DJD vs VIG

DJDAInvesco Dow Jones Industrial Average Dividend ETF

VIGAVanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF

In short

DJD The Dow, run through a dividend filter. DJD takes the Dow Jones Industrial Average, keeps the payers, and weights them by 12-month dividend yield instead of share price, for 0.07% a year.

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

DJD The fund provides exposure to dividend-paying equity securities in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and selects them according to 12-month dividend yield.

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

• DJD A rules-based screen of one of the most recognized indexes in investing: dividend-paying Dow members, ranked and weighted by trailing 12-month yield. No manager discretion.invesco.com
• 0.07% a year puts it in the same fee tier as the largest dividend index funds (SPYD at 0.07%, SCHD at 0.06%) and well under the typical dividend-screen ETF.
• Running since 2015 with quarterly payouts, and it holds close to its stated mandate: one of the more faithful implementations among dividend-screen funds.

• 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

• DJD The Dow caps the universe at 30 names, so you get a concentrated, all-large-cap sleeve of roughly 30 stocks, not a broad dividend market.
• Yield weighting sends the biggest stakes to the highest-yielding Dow names, which tilts the portfolio toward whatever corner of the index is currently out of favor.
• It trades thinly next to the household names of the dividend category, so order size and execution matter more here.

• 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 DJD profile⁠

Full VIG profile⁠