Vanguard is liquidating a U.S.-listed ETF for the first time ever
BNN Bloomberg
Asset-management giant Vanguard Group is shutting down one of its US exchange-traded funds for the first time.
The US$39.7 million Vanguard U.S. Liquidity Factor ETF (ticker VFLQ) will be liquidated in late November, the firm said in a press release Monday. The fund “has not gained scale since its 2018 debut,” Vanguard said.
The closure will be the first and only liquidation of an American ETF for the Jack Bogle-founded firm since the US$244 billion Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) launched in 2001.
Malvern, Pennsylvania-based Vanguard controls nearly US$1.8 trillion in assets across 82 U.S. ETFs and is known chiefly for its ultra-low cost, index-hugging funds. Actively-managed VFLQ, which carries a fee of 13 basis points, was an “odd fit” from the get-go, according to VettaFi’s Dave Nadig.