HDV vs VIG

HDVAiShares Core High Dividend ETF

VIGAVanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF

In short

HDV A high-yield screen with a quality gate. HDV holds roughly 80 U.S. dividend payers from a Morningstar index that weighs company quality and value alongside yield, at a Core-lineup fee of 0.08%.

VIG VIG buys dividend growth, not fat yields: about 300 US companies with a record of raising their payouts, tracked for 0.04% a year. Running since 2006 and now north of $100 billion, it is the plain-vanilla anchor of the dividend-screen aisle.

Stated mandate

HDV The fund seeks to track an index of high-dividend-yielding U.S. stocks and provides income-oriented exposure through U.S. equities.

VIG The fund seeks to track the S&P U.S. Dividend Growers Index, which represents common stocks of companies with a record of increasing dividends over time.

Why people hold it

• HDV 0.08% a year is one of the cheaper tickets in the dividend-screen aisle, well under the typical fee among its peers.ishares.com
• The index applies quality and value screens, so a fat yield alone doesn't earn a stock a spot.ishares.com
• Running since 2011 and now a multi-billion-dollar, actively traded fund inside the iShares Core lineup. Long-established plumbing, not a new launch.
• Straightforward US stock fund in a standard 1940 Act wrapper, paying income on a quarterly schedule.

• VIG At 0.04% a year, the fee is roughly a tenth of the typical dividend-screen fund's 0.39%, and undercuts every other top-graded fund in the group, DGRO and SCHD included.
• The screen rewards a record of increasing dividends rather than the biggest current payout, so the basket leans on payout discipline instead of stretched yields.
• Live since 2006, over $100 billion in assets and actively traded, which shows up as easy fills rather than wide spreads.
• About 300 holdings, cash paid quarterly, and one of the strongest overall implementations in its dividend-screen peer group.

Worth knowing

• HDV About 80 holdings, so single names and sector tilts carry more weight here than in a broad-market index fund.
• A yield-and-value screen leans toward mature payers and away from low-payout growth companies, so the mix looks different from the total market.
• Different flavor from cohort stablemate DGRO, which targets dividend growth rather than the highest current yields.

• VIG Growth of payouts, not maximum income, is the mandate. That puts it on a different axis than high-dividend funds such as SPYD.
• US stocks only, no bonds and no overseas payers, and sector weights are whatever the index screen spits out.
• Portfolio risk and concentration measures land mid-pack for the category: it is fully invested in equities and drops when the market drops.

Full HDV profile⁠

Full VIG profile⁠