Updates
Star manager Tiffany Hsiao returned to Matthews Asia in mid-November after a stint managing a private fund for Artisan Partners. In mid-December, she was joined by two members of her team from Artisan. It does not appear that she’ll be responsible for individual funds just now but will, instead, work with Mark Headley and the existing Matthews managers “to generate new perspectives and insights across portfolios.” This is unalloyedly good news for Matthews investors, and we’ll reach out to Mark and Tiffany in the month ahead to see what she’s seeing.
Briefly Noted . . .
“The Wildermuth Fund is in liquidation pursuant to a Plan of Liquidation (the “Plan”) adopted by the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”) in June 2023. Additionally, in June 2023, the Fund suspended sales of Fund shares and quarterly repurchase offers,” with BW Asset Management brought on board to oversee the liquidation. Oddly, 30 months later, the fund has no audited financial statements, which might explain the lack of, well, liquidation?
Launches and Reorganizations
On June 1, 2026, three Baillie Gifford funds will become ETFs. Technically, these are mergers where a shell ETF is created, and it then acquires all of the assets and liabilities of a preceding mutual fund.
| Target Funds | Acquiring Funds |
| Baillie Gifford International Concentrated Growth Equities Fund | Baillie Gifford International Concentrated Growth ETF |
| Baillie Gifford Long Term Global Growth Fund | Baillie Gifford Long Term Global Growth ETF |
| Baillie Gifford U.S. Equity Growth Fund | Baillie Gifford U.S. Equity Growth ETF |
On January 9, 2026, a series of BNY Mellon fixed income funds will become active, transparent ETFs with “the same management fee and an estimated lower total annual expense ratio” as their predecessors.
| Fund | Acquiring ETF |
| BNY Mellon Corporate Bond Fund | BNY Mellon Core Plus ETF |
| BNY Mellon Intermediate Bond Fund | BNY Mellon Active Core Bond ETF |
| BNY Mellon National Short-Term Municipal Bond Fund | BNY Mellon Municipal Short Duration ETF |
| BNY Mellon National Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund | BNY Mellon Municipal Intermediate ETF |
| BNY Mellon Municipal Opportunities Fund | BNY Mellon Municipal Opportunities ETF |
At an unspecified point “in the first quarter of 2026,” the Impax Global Sustainable Infrastructure Fund will become the Impax Global Infrastructure ETF. The advisor expects a lower expense ratio will follow, but hasn’t offered any details.
The Snowball ETF is in registration and has no connection with the Mutual Fund Observer or its editor. It is an actively managed ETF that will invest in U.S. securities and securities of issuers of foreign developed markets through ADRs. The ETF will be managed by Gabe Plotkin. Expenses have not been stated as of this writing.
At an unspecified point “in the first quarter of 2026,” the Towle Value Fund (formerly the Towle Deep Value Fund) becomes the Towle Value ETF. Expenses will be capped at 0.85%.
Vanguard announced the launch of its Vanguard Core-Plus Bond Index ETF (BNDP), a new fixed income offering designed to deliver broad, diversified exposure to the U.S. taxable bond market. It will have an estimated expense ratio of just 0.05%. Josh Barrickman will lead day-to-day oversight of BNDP.
On the topic of Vanguard, it unveiled its first target date fund since 2003, when it offered its Vanguard Target Retirement series. The Vanguard Target Retirement Lifetime Income series will follow the path of its flagship funds until age 55, when it begins allocating to the TIAA Secure Income Account, a savings annuity. A savings annuity lets you build up money over time and later convert it into an income stream for life backed by the insurance company. By age 65, the annuity portion will reach 25% of the portfolio, and investors can decide whether to convert that portion into lifetime income payments. This series will only be available through defined-contribution plans, such as 401(k)s. Fees start at 0.08% for the mutual fund and can be lower for collective investment trusts, depending on plan size.
Small Wins for Investors
The Invesco QQQ Trust has received approval to be reorganized from a unit investment trust to an open-end ETF. Trading of the reorganized ETF commenced on December 22nd.
As part of the conversion, shareholders of Invesco QQQ will benefit from a decrease in the fund’s total expense ratio from 0.20% to 0.18%. The reclassification also provides the opportunity for Invesco QQQ to reinvest income and participate in securities lending. There will be no tax implications from this conversion for QQQ investors.
Closings (and related inconveniences)
Nope. All is well.
Old Wine, New Bottles
Effective March 10, 2026, American Century Disciplined Core Value Fund will be renamed Disciplined Value Fund, while the Equity Growth Fund will be renamed Disciplined Core Equity Fund.
On December 8, 2025, AMG Montrusco Bolton Large Cap Growth Fund became the AMG GW&K Small Cap Growth Fund, which involves a complete strategy change from large cap to small cap and from non-diversified to diversified. The new management team has done a perfectly fine job running the AMG GW&K Small/Mid Cap Growth Fund for the past four years.
On December 15, 2025, the $7 million Gabelli Automation ETF became the Gabelli Global Technology Leaders ETF. The plan is to become a global, all-cap fund that invests in companies with “market leadership and competitive advantages.”
