DIVB vs RDVY

DIVBAiShares Core Dividend ETF

RDVYCFirst Trust Rising Dividend Achievers ETF

In short

DIVB Most dividend funds only count the check that hits your account. DIVB's index also counts buybacks, treating a shrinking share count as cash returned to owners, and it charges five basis points to do it.

RDVY A dividend fund built around raises, not yield: roughly 50 equal-weighted US names, a quarter of the roster refreshed each quarter, and an index rule that ejects companies which slash or suspend the payout.

Stated mandate

DIVB The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. companies selected for a history of dividend payments and/or share buybacks, providing equity exposure oriented toward income and long-term growth.

RDVY The Fund seeks investment results that generally correspond to the price and yield of the Nasdaq US Rising Dividend AchieversTM Index before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

• DIVB Five basis points a year, one of the lowest fees in the dividend-screen aisle, where the typical fund charges many times more.
• The Morningstar US Dividend and Buyback Index counts repurchases alongside payouts, so a company buying back stock qualifies even with a modest yield. Roughly 400 US names.
• Sits in the top tier of a large dividend-screen peer group and stays tight to its stated mandate: US dividend payers and buyback machines, nothing exotic.
• A billion-dollar-plus member of the iShares Core lineup, running since 2017 and distributing quarterly.

• RDVY The index doesn't wait for the annual reshuffle. Under Nasdaq's rules, a holding that suspends its dividend or cuts it by 50% or more is removed the following month.nasdaqomx.com
• Four sub-portfolios, each reconstituted in its own quarter and reset to 25% of the index every March. Turnover happens in rolling slices instead of one annual lump.nasdaqomx.com
• Equal weighting across about 50 stocks. No single mega-cap steers the portfolio the way it can in cap-weighted dividend index funds.nasdaqomx.com
• Live since 2014 and now a multi-billion-dollar, actively traded fund, so getting in and out is rarely the hard part.

Worth knowing

• DIVB Buybacks return value through share count, not cash in your pocket, so the income profile can sit lighter than pure high-yield screens like SPYD.
• Moderately traded rather than a volume heavyweight like SCHD or VIG, so limit orders earn their keep, especially in size.
• All-equity, all-US. Dividends and buybacks soften nothing when the American stock market sells off.

• RDVY 0.47% a year sits above the median US dividend-screen fund and runs many multiples of the category's index staples: SCHD at 0.06%, VIG at 0.04%, DGRO at 0.08%.
• About 50 equal-weighted names is a concentrated way to own dividend growth. Each position carries real weight, and sector tilts can run hotter than a broad-market fund's.nasdaqomx.com
• The mandate tracks an index of rising dividend payers, not the highest yields on offer. Different job than a high-yield fund. Distributions come quarterly.

Full DIVB profile⁠

Full RDVY profile⁠