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walton-family-walmart.jpg Rick T. Wilking/Getty Images News/Getty Images
(L-R) Jim Walton, Alice Walton, Jim's wife Lynne McNabb Walton, Rob Walton's wife Melani Lowman Walton and Rob Walton. 

The Waltons: World’s Richest Family Trims Exposure to Emerging Markets

WIT pared its stakes in several ETFs that track emerging markets indices as that sector has dropped 24% so far this year.

 

(Bloomberg) -- The investment firm that manages the Walton family’s fortune decreased its holdings in emerging-market funds and US municipal bonds, while adding new stakes in Snowflake Inc. and Verve Therapeutics Inc.

WIT LLC, which stands for the Walton Investment Team, primarily invests through low-cost exchange-traded funds. Its US equity holdings stood at $3.5 billion as of Sept. 30, down $535 million from the end of second quarter, according to a filing Monday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

WIT pared its stakes in several ETFs that track emerging markets indices, including those from Vanguard and iShares. Meanwhile, it bolstered its holdings in the Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF and the Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF. The largest holding remains the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF, which was worth $1.1 billion at the end of the quarter even after it was whittled down.

Emerging markets have been pummeled this year, with the MSCI Emerging Markets Index down 24% since Dec. 31.

The firm added 12,490 shares of software marker Snowflake valued at about $2.1 million, and 13,730 shares of biotech company Verve Therapeutics.

The Walton family, which derives its fortune from Walmart Inc., is the world’s richest family with an estimated net worth of $225 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

SEC rules require investors who manage more than $100 million in US equities to disclose their holdings quarterly, with some exceptions granted to family offices upon appeal.

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