonly referred to as value stocks. The remaining 30% to 40% of the fund's assets are invested mainly in U.S. and foreign fixed income securities that the advisor believes will generate a moderate level of current income.

About Vanguard Global Wellington Admiral (VGWAX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 8.66 years: Nataliya Kofman (2017), Loren Moran (2017). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 5 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg Global Aggregate TR USD index with a weighting of 100%, Bloomberg Gbl Agg-Securitized TR Hdg USD index with a weighting of 3%, FTSE Developed Net Tax NR USD index with a weighting of 65%, Bloomberg Gbl Agg x Trsry TR Hdg USD index with a weighting of 3% and Bloomberg Gbl Agg Credit TR Hdg USD index with a weighting of 28%. Vanguard Global Wellington Admiral has 681 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 15.2% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Vanguard Global Wellington Admiral is part of the Allocation global asset class and is within the Allocation fund group. Vanguard Global Wellington Admiral has 44.4% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 33.5%. There is 31.2% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 32.4% (19.2% domestic bond, 13.2% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Vanguard Global Wellington Admiral has 2.9% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $2 billion in total assets, which is above the $948 million average for the Global Moderate Allocation category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

VGWAX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Vanguard Global Wellington Admiral expense ratio is below average compared to funds in the Global Moderate Allocation category. Vanguard Global Wellington Admiral has an expense ratio of 0.30%, which is 71% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a A. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Vanguard Global Wellington Admiral has a portfolio turnover rate of 74%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 66% for the Global Moderate Allocation category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, Vanguard Global Wellington Admiral returned -0.3%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Global Moderate Allocation category had an average return of -0.2%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

Vanguard Global Wellington Admiral has a trailing yield of 2.84%, which is above the 2.64% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Vanguard Global Wellington Admiral Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 10.4%, 2.5 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of A. The fund has returned 19.5% over the past year (grade of A), 13.7% over the past three years (grade of B) and 8.5% per year over the past five years (grade of A).

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