LSAF vs VYM

LSAFCLeaderSharesTM AlphaFactor US Core Equity ETF

VYMAVanguard High Dividend Yield ETF

In short

LSAF A boutique multifactor take on US core equity: LSAF ranks American stocks with a published rulebook and has run live since 2018. The trade-off is price, at 0.75% in a corner of the market where the index giants charge pennies.

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

LSAF The fund seeks to track the AlphaFactor US Core Equity Index before fees and expenses.

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

• LSAF Rules-based, not discretionary: a published multifactor ranking process selects the US stocks, inside a plain 1940 Act ETF wrapper.
• Live since 2018, so the record covers real drawdowns and recoveries rather than a backtest.
• Simple mandate to keep tabs on: US only, equity only, one index, one ticker.
• Risk behavior is the stronger side of its profile relative to the multifactor group, even where cost lags.

• 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

• LSAF At 0.75% a year, it costs multiples of the category's heavyweights (VYM at 0.04%, FNDX at 0.25%), a gap you pay whatever the market does.
• Thinly traded, so the spread on a single order can matter more to your cost than the headline fee.
• Distributions arrive annually or semiannually, not monthly or quarterly.

• 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 LSAF profile⁠

Full VYM profile⁠