FDD vs SCHY

FDDBFirst Trust STOXX European Select Dividend Index Fund

SCHYASchwab International Dividend Equity ETF

In short

FDD Most international dividend funds spread themselves across the whole developed world. FDD skips the detour: about 30 of Europe's highest-yielding stocks, screened for dividend track record, in a fund that has been running since 2007.

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

FDD The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the STOXX Europe Select Dividend 30 Index through an indexing strategy.

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

• FDD Pure Europe, no global filler: about 30 high-yielders drawn from the STOXX Europe 600, not a worldwide blend with a European slice tucked inside.yahoo.com
• Yield alone doesn't earn a spot. Constituents need a non-negative five-year dividend-per-share growth record and a dividend-to-earnings ratio of 60% or less.yahoo.comstoxx.com
• It has tracked its index tightly, which is the entire job of an index fund.
• Listed in 2007 and pays quarterly, so there's a long live record through Europe's rougher stretches rather than a backtest.

• 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

• FDD 0.56% a year sits above the cohort median of 0.50% and well above broad rivals like VYMI (0.07%) and SCHY (0.08%), which fish in a much wider pond than Europe.
• About 30 holdings means every name pulls real weight, and a yield-first screen can crowd into whichever sectors happen to be paying the most.
• Holdings trade in euros, pounds and other European currencies, so the dollar's moves land in your return right alongside the stocks'.

• 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 FDD profile⁠

Full SCHY profile⁠