Discrepancy in Reported Fund Price - What to Do?

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obafgkm
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Discrepancy in Reported Fund Price - What to Do?

Post by obafgkm »

I noticed that the share price for April 28, 2017 of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund Admiral (VBTLX) was reported as $10.74 by Yahoo! Finance, while on my Vanguard transactions page the price for VBTLX was reported as $10.68 . (I noticed the discrepancy when I was trying to add some reinvested dividends from that date in my Quicken 2007 for Mac portfolio).

Why the discrepancy? Which one is correct -- and why? I don't believe I've noticed such a discrepancy before.
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Daryl
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Re: Discrepancy in Reported Fund Price - What to Do?

Post by Daryl »

Is it possible to check another date? It could be a slight difference in the way Yahoo! and Vanguard are reporting dividends. I'd go with the Vanguard amount.
livesoft
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Re: Discrepancy in Reported Fund Price - What to Do?

Post by livesoft »

Yahoo is well-known for having bad data sometimes. I suggest you call them up and get a refund of the money you paid them.
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obafgkm
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Re: Discrepancy in Reported Fund Price - What to Do?

Post by obafgkm »

livesoft wrote:Yahoo is well-known for having bad data sometimes. I suggest you call them up and get a refund of the money you paid them.
It appears the same ($10.74) as Yahoo! for Google, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, Morningstar, and -- weirdly enough -- Vanguard (under "Price history search"). It is not immediately obvious if they all have the same source.

I'm tall enough that your sarcasm didn't go over my head, livesoft :P . I do pay Vanguard; I've asked them why the discrepancy.
"I'm investing in stocks... chicken, beef, and vegetable. It's risky, but I know one day it'll pay off & I'll be a bouillonaire. Who knows, I might even open up a Broth IRA."
livesoft
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Re: Discrepancy in Reported Fund Price - What to Do?

Post by livesoft »

I've paid as much as 42% less for shares than the quoted or historical price at Vanguard:
Vanguard sells shares at 42% discount!

I'm interested in what Vanguard says about your $10.68.
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obafgkm
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Re: Discrepancy in Reported Fund Price - What to Do?

Post by obafgkm »

I will post what Vanguard replies with.

In the meantime, has anybody else noticed this for April 28, 2017? In other words, does the transaction history for VBTLX show a share price of $10.68?

I'd wager good money that I'm not the only one here who owns VBTLX...
"I'm investing in stocks... chicken, beef, and vegetable. It's risky, but I know one day it'll pay off & I'll be a bouillonaire. Who knows, I might even open up a Broth IRA."
Geologist
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Re: Discrepancy in Reported Fund Price - What to Do?

Post by Geologist »

This is very interesting.

The dividend reinvestment for Vanguard Total Bond Admiral in my account on April 28 occurred at $10.74 per share, while the reinvestment in my mother's account occurred at $10.68 per share. So here we have two prices within Vanguard. I have contacted Vanguard for an explanation.
livesoft
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Re: Discrepancy in Reported Fund Price - What to Do?

Post by livesoft »

It's $10.74 in two of our accounts.

$10.68 was the end-of-March price.
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Re: Discrepancy in Reported Fund Price - What to Do?

Post by obafgkm »

The response as of right now:
Dear obafgkm:

Thank you for taking the time to contact us.

We are currently researching your inquiry regarding your dividend payment.
Please allow approximately until the week of May 26, 2017 for us to
complete our review. We will follow up with you by e-mail as soon as we
have additional information.
I'll let you know what I hear.

In the meantime, I checked the end-of-April 2017 statement from Vanguard online. It says $10.74 was the share price on April 28, 2017 for VBTLX. Since that is an official record, I'll assume that $10.74 was the share price, but I still wonder why it says differently in the recent transactions. Furthermore, the share amount of dividends reinvested (listed under "Recent Transactions", not on the statement) corresponds with the $10.74 price, and not the $10.68 price (even though right next to it the share price reported is $10.68).
"I'm investing in stocks... chicken, beef, and vegetable. It's risky, but I know one day it'll pay off & I'll be a bouillonaire. Who knows, I might even open up a Broth IRA."
FactualFran
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Re: Discrepancy in Reported Fund Price - What to Do?

Post by FactualFran »

You have done the "What to Do" by contacting Vanguard. Give them time to investigate the issue.

NAV discrepancies can occur. With the investors shares version of the fund (Vanguard Total Bond Market Index), the NAV at the end of 2001 is reported to have been $10.14. However, the total returns calculated for 2001 and 2002 using the reported NAVs and the distribution data differ from the reported total returns. The calculated total returns are equal to the reported values if an end of 2001 NAV of $10.15 is used in the calculations.
livesoft
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Re: Discrepancy in Reported Fund Price - What to Do?

Post by livesoft »

We didn't even get an end-of-April statement for the account that has VBTLX in it, so no chance to see any discrepancy. It seems that account only gets quarterly statements. Of course, there is a list of transactions available on the web site, but that list of transactions is not really an official statement.

Or maybe there was a statement and Vanguard removed it. I actually don't look at the actual statements anymore, so I don't go looking for them. When I went to look a moment ago, nothing there.
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Geologist
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Re: Discrepancy in Reported Fund Price - What to Do?

Post by Geologist »

I received a response from my Flagship representative that thanked me for bringing this (the two reinvestment transactions at different prices) to her attention and she would see that it was corrected. She didn't say which was correct, so I'll have to wait to see.
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Re: Discrepancy in Reported Fund Price - What to Do?

Post by obafgkm »

obafgkm wrote: I'll let you know what I hear.
Well, I didn't hear back the week of May 26, 2017. I sent a message to Vanguard about it, and finally heard today:
Vanguard wrote:Dear obafgkm:
After completing my research, I have found that the system is not working as designed and will need to be fixed by our Information Technology team. This is a known issue, which has previously been reported, and is being tracked. There is currently no ETA for when this defect will be fixed, but I will be working with our Information Technology team to identify one as soon as possible. This is a display issue only and the correct share price is $10.74 .

Sincerely,

(name)
Registered Representative
Retail Investor Group
"I'm investing in stocks... chicken, beef, and vegetable. It's risky, but I know one day it'll pay off & I'll be a bouillonaire. Who knows, I might even open up a Broth IRA."
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Dale_G
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Re: Discrepancy in Reported Fund Price - What to Do?

Post by Dale_G »

Not just one month. My accounts are fine, but for one Total Bond Market (Admiral) account I informally "advise", the reinvest price was $11.01 for each month from 06/30/16 through 04/28/17.

Edit 06/14/17: Actually, all of the reinvested dividends purchased shares at the correct price on the day of the reinvestment. It was the cost basis page that showed the erroneous purchase price to be $11.01 regardless of the correct price

Vanguard was advised about May 19. I am not sure if Vanguard has fixed it yet.

Dale
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