AI Analysis · Q1 2026

Kensington Asset Management's Q1 2026 13F is a $1.84B, 42-position portfolio that is structurally unusual in the 13F-HR dataset: it holds ZERO individual stocks and is composed almost entirely of ETFs -- 41 of 42 positions are exchange-traded-funds spanning S&P 500 (VOO at 26.3%, $483.9M), Nasdaq 100 (QQQ at 10.9%, $200.5M, a NEW opening replacing Invesco's older QQQ CUSIP), ultra-short-duration bonds (PULS, JPST, VNLA, BIL-equivalent short-term Treasuries), short-duration Treasuries and agencies (VUSB, VGSH, VGIT, VGLT, SHY-equivalent), investment-grade-and-high-yield corporate credit (USHY, HYLB, ANGL, FLOT), emerging-markets sovereign (SPEM, FLJP, EMHY, EMB), preferred-and-equity-income (SPYD, SPYV, HDV), active-and-smart-beta equity (YEAR, MGK, VUG, IWF), gold (SGOL), and municipal-and-international-fixed-income (CDX, FRDM, IDMO). AUM fell from $1.94B in Q4 2025 to $1.84B in Q1 2026 (-$98M, -5.1%) -- a modest decline driven by mark-to-market and by significant position restructuring. The quarter's 49 total changes (8 new, 7 sold, 17 increased, 10 decreased, 7 unchanged) is the portfolio's most active quarter, reflecting a major fixed-income repositioning: the manager sharply increased short-duration bond and credit ETF exposure (VUSB +158% shares, $87.0M add; PULS +103% shares, $81.0M add; QQQ NEW at $200.5M replacing a $232.4M Invesco QQQ position -- a CUSIP-level migration within the same strategy; JPST +72% shares, $42.0M add; FLOT +40% shares, $22.3M add; VNLA +26% shares, $18.6M add; VGSH +286% shares, $14.7M add; JAAA +175% shares, $14.2M add; FLTR +15% shares, $10.3M add) while reducing longer-duration-and- higher-risk credit (USHY -42% shares, -$61.6M; SPSM -75% shares, -$8.7M; SPEM -74% shares, -$8.2M; HYLB -16% shares, -$8.2M; FLJP -74% shares, -$7.9M; ANGL -11% shares, -$5.2M; JSI -26% shares, -$4.9M; SPHY -4% shares, -$4.3M; BLOXX/BDX -91% shares, -$3.7M; SGOL -11% shares). Sold positions included an old QQQ CUSIP ($232.4M, migrated to new CUSIP), Vanguard MGK growth ($108.9M), VUG ($108.6M), IWF large-cap growth ($107.2M), VCSH short-term corporate ($8.3M), USIG intermediate credit ($6.7M), and CDX (Simplify) ($4.9M) -- all equity-growth or credit-duration positions replaced by the new opens. The 77.25 whaleScore on $1.84B reflects AUM threshold and the 42-position diversification; there is no single-name risk. This is best read as a fixed-income-and-asset-allocation ETF wrapper that executed a major duration-and-credit repositioning in Q1 2026: moving from intermediate-and-long-duration credit and equity-growth ETFs into a barbell of ultra-short bonds (PULS, JPST, VNLA) plus the QQQ growth equity opening, while maintaining the VOO S&P 500 core at 26.3% of AUM. The QQQ CUSIP migration is a corporate-action artifact, not a strategy change -- Invesco reorganized the QQQ trust and the new CUSIP shows as both 'sold' and 'new' simultaneously.

The portfolio's structural thesis is fixed-income-heavy asset allocation with an equity core. The top two positions alone -- Vanguard S&P 500 (VOO, $483.9M, 26.3%, 809,879 shares, +17.4% shares, +$48.0M add from $435.9M) and Invesco QQQ ($200.5M, 10.9%, 347,330 shares, NEW at this CUSIP, replacing an Invesco QQQ position held at $232.4M under a different CUSIP -- a $32M per-share CUSIP change event that the system treats as simultaneous 'sold' and 'new') -- form a 37.2% large-cap US equity core. VOO is the portfolio's anchor: the S&P 500 via the lowest-cost ETF. The +17.4% share increase in Q1 represents a meaningful add to the equity core. QQQ is the portfolio's growth-and-technology overlay: the Nasdaq 100 adds technology-and-growth exposure that VOO's blend-underweights. The CUSIP replacement of QQQ (old CUSIP 04609e107 at $232.4M sold, new CUSIP 46090E103 at $200.5M opened) reflects the May 2024 Invesco QQQ reorganization -- a corporate action that replaced the old share class with a new CUSIP. The $32M value decline between the sold and new positions is timing: the old position was marked at Q4 2025 prices, the new at Q1 2026 prices, with Q1 being a down quarter for tech stocks.

The fixed-income core occupies the next ten positions and is where the Q1 action is concentrated. PGIM Ultra-Short (PULS, $159.7M, 8.7%, +103% shares, +$81.0M from $78.7M) -- an ultra-short-duration investment-grade credit ETF -- was the largest absolute increase in the portfolio, more than doubling. PULS is effectively a cash-and-short-credit instrument that yields more than money-market funds while maintaining a stable NAV; its doubling signals a major cash-deployment move into short-duration credit. Vanguard Ultra-Short Bond (VUSB, $142.1M, 7.7%, +158% shares, +$87.0M from $55.1M) -- the portfolio's bond ladder anchor -- nearly tripled, making it the second-largest position. VUSB's near-tripling is the most dramatic trade in the filing: the manager moved significant capital from intermediate and longer-duration fixed income into ultra-short bonds, likely to preserve optionality in a rising-rate or uncertain-rate environment. JPMorgan Ultra-Short (JPST, $100.9M, 5.5%, +72% shares, +$42.0M from $59.0M) and Janus Detroit Short Duration (VNLA, $92.4M, 5.0%, +26% shares, +$18.6M from $73.8M) are additional ultra-short instruments that were increased. The common logic across PULS, VUSB, JPST, and VNLA is the same: the manager is building out a substantial ultra-short-duration fixed-income sleeve at the expense of intermediate and long-duration credit, reflecting a view that the interest-rate environment is uncertain and that capital should be kept at the short end of the curve for flexibility.

Quarter at a glance — Q1 2026

Top 10 holdings

Filing history