IQDY vs SCHY

IQDYBNorthern Trust International Quality Dividend Dynamic ETF

SCHYASchwab International Dividend Equity ETF

In short

IQDY International dividend funds usually lean defensive. This one goes the other way: a quality-and-yield screen on non-US developed and emerging names, then optimized toward a beta of 1.0 to 1.5 times its parent index.

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

IQDY The Fund seeks to track the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Northern Trust International Quality Dividend Dynamic 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

• IQDY The "dynamic" label is literal: the index targets an aggregate beta of 1.0 to 1.5 times the Northern Trust International Large Cap parent index instead of damping it.sec.gov
• Quality gates come first: non-dividend-payers and the weakest quintile on management efficiency, profitability and cash flow are cut before anything gets weighted.sec.gov
• Sector, industry group, region, country, single-security and turnover constraints spread roughly 200 names across developed and emerging markets. Income is paid quarterly.sec.gov
• Trading since 2013, so the strategy has a long live record through real market cycles rather than a backtest.

• 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

• IQDY Costs 0.47% net of a waiver through March 1, 2027 (0.51% gross). That is near the category median, but the highest-ranked peers run far cheaper: VYMI at 0.07%, SCHY at 0.08%.
• Small and thinly traded. Spreads tend to be wider than the household-name alternatives, and that gap is a real cost stacked on top of the expense ratio.
• A beta target above the parent index means the portfolio is built to move more than that benchmark in both directions, and emerging-market and currency exposure add to the swing.sec.gov

• 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 IQDY profile⁠

Full SCHY profile⁠