DIVS vs ICAP

DIVSBGuinness Atkinson Dividend Builder ETF

ICAPDInfrastructure Capital Equity Income Fund ETF

In short

DIVS One of the first mutual funds ever converted into an ETF (March 2021), DIVS runs a 2012-vintage global dividend strategy: about 35 roughly equal-weight names that cleared ten straight years of 10%-plus real cash returns on capital.

ICAP A hands-on income fund in a cohort of cheap dividend screens. InfraCap runs ICAP actively, chasing maximum income with total return on the side, and pays out monthly. You pay up for that: the fee sits at the top of its peer group.

Stated mandate

DIVS The ETF seeks moderate current income and dividend growth that exceeds inflation. It is actively managed and invests mainly in dividend-paying companies with the potential for consistent dividend increases.

ICAP The Fund seeks to maximize income while also pursuing total-return opportunities.

Why people hold it

• DIVS 0.45% net of a waiver through June 30, 2029, against a 0.98% gross fee. That sits under category standouts CGDG (0.47%), DIVD (0.49%) and CVGD (0.50%).
• The quality bar is written into the prospectus: a real cash flow return on investment of at least 10% in each of the last 10 years, not merely a long payout history.sec.gov
• Roughly 35 global positions at approximately equal weight, so no single name owns the income stream. Distributions go out quarterly.sec.gov

• ICAP Does what the prospectus advertises: income first, total return second, with distributions declared monthly out of net investment income.
• Genuinely active, not an index in disguise. The holdings reflect a manager's calls, which is the entire reason to own it next to rules-based dividend screens.
• Monthly cash rhythm rather than quarterly, and a live record going back to its 2021 launch rather than a fresh backtest.
• Sticks tightly to its stated mandate, one of the closer mandate-to-portfolio matches among its dividend-income peers.

Worth knowing

• DIVS Thinly traded with a small asset base, so the spread can cost more than the fee. Limit orders are the usual workaround.
• That 0.45% is a waived rate; the gross fee is 0.98%. The waiver runs through June 30, 2029, and the cost resets higher if it is not renewed.
• Active and concentrated at roughly three dozen names, with foreign-listed holdings, so currency moves and single-stock calls both show up in results.sec.gov

• ICAP The fee is the headline trade-off: 2.47% a year, roughly two and a half times the median for its dividend-income cohort and far above options like DIVD at 0.49%.
• Thinly traded next to the category's giants, so spreads can be wider and bigger orders can nudge the price.
• Income-first and actively managed means a choppier ride than the plain dividend trackers it sits beside, and it lands in the lower half of its cohort overall.

Full DIVS profile⁠

Full ICAP profile⁠