IHDG vs SCHY

IHDGDWisdomTree International Hedged Quality Dividend Growth Fund

SCHYASchwab International Dividend Equity ETF

In short

IHDG International dividend funds are usually two bets: foreign stocks and foreign currencies. IHDG keeps the stocks and hedges the currency, tracking a WisdomTree index of developed-market dividend payers screened for profitability and growth.

SCHY Schwab's dividend playbook with a passport: an index of non-US high payers filtered for sustained dividends, financial strength and low volatility, run for 0.08% a year while the typical fund in its group charges 0.50%.

Stated mandate

IHDG The fund seeks to track the pre-fee and pre-expense price and yield performance of the WisdomTree International Hedged Quality Dividend Growth Index.

SCHY The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, an index of high-dividend-yielding stocks issued by companies outside the United States. Its index methodology emphasizes sustained dividend payments, relative financial strength, and lower volatility.

Why people hold it

• IHDG Forward contracts strip out yen, euro and pound swings, so results track what the stocks do at home rather than what the dollar does.wisdomtree.com
• Rules-based selection: developed-market dividend payers ranked on earnings growth expectations plus three-year ROE and ROA, then weighted by the dividends they pay.wisdomtree.com
• Running since 2014, a multi-billion-dollar fund holding roughly 300 names outside the US and Canada, paying quarterly.

• SCHY Costs 0.08% a year against a 0.50% median for international dividend screens, one of the cheapest ways to rent this strategy.
• The index does more than chase yield: it screens for sustained payers, relative financial strength and lower volatility. Cash goes out quarterly.
• A plain passive tracker of the Dow Jones International Dividend 100 Index that has hugged its benchmark closely, with a multibillion-dollar base and shares that trade actively.
• Stands among the stronger implementations in its international dividend peer group on cost, tracking and tradability.

Worth knowing

• IHDG At 0.58% a year it runs above its peer-group median and well above unhedged rivals like VIGI (0.07%) and IGRO (0.15%). The hedge and the screen are what you pay for.
• Hedging cuts both ways: a falling dollar no longer flatters returns, and the hedge's cost tracks the gap between US and foreign short-term rates.wisdomtree.com
• WisdomTree flags that the strategy may make higher capital gain distributions than other ETFs, worth knowing in a taxable account.wisdomtree.com

• SCHY Roughly 130 stocks, a narrower net than a broad international fund. Dividend screens naturally bunch up in a handful of sectors and countries.
• Launched in 2021, so it carries a shorter live record than the veterans of international dividend investing.
• Two neighbors shave the fee a touch further: VYMI and VIGI charge 0.07%, though each screens for different things.

Full IHDG profile⁠

Full SCHY profile⁠