Does Fidelity have anything like Wellesley?

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dualstow
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Does Fidelity have anything like Wellesley?

Post by dualstow » Sat Jan 08, 2022 9:38 pm

Don mentioned Wellesley in other thread. I’m a fan I got my dad to buy some in a tax deferred account.
https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-fu ... file/VWINX

Barrett mentioned the extra cost of buying it from a Fidelity account. My only tax deferred account that’s large enough to even bother with Wellesley is in Fidelity.

From time to time I wonder, is there a native Fidelity or iShares equivalent, or nah?
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Re: Does Fidelity have anything like Wellesley?

Post by Kevin K. » Sun Jan 09, 2022 8:42 am

This question comes up quite often for those who for various reasons don't have an account at Vanguard or don't want to deal with establishing one.

There are several threads dating back years on Bogleheads about "cloning" Wellesley. Here's one indicative backtest:

https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/bac ... ymbol9=VIG

It seems like any number of combinations of 60-65% intermediate bonds (corporate or high-quality mixed like TBM) and 35-40% large-cap value stock index funds yields similar results to W albeit often with a bit higher drawdowns but also with much lower expenses. That's especially true if you have to pay for investor shares of Wellesley rather than Admiral shares, which are only available to Vanguard account holders.
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Re: Does Fidelity have anything like Wellesley?

Post by mathjak107 » Sun Jan 09, 2022 8:44 am

Fidelity has the more aggressive Puritan and balanced fund
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Re: Does Fidelity have anything like Wellesley?

Post by dualstow » Sun Jan 09, 2022 8:58 am

Many thanks, guys
As a non-bond picker i cannot clone Wellesley, but part of my VP has for a long time been dividend stocks, VCIT and VCLT (Vanguard’s intermediate and long term corporate bond funds, respectively). Always have treasurys because of the PP.

I am curious, though, about Fidelity funds in which they actively select bonds. I’ll check out MJ’s suggestions.
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Re: Does Fidelity have anything like Wellesley?

Post by mathjak107 » Sun Jan 09, 2022 9:11 am

I like Puritan over fidelity balanced

Puritan’s stock holdings tend to be slightly more growth-oriented, and its bond portfolio tends to have more emphasis on the high-yield sector.

I have a slight preference for Puritan because its stock portfolio is run by a single manager as opposed to a team like Balanced
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