QARP vs VYM

QARPBXtrackers Russell 1000 US Quality at a Reasonable Price ETF

VYMAVanguard High Dividend Yield ETF

In short

QARP Value funds buy cheap, quality funds buy sturdy. QARP wants both in one Russell 1000 screen: roughly 400 large caps chosen on quality and value together, single names capped at 5%, at well under the typical factor-fund price.

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

QARP The Fund uses a passive indexing approach to seek results corresponding generally to the Russell 1000 2Qual/Val 5% Capped Factor Index, which selects large-cap U.S. companies using quality and value characteristics.

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

• QARP 0.19% a year against a 0.32% median for US multifactor funds. The cheap end of a category that likes to charge up for its factor math.
• One screen, two jobs. Quality and value are applied together, so the cheap-for-a-reason names a pure value sleeve drags in get filtered.
• A 5% cap per position across about 400 holdings keeps any single megacap from quietly becoming the fund.
• Running since 2018 as a straight passive index tracker, and it sits in the upper half of its multifactor peer group.

• 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

• QARP Thinly traded. Limit orders matter here, and spreads can run wider than at category giants like VONV or FNDX.
• A small fund by category standards, which means less scale behind it than the multibillion-dollar names it competes with.
• Quality and value tilts can trail a plain large-cap index for long stretches. That is the trade for not owning the market as-is.

• 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 QARP profile⁠

Full VYM profile⁠