VWELX vs. VWINX: Vanguard Wellington Fund Inv or Vanguard Wellesley Income Fu?
Figures last verified October 31, 2026
The Wellington siblings. Same manager (Wellington Management), same firm, opposite temperaments: one leans stocks, the other leans bonds. The choice is really about your stomach.
| VWELX | VWINX | |
|---|---|---|
| Fund | Vanguard Wellington Fund Investor Shares | Vanguard Wellesley Income Fund Investor Shares |
| Family | Vanguard | Vanguard |
| Category | Balanced / Allocation | Balanced / Allocation |
| Type | Active | Active |
| Expense ratio | 0.24% | 0.22% |
| Cost per $10k/yr | $24 | $22 |
| Minimum | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| Strategy | Actively managed ~65% stocks / 35% bonds; large-cap dividend-paying equities plus investment-grade bonds. Managed by Wellington Management since 1929. | Actively managed ~35% dividend stocks / 65% investment-grade bonds, run by Wellington Management for income with moderate growth. |
VWELX (~65% stocks) is for growth-with-ballast; VWINX (~35% stocks) is for capital preservation and income. Younger or more aggressive: Wellington. Near or in retirement, allergic to drawdowns: Wellesley. Both are among the few active funds this site recommends without wincing.
About VWELX
Wellington launched four months before the 1929 crash and survived it, which remains the best opening line in mutual fund history. Nearly a century later it's still doing the same unfashionable thing: roughly two-thirds blue-chip dividend stocks, one-third high-grade bonds, picked by Wellington Management's value-leaning teams for 0.26% — expensive by index standards, absurdly cheap by active-management standards.
About VWINX
Wellesley is Wellington's quieter sibling — the allocation flipped to roughly one-third stocks, two-thirds bonds — and it has spent five decades being exactly what nervous money needs: a fund whose worst years are merely disappointing rather than terrifying. In 2008, when the S&P 500 fell 37%, Wellesley lost about 10%. That's the entire sales pitch, and for a 75-year-old drawing income, it's a good one.
Whichever you pick, the principle is the same one that runs through this whole site: minimize cost, hold for decades, ignore the noise. See how both stack up against the field in our best index funds by category, or run the numbers yourself with the expense ratio calculator.
Expense ratios and minimums drawn from fund provider documentation; last verified October 31, 2026. Editorial opinion, not investment advice. Confirm figures against the official prospectus before investing.