Effective after the close of business on February 13, 2026, the Goldman Sachs Balanced Strategy Portfolio’s name will change to the Goldman Sachs Conservative Allocation Fund, the Goldman Sachs Growth and Income Strategy Portfolio’s name will change to Goldman Sachs Moderate Allocation Fund, and the Goldman Sachs Growth Strategy Portfolio’s name will change to the Goldman Sachs Growth Allocation Fund. There will also be changes to the funds’ investment strategies, which shareholders should investigate. The GS filing did not specify what those changes will be, only that there will be changes and that paragraph 17 of the prospectus should be deleted in its entirety and replaced with …
Off to the Dustbin of History
The $5 million Alger Weatherbie Enduring Growth ETF, a mid-cap growth ESG growth ETF, has already liquidated its portfolio and will cease operations on Christmas Eve 2025. The team also runs the larger but not particularly distinguished Specialized Growth Fund for Alger.
Ancora MicroCap Fund will cease operations on February 27, 2026.
Azoria 500 Meritocracy ETF and Azoria TSLA Convexity ETF disappeared on December 15, 2025.
The $12 million ClearBridge Sustainable Infrastructure ETF will liquidate and dissolve on or about January 29, 2026.
CoinShares Bitcoin Leverage ETF was dissolved and liquidated on December 16, 2025.
Defiance Daily Target 2x Long PM ETF went up in smoke (that’s a joke about the fund’s sole holding, Philip Morris) on December 23, 2025.
Defiance Enhanced Long Vol ETF and Defiance Daily Target 2X Long JPM ETF ceased their defiance on December 31, 2025.
DWS Floating Rate Fund will be liquidated on or about March 23, 2026.
Assuming shareholder approval, the tiny, one-star Fidelity U.S. Low Volatility Equity Fund would be reorganized on a tax-free basis with and into the $1.5 billion, two-star Fidelity Low Volatility Factor ETF on May 26, 2026. The ETF has substantially outperformed the fund, though both invest in US stocks.
First Trust/Confluence Small Cap Value Fund will be liquidated on or around February 20, 2026.
First Trust Riverfront Dynamic Europe ETF will become noticeably less dynamic on or around January 16, 2026
Goldman Sachs ESG Emerging Markets Equity Fund and Goldman Sachs Emerging Markets Equity ex. China Fund will both cease operations on February 13, 2026.
IDX Risk-Managed Digital Assets Strategy Fund will be cashed out on or about January 18, 2026.
Invesco Real Assets ESG ETF, Invesco MSCI Green Building ETF, Invesco Alerian Galaxy Blockchain Users, and Decentralized Commerce ETF will all undergo termination and liquidation on February 25, 2026.
Invesco Environmental Focus Municipal Fund will be terminated on January 6, 2026.
Invesco MSCI World SRI Index Fund is gone as of February 24, 2026.
Shareholders have been asked to approve the reorganization of Longleaf Partners International Fund into Longleaf Partners Global Fund.
Matthews China Dividend Fund will be merged into Matthews Asia Dividend Fund on or about January 27, 2026.
Morgan Stanley Institutional High Yield Portfolio is expected to liquidate on or about January 28, 2026.
The one-star, $1 million Morgan Stanley Institutional American Resilience Portfolio will be declared non-resilient on or about January 16, 2026.
Neuberger Berman U.S. Equity Impact Fund loses impact on or about February 19, 2026.
Neuberger Berman Municipal High Income Fund and Neuberger Berman Municipal Impact Fund are being merged into Neuberger Berman Municipal Intermediate Bond Fund; no date for the merger is available.
PGIM Jennison NextGeneration Global Opportunities Fund will be liquidated on February 10, 2026, followed by PGIM Jennison International Small-Mid Cap Opportunities Fund on or about February 24, 2026.
The three-star, $44 million Prospector Capital Appreciation Fund and the four-star, $94 million Prospector Opportunity Fund will be liquidated on or about December 30, 2025. The Capital Appreciation Fund was managed at launch by three guys who were sorts of stars: Kevin O’Brien who managed Neuberger Berman Genesis, Richard P. Howard, a long-time manager of T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation (PRWCX), and John Gillespie of T. Rowe Price Growth Stock and New Age Media, who were hopeful of bringing a fresh take on a strategy that Mr. Howard had done brilliantly with. The fund paced PRWCX for about three years, then began to fall behind. Mr. Howard left in 2014, as did Mr. Gillespie in 2021.
The funds on the “WTF were you thinking” short-list disappeared on December 29, 2025: STKd 100% MSTR & 100% COIN ETF (APED), STKd 100% SMCI & 100% NVDA ETF (SPCY) and STKd 100% UBER & 100% TSLA ETF (ZIPP).
Assuming shareholder approval, on March 20, 2026, Saturna Bond Income Fund and Saturna Short-Term Bond Fund both merge into Saturna Sustainable Bond Fund, while the $12 million five-star Saturna Global High Income Fund (which is about 30% equities) merges into three-star, $25 million Saturna Core Fund (which is about 63% equities). Shareowners will be asked to vote on these Reorganizations at a shareowner meeting that is anticipated to be held on February 27, 2026.
On March 30, 2026, the $25 million Saturna Sustainable Equity Fund, a global fund that’s 50/50 US/international, merges into the Saturna International Fund without the need for shareholder approval.
Stewart Investors Worldwide Leaders Fund was liquidated on December 16, 2025.
T. Rowe Price Asia Opportunities Fund will be merged with and into the T. Rowe Price New Asia Fund on or about April 17, 2026. Around the same time, the T. Rowe Price International Disciplined Equity Fund will be reorganized on a tax-free basis with and into the T. Rowe Price Overseas Stock Fund.
VictoryShares International Volatility Weighted ETF will liquidate on or about February 4, 2026.
Volatility Shares 2x Wheat ETF and 2x Corn ETF disappear on January 30, 2026.
Voya Global Perspectives Portfolio will be liquidated on or about May 15, 2026.
