FDIV vs VUS

FDIVBMarketDesk Focused U.S. Dividend ETF

VUSBVirtus U.S. Dividend ETF

In short

FDIV Most dividend funds hand you hundreds of names and an annual reshuffle. FDIV runs a quant screen down to 60 to 80 U.S. dividend payers and rebuilds that short list every month, for 0.35% a year.

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

FDIV The Fund seeks capital appreciation and a higher dividend yield than a broad U.S. large-cap dividend-stock index. It invests at least 80% of assets in U.S. dividend-paying companies selected through a quantitative rules-based process.

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

Why people hold it

• FDIV Costs 0.35% a year, below the roughly 0.55% typical for active U.S. dividend-income funds and under strong peers like TDVG (0.50%) and BGIG (0.45%).marketdeskindices.com
• The screen asks for two things at once: an above-average dividend yield and a price below what the sub-adviser reads as fair value. Income without ignoring appreciation.hubspotusercontent-na1.net
• Rebalanced monthly, so the book refreshes on a set cadence instead of drifting between yearly index reviews. Dividend history over a five-year window feeds the screen.marketdeskindices.comhubspotusercontent-na1.net
• Pays quarterly, keeps at least 80% of assets in U.S. dividend payers, and stands in the upper tier of its active dividend-income peer group.

• 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

• FDIV Non-diversified by design. With 60 to 80 names, one stock or sector swings the fund far more than it would in a several-hundred-stock dividend index.marketdeskindices.comhubspotusercontent-na1.net
• A smaller, thinly traded fund, so spreads can be wider than in the mega-cap dividend giants and large orders need more care.
• The model does the picking. The prospectus flags quantitative selection and periodic reallocation risk, and monthly reshuffling means real turnover.marketdeskindices.comhubspotusercontent-na1.net

• 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 FDIV profile⁠

Full VUS profile⁠