PALC vs VYM

PALCCPacer Lunt Large Cap Multi-Factor Alternator ETF

VYMAVanguard High Dividend Yield ETF

In short

PALC Most factor funds pick one lane and stay there. PALC rotates instead: a rules-based index shifts among value, momentum, quality and low-volatility corners of the S&P 500 rather than blending all four at once.

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

PALC The fund seeks capital appreciation by using a rules-based process that rotates among factor-based strategies within S&P 500 companies.

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

• PALC One ticker, four factors, on a schedule. The Lunt Capital U.S. Large Cap Multi-Factor Rotation Index decides when to sit in value, momentum, quality or low volatility. No manager hunches involved.paceretfs.com
• The hunting ground is the S&P 500, so you get familiar US large caps (roughly 180 of them) rather than obscure corners of the market.paceretfs.com
• Live since 2020, with a quarterly distribution schedule, so the rotation rules have a real track record behind them instead of a backtest.

• 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

• PALC You pay for the machinery: 0.60% a year, against a 0.32% median for multi-factor peers. Static rivals like VONV (0.06%) and IUSG (0.04%) run a fraction of that.
• Rotation means the fund's personality changes. A defensive low-volatility tilt one stretch, a racier one the next, so results can wander well away from a plain S&P 500 fund.
• It trades lightly next to the giants in its category. Wider bid-ask spreads are a real cost at the moment you buy or sell, especially in size.

• 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 PALC profile⁠

Full VYM profile⁠