FDV vs VUS

FDVBFederated Hermes U.S. Strategic Dividend ETF

VUSBVirtus U.S. Dividend ETF

In short

FDV A dividend playbook Federated Hermes has run in mutual fund form since 2005, now wrapped in an ETF: about 50 high-dividend U.S. stocks screened for dividend growth, paying monthly. 0.50% net of a waiver through January 1, 2027.

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

FDV The fund seeks income and long-term capital appreciation through primarily investing in high dividend-paying common stocks of U.S. issuers with potential for dividend growth.

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

Why people hold it

• FDV The mandate is specific: U.S. common stocks yielding more than the S&P 500 average, screened for dividend growth potential. Income with a quality filter, not a pure yield grab.federatedhermes.com
• Cash lands monthly rather than the quarterly rhythm common in dividend funds, and the book stays concentrated at about 50 names, so individual holdings carry real weight.federatedhermes.com
• In a crowded field of roughly 40 active U.S. dividend-income ETFs, it stands among the stronger implementations in the 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

• FDV At 0.50% net of a waiver through January 1, 2027 (0.61% gross) it sits near the category median, but cheaper active rivals exist: VUS at 0.25%, CGDV at 0.33%, HIDV at 0.35%.
• High-yield screens tilt the book toward income-heavy value sectors, away from the growth names leading the S&P 500 (its own benchmark), so results can diverge from the index.federatedhermes.com
• The ETF launched in 2022, so its own live record is short even if the underlying approach is older, and it trades at moderate volume, which makes limit orders the sensible habit.

• 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 FDV profile⁠

Full VUS profile⁠