EQIN vs VIG

EQINBColumbia U.S. Equity Income ETF

VIGAVanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF

In short

EQIN A compact take on U.S. dividend payers: roughly 100 names chasing income plus capital appreciation, not raw yield. Priced under the typical dividend screener, though the category's giants cost less still.

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

EQIN The Fund seeks total return through current income and capital appreciation.

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

• EQIN At 0.35% a year, it undercuts the typical U.S. dividend screener, where the median sits at 0.39%.
• About 100 holdings, so each name carries real weight instead of being diluted across a sprawling index. Income is paid out quarterly.
• The portfolio stays close to its stated job: total return from current income and capital appreciation in U.S. dividend-paying stocks. No style drift dressed up as income.
• Trading since 2016 and standing in the upper half of a crowded field of roughly 50 U.S. dividend-screen ETFs.

• 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

• EQIN Thinly traded next to the category's heavyweights, so bid/ask spreads can be wider, especially on big or hurried orders.
• It beats the median on cost, not the leaders: VIG runs 0.04% and SCHD 0.06%. That gap compounds.
• Assets sit in the mid-size range rather than category-giant territory, which usually travels with lighter trading volume.

• 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 EQIN profile⁠

Full VIG profile⁠