DLS vs SCHY

DLSCWisdomTree International SmallCap Dividend Fund

SCHYASchwab International Dividend Equity ETF

In short

DLS DLS goes where most international dividend funds don't: about 1,000 small companies across developed markets outside the US and Canada, screened for the dividends they pay. Running since 2006.

SCHY Schwab's dividend playbook with a passport: an index of non-US high payers filtered for sustained dividends, financial strength and low volatility, run for 0.08% a year while the typical fund in its group charges 0.50%.

Stated mandate

DLS The Fund seeks to track the price and yield performance of the WisdomTree International SmallCap Dividend Index before fees and expenses.

SCHY The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, an index of high-dividend-yielding stocks issued by companies outside the United States. Its index methodology emphasizes sustained dividend payments, relative financial strength, and lower volatility.

Why people hold it

• DLS About 1,000 small-cap dividend payers from developed markets outside the US and Canada, a corner most international income funds skip entirely.
• Deep, spread-out portfolio: no single name dominates, which softens the blow when one holding stumbles.
• Tracks the WisdomTree International SmallCap Dividend Index closely, doing the job on the tin. Live since 2006 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that pays quarterly.

• SCHY Costs 0.08% a year against a 0.50% median for international dividend screens, one of the cheapest ways to rent this strategy.
• The index does more than chase yield: it screens for sustained payers, relative financial strength and lower volatility. Cash goes out quarterly.
• A plain passive tracker of the Dow Jones International Dividend 100 Index that has hugged its benchmark closely, with a multibillion-dollar base and shares that trade actively.
• Stands among the stronger implementations in its international dividend peer group on cost, tracking and tradability.

Worth knowing

• DLS 0.58% a year is above the typical international dividend ETF, and multiples of large-cap rivals like VYMI (0.07%) and SCHY (0.08%). Small-cap research abroad isn't cheap.
• Thinly traded for its size, so bid-ask spreads can widen, especially outside overlapping market hours.
• Foreign small caps move more sharply than global blue chips, and unhedged currency swings add a second source of bumpiness.

• SCHY Roughly 130 stocks, a narrower net than a broad international fund. Dividend screens naturally bunch up in a handful of sectors and countries.
• Launched in 2021, so it carries a shorter live record than the veterans of international dividend investing.
• Two neighbors shave the fee a touch further: VYMI and VIGI charge 0.07%, though each screens for different things.

Full DLS profile⁠

Full SCHY profile⁠