PSC vs VYM

PSCBPrincipal U.S. Small-Cap Multi-Factor ETF

VYMAVanguard High Dividend Yield ETF

In short

PSC Most multi-factor ETFs stack large caps. PSC aims the same momentum, quality and value screens at the small-cap end of the market, spreading across roughly 500 names and measuring itself against the Russell 2000.

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

PSC The Fund seeks long-term growth of capital.

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

• PSC Roughly 500 small caps, ranked on momentum, quality and value together rather than one lone tilt, so no single stock steers the fund.
• Actively run on Principal's own quantitative model, with long-term growth of capital as the stated objective and the Russell 2000 as the yardstick.
• Its multi-factor cohort is crowded with large-cap value and dividend funds (VONV, VYM, FNDX). PSC is one of the few carrying the approach into small caps.
• A billion-dollar-plus fund with moderate daily turnover and standing in the upper half of its peer group. It pays distributions quarterly.

• 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

• PSC 0.38% a year runs above the typical multi-factor ETF, and well above the large-cap index trackers at the top of the cohort. That's the toll for an active quant sleeve.
• Small-cap equity swings harder and drops deeper than the large-cap names that dominate this peer group. Volatility is the roughest part of PSC's profile.
• The stock-picking model is proprietary, so you cannot reverse-engineer the portfolio from a published rulebook, and results can drift from the Russell 2000.

• 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 PSC profile⁠

Full VYM profile⁠