EASY vs VUS

EASYDLiberty One Defensive Dividend Growth ETF

VUSBVirtus U.S. Dividend ETF

In short

EASY Dividend growth with a bouncer at the door: the manager wants a long record of rising payouts plus businesses it judges recession resistant, then holds them in a concentrated, non-diversified book.

VUS An AI-assisted dividend fund at a passive-fund price. A quant model reads sentiment and valuation, humans make the final call, and it charges 0.25%, less than half the typical active US dividend ETF.

Stated mandate

EASY The Fund seeks current income and capital appreciation to generate total return.

VUS The Fund seeks current income and, secondarily, long-term capital appreciation.

Why people hold it

• EASY Two screens, not one: a strong record of rising long-term dividends, plus businesses the adviser judges recession resistant (inelastic demand, recurring revenue, switching costs).sec.gov
• Cash arrives monthly, and the mandate keeps at least 80% of net assets in companies with a strong long-term record of increasing dividends.sec.gov
• The fee is contractually capped: 0.85% net of a waiver through December 1, 2026, against a 0.88% gross expense ratio.sec.gov

• VUS 0.25% a year, under half the 0.55% median for active US dividend ETFs and cheaper than every top-graded name in the cohort (CGDV, HIDV, MBOX, BGIG, TDVG).
• The engine: a proprietary alpha model using AI-powered language processing for sentiment plus valuation factors. Virtus portfolio managers make the final trading calls.sec.gov
• About 90 US-listed dividend payers, with at least 80% of net assets in them. Focused enough for picks to register, wide enough to spread single-name risk.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• EASY At 0.85% net of a waiver through December 1, 2026 (0.88% gross), it prices above the category median; cheaper peers include VUS at 0.25% and CGDV at 0.33%, neither waived.
• Non-diversified by design, so one or two large positions can move the fund more than they would a broad dividend index.sec.gov
• It launched in 2025, so the record is short, and it trades lightly next to the category's largest funds; the adviser may also recoup waived fees within three years.sec.gov

• VUS Launched December 2025 with a small asset base and light volume, so spreads can run wider than the cohort's household names and live history on the model is short.
• The prospectus lets the fund put more than 15% of assets in a single sector, so the portfolio can lean hard into a few corners of the market.sec.gov
• Income arrives annually or semiannually rather than monthly, so the cash shows up in lumps.

Full EASY profile⁠

Full VUS profile⁠