VLS60 Income distribution

GeoffTF

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81948200#Comment_81948200

Distribution type	Distribution rate (per unit)	Ex-dividend date	Record date	Payable date
Income Distribution	£4.5856	01 Apr 2026	31 Mar 2026	29 May 2026

https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/investments/vanguard-lifestrategy-60-equity-fund-income-shares/distributions

You have to multiply that by the number of units that you hold.

Hugeass304

Thank you for the information. I must admit I was getting concerned that it was actually 4.5p. It still says that on the Fidelity website.

solidpro

I hold a significant amount in the VLS60 - but am naive enough to not understand this ex-dividend thing. AI tells me that if I held this fund before 1st April this year, I'll get a dividend payout end of May, at which point the value of the fund drops by a roughly equivilent value of the entire payout.

So what does the smart person do? Nothing?

Also naively if something I own is about to decrease in value, I'd sell it now and buy it back cheaper, later. I'm guessing that just doesn't work in this case - i.e switching to VLS80 and then back to VLS60 when the dividend is paid out?

I expect brutal responses.

wmb194

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81957287#Comment_81957287

Hallucination machines are useless; it’s not before 01/04 it’s on 01/04. If you sold your units on 31/03 you wouldn’t receive the dividend.

The price of the fund will, all other things equal, fall by the amount of the dividend on the ex-dividend date, not the payment date.

solidpro

I wasn't using google's AI to tell me what to do, I was using it to explain what VLS60 going ex-dividend means…. Which is actually it being useful.

wmb194

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81957295#Comment_81957295

But it gave you duff information.

solidpro

Ok, obviously mentioning an AI response is triggering…back to the query about what the smart person does?

wmb194

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81957302#Comment_81957302

It hasn’t triggered me, I was pointing out it was wrong.

What do you do if you owned them on the ex-dividend date? You can do whatever you like, the dividend will still be paid.

Altior

Up to the XD date, the value of the dividend is included in the fund, therefore your units. On the XD, that's the cut off, when the dividends are distributed.

You can think of it like a savings account. You put capital in and interest added daily. On the last day of March, you withdraw the interest. Your interest added to the capital is the same as it was when it was all in the savings account. Your capital is the original amount. But now your total value is in two different places.

Of course, with equities and bonds you have market variables, so it's not as always exactly defined as that. But the market knows the value of the dividend so in theory it should net off with everything else being equal.

GeoffTF

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81957302#Comment_81957302

Nothing. You are supposed to buy VLS60 and sit on it for many years. Vanguard's founder recommended that you do not even look at the price.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/05/heres-why-dead-investors-outperform-the-living.html