HERD vs VYM

HERDDPacer Cash Cows Fund of Funds ETF

VYMAVanguard High Dividend Yield ETF

In short

HERD One ticket for Pacer's entire free-cash-flow lineup: five Cash Cows ETFs at 20% each, spanning US large caps, small caps, growth, global dividend payers and developed international. The price for that bundling is 0.74%.

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

HERD The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Pacer Cash Cows Fund of Funds Index. It is composed of Pacer Cash Cows ETFs, whose underlying indexes use rules-based cash-flow strategies.

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

• HERD Five rules-based cash-flow strategies in one holding, targeted at 20% apiece: US large and mid caps, US small caps, US growth, global dividend payers and developed international.paceretfs.com
• Plain plumbing: an index of index funds, each screening a named universe (Russell 1000, S&P US SmallCap, FTSE Developed ex-US) for high free cash flow yield.paceretfs.com
• Running since 2019, so the free-cash-flow bundle has a live record rather than a backtest, with the same published rulebook the whole way.

• 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

• HERD Fee stacking: the 0.74% total (no waiver) is mostly the underlying ETFs' own fees plus a wrapper management fee, and it sits above the category median. VYM charges 0.04%.sec.gov
• One idea applied five ways. Every sleeve screens on free cash flow, so this is a single-factor portfolio in a diversified coat, not a multi-factor blend.paceretfs.com
• It is one of the lighter-traded names in its category, so spreads and limit-order discipline matter more here than with the giant index funds it competes against.

• 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 HERD profile⁠

Full VYM profile⁠