Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund Manager to Step Down

News March 23, 2023 at 01:57 PM

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The portfolio manager of the Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund (VDIGX) will step down from the role next year while remaining with fund advisor Wellington Management, Vanguard said in a regulatory filing Thursday.

Donald J. Kilbride will step aside as portfolio manager on or around Jan. 1, 2024, as part of a multiyear succession plan, according to the fund giant. Peter C. Fisher, who currently serves as a co-portfolio manager, will stay on as the fund's portfolio manager.

The $52 billion fund's investment objective, strategies and policies will not change, Vanguard said.

"Mr. Kilbride will remain at Wellington Management and will continue to be a resource to Mr. Fisher," the firm said. "He has long emphasized a team-oriented investment process and has developed a talented and capable team at Wellington Management."

Morningstar reported that while Vanguard added Fisher to the fund's prospectus in July, he's worked closely with Kilbride on Wellington's dividend-growth team for "many years" and took control over the Wellington Global Dividend Growth separate-account strategy from him in 2016.

The fund, which as an expense ratio of 0.27%, has a trailing 12-month yield of 1.64%, the research firm says.

VDIGX generated "stellar total and risk-adjusted returns on a trailing three-, five- and 10-year basis through December 2022," Morningstar reported, and outperformed its large-blend category over the past 10 years.

(Image: Bloomberg)

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