Vanguard Brokerage Transfer (non-ETF MF -- ETF version)

Question

My brokerage acct managers moved all shares from a non ETF to an ETF. I originally held an International Stock Index Fund that was swapped to an International stock index ETF fund. The only thing that transferred were the shares. Share amounts differed due to the current price of each that day. No cash transferred for either in the transaction. The first is now zero shares and the new ETF fund has a share balance. how do I handle this transaction?

q_lurker · Answer

Did this happen in only one account or in several accounts?

From others, I have understood that such a transfer is considered a like-kind (non-taxable) event.  Is that your understanding?  (I am not a tax pro and I usually refrain from offering uninformed advice on taxability issues.)

You might look at either a Mutual Fund Conversion (one account at time), or a Corporate Acquisition transaction (effective across all accounts).  Some corrections might be required for the results of the MF Conversion.  You would either convert from the MF to the ETF or have the ETF "acquire" the MF holding.

The intent of both approaches is to Remove the shares of the MF and Add shares of the ETF for each lot of MF held.  If you have already downloaded some transactions from the FI for this event, they may need to be deleted first.

ALWAYS create a backup file 'just in case' when going to such significant events.