DiPaolo Diversifies Portfolio
DiPaolo Financial diversifies portfolio with new stakes in small-cap, Bitcoin, and mortgage ETFs.
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For DFAS, DiPaolo added 53,108 shares (about $3.7 million), which the filing data described as its 8th largest portfolio holding; DFAS is an actively managed ETF that selects U.S. small-cap stocks using “multiple factors” and weights them by market capitalization (launched Dec. 15, 1998, managed by Dimensional).
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DFAS trading and performance context in the same reporting: DFAS opened at $80.35, with a 50-day moving average of $77.42 and a 200-day moving average of $74.32; its 12-month range was cited as $61.38 to $81.61.
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For IBIT, DiPaolo purchased 18,773 shares (about $932,000), described as its 15th largest position; the coverage also characterizes IBIT as seeking exposure to “long btc, short usd currency” and describes it as passively managed to track that exposure.
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Beyond DiPaolo, the VMBS reporting included large percentage increases from other institutions not mentioned in the summary—for example, Tran Capital Management L.P. grew its VMBS stake by 578.9% in the fourth quarter, ending with 57,746 shares worth about $2.719 million.
DiPaolo Financial Group Inc. added roughly $4.5 million worth of the Vanguard Mortgage-Backed Securities ETF (VMBS) in the fourth quarter of 2025, buying 95,696 shares. The Florida-based investment adviser made the purchase alongside new positions in a small-cap stock ETF and a Bitcoin-linked fund, according to Fintel and SEC 13F filings.
The moves reflect a broader shift across the wealth management industry. Firms of all sizes are rebalancing into mortgage-backed securities, factor-based equities, and crypto ETFs at the same time — a pattern analysts call institutional rebalancing rather than any single company-specific event.
DiPaolo Bets $4.5 Million on Mortgage-Backed Securities
DiPaolo's VMBS purchase made mortgage-backed securities its 4.8% largest portfolio position by weight. VMBS tracks the Bloomberg U.S. Mortgage-Backed Securities Index. It gives investors exposure to home-loan bonds — debt backed by pools of residential mortgages. The bet came as the Federal Reserve stabilized interest rates in late 2025, making mortgage bonds more attractive for yield-focused advisers, according to Vanguard and Cerulli Associates.
DiPaolo was not alone. Tran Capital Management L.P. grew its own VMBS stake by 578.9% in the same quarter, ending with 57,746 shares worth about $2.72 million, per Holdings Channel. Raymond James Financial and several other wealth-management firms also added to VMBS holdings during the period.
Small-Cap and Bitcoin Positions Round Out the Rebalance
Beyond VMBS, DiPaolo bought 53,108 shares of the Dimensional U.S. Small Cap ETF (DFAS), worth about $3.7 million — its 8th largest holding. DFAS is actively managed. It picks small U.S. companies using multiple factors and weights them by market size. At the time of reporting, DFAS traded around $80.35, well above its 200-day average of $74.32.
DiPaolo also added 18,773 shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), worth roughly $932,000, making it about 1.0% of its portfolio. IBIT is managed by BlackRock and gives investors direct exposure to Bitcoin without holding the asset directly. It crossed $69 billion in total assets by mid-2026, with 1,605 institutional managers reporting holdings, according to Holdings Channel.
Crypto ETFs Split Institutional Investors Into Two Camps
Not every major firm is buying Bitcoin ETFs. Large hedge funds are pulling back. Brevan Howard cut its IBIT position from 37 million shares to just 5 million in late 2025, locking in gains after Bitcoin peaked at roughly $126,000 in October. That "first in, first out" pattern is common among hedge funds, according to CF Benchmarks.
Wealth managers like DiPaolo and Concentrum Wealth Management are moving in the opposite direction. Concentrum held 119,971 IBIT shares worth $4.6 million as of March 31, 2026. Even as Bitcoin's spot price slumped to around $62,452 by June 2026, IBIT logged a net inflow of $47.66 million in a single day, per TipRanks. Analysts call it "persistent institutional interest" despite retail-driven price swings.
Why Advisers Are Rethinking the Whole Portfolio Playbook
DiPaolo's three-part move — defensive bonds, active small-cap equities, and crypto — fits what analysts call a "barbell" strategy. Firms load one end with safe, yield-generating assets like VMBS and the other with high-risk, high-reward bets like IBIT. Brendan Powers of Cerulli Associates said asset owners are "continuing to evolve their use of ETFs" as they move into markets once reserved for large pension funds.
The broader numbers back that up. Institutional ETF usage has doubled over five years, with actively managed ETFs like DFAS leading the way, per Cerulli Associates. Citigroup analysts estimate the total ETF market could reach $25 trillion by 2030 — roughly double its current size — as more advisers swap mutual funds for the ETF wrapper.
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