DVLU vs VYM

DVLUCFirst Trust Dorsey Wright Momentum & Value ETF

VYMAVanguard High Dividend Yield ETF

In short

DVLU Value and momentum usually pull in opposite directions. DVLU's Dorsey Wright index tries to own the overlap, packing it into about 50 US stocks. A niche, higher-cost take on factor investing that has been running since 2018.

VYM The no-frills dividend workhorse. VYM buys the higher-yielding end of the US market, roughly 600 names, for four basis points: no quality screen, no dividend-growth-streak test, just yield, at scale since 2006.

Stated mandate

DVLU The Fund seeks to track the Dorsey Wright Momentum Plus ValueTM Index before fees and expenses, normally investing at least 90% of net assets in its equity securities.

VYM The Fund seeks to track a benchmark index measuring the investment return of common stocks from companies characterized by high dividend yields.

Why people hold it

• DVLU Momentum and value ride in one rules-based index rather than two separate funds. At about 50 US stocks, it can look genuinely different from a plain value benchmark.ftportfolios.com
• The Dorsey Wright Momentum Plus Value Index picks the names, not a manager's gut. Live since 2018, so there is a real multi-cycle record to inspect.
• The mandate is tight: normally at least 90% of net assets sit in the index's own stocks, so you get the strategy on the tin. Distributions come quarterly.ftportfolios.com

• VYM Four basis points a year, against a peer-group median near 0.32%. Cheaper than cohort neighbors VONV (0.06%) and FNDX (0.25%).
• Running since 2006 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so ordinary orders tend to fill at tight spreads.
• Simple mandate: track the FTSE High Dividend Yield Index of US common stocks screened on yield. No manager discretion, no options overlay, plain 1940-Act fund.vanguard.com
• Pays quarterly, and among 100-plus value and multifactor rivals it stands as one of the strongest overall packages in the group.

Worth knowing

• DVLU At 0.60% a year, it runs well above the typical US multifactor fund's 0.32%, and shelf heavyweights like VONV (0.06%) and FNDX (0.25%) charge a fraction of it.
• A small fund that trades thinly. That usually means wider bid-ask spreads and more attention needed on order entry than with the category's giants.
• About 50 names and a factor blend that can get whipsawed when market leadership turns. Results can diverge sharply from a broad value index, in both directions.

• VYM The screen is yield, not payout growth or dividend quality, so a company can qualify simply because its share price fell.
• This is a value slice by design, tilted to established payers, so it behaves differently from a total US market fund.
• Roughly 600 holdings, but weight leans toward the largest payers, so the top of the roster does more of the work than the count suggests.

Full DVLU profile⁠

Full VYM profile⁠