FDVV vs SCHD

FDVVAFidelity High Dividend ETF

SCHDASchwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF

In short

FDVV Fidelity built its own high-dividend index instead of licensing someone else's, then priced it at 0.15%. About 120 yield-screened stocks, cash out quarterly, in a multi-billion-dollar package.

SCHD The dividend fund that checks the balance sheet before it checks the yield. SCHD only considers companies with 10 straight years of payouts, then ranks the survivors on cash flow, return on equity and dividend growth. Quality gate first, income second, at six basis points.

Stated mandate

FDVV The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the Fidelity High Dividend Index. It normally invests at least 80% of assets in securities included in that index or depositary receipts representing those securities.

SCHD The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100TM Index.

Why people hold it

• FDVV 0.15% a year against a 0.39% median for dividend-screen funds. Less of the dividend leaks out on the way to you.
• Rules, not hunches: it tracks the Fidelity High Dividend Index and normally keeps at least 80% of assets in that index's names.fidelity.com
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so the spread is rarely the story when you buy or sell.
• Pays quarterly and sits among the stronger builds in a crowded field of US dividend screens.

• SCHD Charges 0.06% a year, near the floor for US equity ETFs and a fraction of what the typical dividend-screen fund costs.schwabassetmanagement.com
• The rulebook is strict: 10 consecutive years of dividends to qualify, then a composite rank on cash-flow-to-total-debt, return on equity, yield and five-year dividend growth.spglobal.com
• Index rules cap any single stock at 4.5% and any sector at 25%, so one hot name cannot quietly become the whole income stream.spglobal.com
• Running since 2011 and now among the largest, most heavily traded dividend ETFs, with tracking that stays very close to its index.

Worth knowing

• FDVV Cheaper doors into dividends exist: VIG at 0.04% and SCHD at 0.06%. The extra basis points here buy Fidelity's own screen, not a broader menu.
• A yield screen trims the market to roughly 120 stocks, so sector and single-name weights run heavier than in a total-market fund.
• The quarterly check follows what the holdings actually pay. This fund tracks an index; it does not target an income level.

• SCHD Roughly 100 names, every one a long-time dividend payer. The fast-growing non-payers that drive much of the US market are not eligible, by design.spglobal.com
• The yield and quality screens tilt it toward mature, cash-generating sectors, so it looks nothing like a total-market fund. Distributions land quarterly, not monthly.spglobal.com
• Not the absolute cheapest shelf item: VIG runs 0.04% and DIVB 0.05%, though both screen for dividends differently.

Full FDVV profile⁠

Full SCHD profile⁠