GRPM vs VYM

GRPMCInvesco S&P MidCap 400 GARP ETF

VYMAVanguard High Dividend Yield ETF

In short

GRPM Take the S&P MidCap 400, then keep only the roughly 60 names that clear a growth-at-a-reasonable-price screen. GRPM is the stock-picker's cut of a midcap index fund, run by rules instead of a manager.

VYM The no-frills dividend workhorse. VYM buys the higher-yielding end of the US market, roughly 600 names, for four basis points: no quality screen, no dividend-growth-streak test, just yield, at scale since 2006.

Stated mandate

GRPM The Fund invests at least 90% of its assets in securities comprising the S&P MidCap 400 GARP Index. The index targets companies with fundamental growth, reasonable valuations, financial strength and earning power.

VYM The Fund seeks to track a benchmark index measuring the investment return of common stocks from companies characterized by high dividend yields.

Why people hold it

• GRPM Screens a 400-stock midcap universe down to about 60 names on growth, valuation, financial strength and earning power. A real bet, not a benchmark in disguise.invesco.com
• Rules, not vibes: at least 90% of assets sit in S&P MidCap 400 GARP Index constituents, and the fund has hugged that index closely.invesco.com
• The odd one out among plain S&P 400 trackers like SPMD, IJH and IVOO: same universe, factor screen bolted on. Invesco has run the ticker since 2010.

• VYM Four basis points a year, against a peer-group median near 0.32%. Cheaper than cohort neighbors VONV (0.06%) and FNDX (0.25%).
• Running since 2006 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so ordinary orders tend to fill at tight spreads.
• Simple mandate: track the FTSE High Dividend Yield Index of US common stocks screened on yield. No manager discretion, no options overlay, plain 1940-Act fund.vanguard.com
• Pays quarterly, and among 100-plus value and multifactor rivals it stands as one of the strongest overall packages in the group.

Worth knowing

• GRPM The screen costs money: 0.35% a year versus a 0.15% category median, and vanilla access to the same 400 stocks runs 0.03% at SPMD, 0.05% at IJH.
• Thinly traded next to the giants in its category, which tends to mean wider bid-ask spreads and more slippage on size.
• About 60 holdings means individual names swing the outcome, and the fund can diverge widely from the broad midcap 400 in either direction.

• VYM The screen is yield, not payout growth or dividend quality, so a company can qualify simply because its share price fell.
• This is a value slice by design, tilted to established payers, so it behaves differently from a total US market fund.
• Roughly 600 holdings, but weight leans toward the largest payers, so the top of the roster does more of the work than the count suggests.

Full GRPM profile⁠

Full VYM profile⁠