DIV vs VIG

DIVCGlobal X SuperDividend U.S. ETF

VIGAVanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF

In short

DIV Most big dividend funds chase payout growth. DIV goes the other way: a roughly 50-stock U.S. portfolio built on a SuperDividend index with a low-volatility filter, and it cuts a check every month.

VIG VIG buys dividend growth, not fat yields: about 300 US companies with a record of raising their payouts, tracked for 0.04% a year. Running since 2006 and now north of $100 billion, it is the plain-vanilla anchor of the dividend-screen aisle.

Stated mandate

DIV The fund seeks to track the price and yield performance of the Indxx SuperDividend® U.S. Low Volatility Index before fees and expenses.

VIG The fund seeks to track the S&P U.S. Dividend Growers Index, which represents common stocks of companies with a record of increasing dividends over time.

Why people hold it

• DIV The mandate is specific, not vague income marketing: track the Indxx SuperDividend U.S. Low Volatility Index, so the dividend screen runs through a volatility filter.
• Pays monthly rather than quarterly, which lines up with how bills actually arrive.
• About 50 holdings, all U.S. listed. Small enough that you can read the whole basket instead of trusting a 400-name sleeve.
• Live since 2013, so it carries a decade-plus of real results across multiple rate regimes, not a backtest.

• VIG At 0.04% a year, the fee is roughly a tenth of the typical dividend-screen fund's 0.39%, and undercuts every other top-graded fund in the group, DGRO and SCHD included.
• The screen rewards a record of increasing dividends rather than the biggest current payout, so the basket leans on payout discipline instead of stretched yields.
• Live since 2006, over $100 billion in assets and actively traded, which shows up as easy fills rather than wide spreads.
• About 300 holdings, cash paid quarterly, and one of the strongest overall implementations in its dividend-screen peer group.

Worth knowing

• DIV At 0.45% a year it costs more than the typical dividend-screen fund, and many times what index staples like SCHD (0.06%) and VIG (0.04%) charge.
• Low volatility is a selection screen, not a shield. This is an equity fund and it moves with the stock market.
• Against the broader dividend-screen field it sits in the lower half, where cheaper, broader rivals do the core income job for less.

• VIG Growth of payouts, not maximum income, is the mandate. That puts it on a different axis than high-dividend funds such as SPYD.
• US stocks only, no bonds and no overseas payers, and sector weights are whatever the index screen spits out.
• Portfolio risk and concentration measures land mid-pack for the category: it is fully invested in equities and drops when the market drops.

Full DIV profile⁠

Full VIG profile⁠