Flower City Capital Boosts Largest Holding With $3 Million Buy in Vanguard Russell 1000 ETF

Flower City Capital reported purchasing Vanguard Russell 1000 ETF shares valued at an estimated $3 million in the third quarter, according to an SEC filing released on Wednesday.

What Happened

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission released on Wednesday, Flower City Capital increased its holdings in the Vanguard Russell 1000 ETF(NASDAQ:VONE) by 10,279 shares during the third quarter. The estimated value of the trade is $3 million based on the average share price for the period. The post-transaction position stands at 229,263 shares.

What Else to Know

The buy increased VONE’s share of Flower City Capital’s 13F assets to 37.3%, reinforcing its position as the fund’s largest holding.

Top holdings after the filing:

• NASDAQ:VONE: $69.3 million (37.3% of AUM)
• NYSEMKT:VEU: $55 million (29.5% of AUM)
• NYSEMKT:VOO: $14.6 million (7.8% of AUM)
• NYSEMKT:IVV: $8.4 million (4.5% of AUM)
• NYSEMKT:VSS: $5.6 million (3.0% of AUM)

As of Monday afternoon, VONE shares were priced at $301.06, up 14% over the past year and roughly in line with the Russell 1000 and S&P 500's returns over the same period.

ETF Overview

ETF Snapshot

• VONE employs a passive indexing strategy aiming to replicate the performance of the Russell 1000 Index, which tracks large-cap U.S. equities.
• Portfolio consists of a broad basket of large-cap stocks, with holdings weighted to match the composition of the underlying index.
• As an ETF, the fund offers investors access to diversified U.S. equity exposure.

The Vanguard Russell 1000 ETF provides investors with broad exposure to the U.S. large-cap equity market by mirroring the Russell 1000 Index. The fund's disciplined indexing approach makes it a core holding for investors seeking diversified, market-weighted exposure to U.S. equities.

Foolish Take

Flower City Capital’s $3 million buy of the Vanguard Russell 1000 ETF (NASDAQ: VONE) reinforces the firm’s conviction in large-cap equities. Now accounting for more than a third of its reported assets, VONE sits comfortably as Flower City’s single largest holding—rivaled only by VEU, its main international counterpart. The move suggests a tilt toward equity strength, with the Russell 1000, in particular, continuing to mirror the steady resilience of the broader U.S. market.

For investors, VONE remains a core building block for long-term portfolios. The ETF tracks the Russell 1000 Index, a benchmark of America’s largest companies, including Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet. Over the past year, the fund has climbed roughly 14%, nearly matching the S&P 500’s gains. With an ultra-low 0.07% expense ratio and a 1.07% yield, VONE offers efficient, broad exposure to U.S. blue chips.

In other words, Flower City’s growing stake highlights an enduring belief in the reliability of large-cap equities amid global uncertainty—perhaps signaling a vote of confidence in market breadth rather than a bet on outperformance.

Glossary

ETF:Exchange-Traded Fund, a pooled investment fund traded on stock exchanges like a stock.
Passive indexing strategy:An investment approach aiming to replicate the performance of a specific market index rather than outperform it.
Russell 1000 Index:A stock market index tracking the performance of the largest 1,000 U.S. companies by market capitalization.
Large-cap:Refers to companies with a large market capitalization, typically over $10 billion.
AUM:Assets Under Management; the total market value of assets a fund or manager oversees.
13F assets:Securities reported by institutional investment managers in quarterly SEC filings, disclosing their holdings.
Dividend yield:A financial ratio showing how much a company pays in dividends each year relative to its share price.
Total return:The investment's price change plus all dividends and distributions, assuming those payouts are reinvested.
Market-weighted:Portfolio holdings are weighted according to each security's market capitalization within the index.
Core holding:An investment considered a foundational, long-term part of a portfolio.

Jonathan Ponciano has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Vanguard International Equity Index Funds - Vanguard Ftse All-World ex-US Small-Cap ETF and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.