DGRO vs EQIN

DGROAiShares Core Dividend Growth ETF

EQINBColumbia U.S. Equity Income ETF

In short

DGRO BlackRock's dividend-growth screen casts a wider net than most: five straight years of raises rather than ten, plus a payout-ratio cap that filters out stretched payers. About 400 US dividend raisers, large through small cap, for 0.08% a year.

EQIN A compact take on U.S. dividend payers: roughly 100 names chasing income plus capital appreciation, not raw yield. Priced under the typical dividend screener, though the category's giants cost less still.

Stated mandate

DGRO The fund seeks to follow an index of U.S. equities whose dividends have grown consistently.

EQIN The Fund seeks total return through current income and capital appreciation.

Why people hold it

• DGRO Costs 0.08% a year, a small fraction of the typical fee among US dividend-screen ETFs.
• The screen has teeth: a qualified dividend, five years of uninterrupted dividend growth, a payout ratio under 75%, and the top decile of yielders cut before the other tests run.ishares.com
• Roughly 400 names across large, mid and small caps, weighted by the dividend dollars each company pays rather than by market cap.ishares.comcib.barclays
• Tracks the Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index about as tightly as this group gets, and it's an actively traded, multi-billion-dollar fund that has run since 2014.

• EQIN At 0.35% a year, it undercuts the typical U.S. dividend screener, where the median sits at 0.39%.
• About 100 holdings, so each name carries real weight instead of being diluted across a sprawling index. Income is paid out quarterly.
• The portfolio stays close to its stated job: total return from current income and capital appreciation in U.S. dividend-paying stocks. No style drift dressed up as income.
• Trading since 2016 and standing in the upper half of a crowded field of roughly 50 U.S. dividend-screen ETFs.

Worth knowing

• DGRO Chopping the highest-yielding decile is deliberate: this is built around payout growth and dividend durability, not the fattest current yield on the shelf.ishares.com
• Only dividend payers qualify, so some of the market's biggest non-paying growth companies sit outside the portfolio by rule.ishares.com
• Income arrives quarterly, not monthly, and this is plain US stock exposure: no buffer, no hedge, full equity risk.

• EQIN Thinly traded next to the category's heavyweights, so bid/ask spreads can be wider, especially on big or hurried orders.
• It beats the median on cost, not the leaders: VIG runs 0.04% and SCHD 0.06%. That gap compounds.
• Assets sit in the mid-size range rather than category-giant territory, which usually travels with lighter trading volume.

Full DGRO profile⁠

Full EQIN profile⁠