DIVB vs RJDI

DIVBAiShares Core Dividend ETF

RJDIFRJ Eagle GCM Dividend Select Income 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.

RJDI Most dividend funds just run a screen. RJDI writes its goals down as a contract: yield above the S&P 500 and inflation, dividend growth above inflation, and volatility no higher than the index over a full cycle. Active, and priced like it.

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.

RJDI The fund seeks current income and capital appreciation. It is actively managed and targets dividend yield above the S&P 500 and inflation, dividend growth above inflation, and volatility no higher than the index over a full market cycle.

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.

• RJDI The mandate is unusually specific for an active fund: yield above both the S&P 500 and inflation, dividend growth above inflation, and volatility no higher than the index over a full market cycle.
• Actively managed rather than screen-bound, so a manager can act on a deteriorating payer between reconstitution dates instead of waiting for the index calendar.
• Income lands quarterly, and the stated objective pairs current income with capital appreciation instead of reaching for the highest yield on the board.

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.

• RJDI Active management carries an active price tag: 0.63% a year, while cohort leaders SCHD, VIG and DGRO charge single-digit basis points for rules-based dividend exposure.
• It launched in October 2025, so there is little history yet to judge the yield, growth and volatility targets against.
• A young, thinly traded fund can show wider bid-ask spreads than the category's household names, a cost that shows up on the way in and the way out.

Full DIVB profile⁠

Full RJDI profile⁠