Best ETFs
Schwab's dividend ETF returned 22.8% in a year. Its income rate still trails a one-month bill.
Pacer Global Cash Cows Dividend ETF
$45.50+0.32 (+0.71%)
- 0.60%
- $3.4B
- +21.7%
- 5.03%
- 0.3M sh
- $44.95
- low $39.08high $48.06
The ETF.net GCOW Grade
C
Score 45 out of 100
- 29 of 35
Score 45 of 100 falls in the C band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.F1 out of 100Rank 34 of 35Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.B58 out of 100Rank 29 of 29Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.B68 out of 100Rank 6 of 35Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.A79 out of 100Rank 5 of 35Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.C51 out of 100Rank 20 of 33Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.B61 out of 100Rank 15 of 35
Our read on GCOW
CCash first, dividends second. GCOW ranks global companies by free cash flow yield, then takes the big payers from that pool, so the income comes from businesses the screen says can actually fund it.
The fund seeks income and capital appreciation by screening global companies for high free-cash-flow yield and dividend yield, using a rules-based quality and value methodology.
Why people hold it
- The screen leads with free cash flow, not headline yield: global names are filtered on cash generation and value/quality rules before dividends decide the final cut.paceretfs.com
- Truly global, not just overseas. The mandate covers developed markets worldwide in a concentrated basket of roughly 110 stocks, rules-based rather than manager-picked.paceretfs.com
- Running since 2016 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades with reasonable regularity, so getting in and out is rarely the hard part.
- Income arrives on a quarterly schedule from the fund's own distribution calendar.paceretfs.com
Worth knowing
- At 0.60% a year, it costs more than the typical dividend-screen fund and far more than plain index rivals like VYMI (0.07%) and SCHY (0.08%). The screen has to earn that gap.
- Against its dividend-screen peer group, it sits in the lower tier once cost is weighed alongside how the portfolio is built.
- No target payout is declared. Distributions rise and fall with what the underlying companies pay and with what the screen holds after each rebalance.paceretfs.com
GCOW Holdings
- Stocks
- 109
- 22%
- ACN
Sectors
- Consumer Staples22.5%
- Health Care17.5%
- Communication15.3%
- Energy12.1%
- Industrials11.2%
- Consumer Discretionary7.2%
- Utilities7.0%
- Technology3.8%
- Materials3.5%
Geography
- United States18.45%
- Japan13.35%
- United Kingdom12.79%
- France8.82%
- Germany7.71%
- Hong Kong7.07%
- Australia4.82%
- Switzerland4.68%
- 22.30%
Developed 95% · Emerging 5%
GCOW Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
GCOW$12,168
Returns run to the Oct 12, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | GCOW |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +12.7% |
| 1 month | −2.9% |
| 3 months | +3.4% |
| 1 year | +21.7% |
| 3 years | +16.6% |
| 5 years | +13.6% |
| 10 years | +9.9% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | GCOW |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +12.7% | |
| 2025 | +27.3% | |
| 2024 | +3.5% | |
| 2023 | +14.0% | |
| 2022 | +5.5% | |
| 2021 | +14.5% | |
| 2020 | −4.3% |
GCOW in the news
GCOW Dividends
- 5.03%
- $2.27
- $0.43 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
GCOW Risk
- 11.7%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 0.95
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −21.5%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.40
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
GCOW Cost
0.60%
GCOW0.60%
- The middle half of International Dividend Index funds
- Median 0.50%
32 of the 34 International Dividend Index funds charge less.
Other funds in International Dividend Index
- CIDOGALPS International Sector Dividend Dogs ETFExpense ratio 0.50%1 year return +24.7%
- CIQDYNorthern Trust International Quality Dividend Dynamic ETFExpense ratio 0.51%1 year return +28.9%
- CEUDVProShares - MSCI Europe Dividend Growers ETFExpense ratio 0.55%1 year return +1.5%
- CGENWGenter Capital International Dividend ETFExpense ratio 0.38%1 year return +19.5%
- DEUDGWisdomTree Europe Quality Dividend Growth FundExpense ratio 0.58%1 year return +7.9%