CDC vs SCHD

CDCBVictoryShares US EQ Income Enhanced Volatility Wtd ETF

SCHDASchwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF

In short

CDC A dividend fund with a built-in seatbelt: the index weights high-yielding US large caps by volatility instead of size, and can shift part of the portfolio into cash after deep market declines.

SCHD The dividend fund that checks the balance sheet before it checks the yield. SCHD only considers companies with 10 straight years of payouts, then ranks the survivors on cash flow, return on equity and dividend growth. Quality gate first, income second, at six basis points.

Stated mandate

CDC The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, a U.S. large-cap high-dividend index that uses long/cash positioning and volatility weighting. It generally invests at least 80% of assets in securities included in that index.

SCHD The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100TM Index.

Why people hold it

• CDC The long/cash rule is the hook. The index can move part of the portfolio to cash when the market falls hard, then rebuild equity exposure as it recovers. Rare in dividend land.
• Volatility weighting spreads roughly 100 dividend payers by how much each one swings, so the biggest names don't automatically get the biggest slots.
• Running since 2014 and pays monthly, a cadence most equity dividend funds don't offer.
• The portfolio itself is one of the sturdier builds in the dividend-screen group, and the fund sits in the upper half of that peer set overall.

• SCHD Charges 0.06% a year, near the floor for US equity ETFs and a fraction of what the typical dividend-screen fund costs.schwabassetmanagement.com
• The rulebook is strict: 10 consecutive years of dividends to qualify, then a composite rank on cash-flow-to-total-debt, return on equity, yield and five-year dividend growth.spglobal.com
• Index rules cap any single stock at 4.5% and any sector at 25%, so one hot name cannot quietly become the whole income stream.spglobal.com
• Running since 2011 and now among the largest, most heavily traded dividend ETFs, with tracking that stays very close to its index.

Worth knowing

• CDC At 0.38% it's right around the middle of dividend screens, but plain-vanilla rivals like SCHD (0.06%) and VIG (0.04%) cost a fraction. The rules aren't free.
• Thinly traded next to the mega dividend funds, so spreads can run wider and size matters when you're placing an order.
• The cash switch is reactive by design: it responds to declines that already happened rather than anticipating them.

• SCHD Roughly 100 names, every one a long-time dividend payer. The fast-growing non-payers that drive much of the US market are not eligible, by design.spglobal.com
• The yield and quality screens tilt it toward mature, cash-generating sectors, so it looks nothing like a total-market fund. Distributions land quarterly, not monthly.spglobal.com
• Not the absolute cheapest shelf item: VIG runs 0.04% and DIVB 0.05%, though both screen for dividends differently.

Full CDC profile⁠

Full SCHD profile⁠