QDF vs VIG

QDFCNorthern Trust Quality Dividend ETF

VIGAVanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF

In short

QDF A dividend screen that doesn't want to be a bond proxy: QDF ranks large and mid-cap US payers on dividend quality, then targets beta similar to its parent index. 0.39% net of a waiver through March 1, 2027.

VIG VIG buys dividend growth, not fat yields: about 300 US companies with a record of raising their payouts, tracked for 0.04% a year. Running since 2006 and now north of $100 billion, it is the plain-vanilla anchor of the dividend-screen aisle.

Stated mandate

QDF The fund seeks to track the Northern Trust Quality Dividend Index before fees and expenses. Its strategy uses a quality-focused dividend approach intended to pursue income and total return through U.S. equity securities.

VIG The fund seeks to track the S&P U.S. Dividend Growers Index, which represents common stocks of companies with a record of increasing dividends over time.

Why people hold it

• QDF The index starts with 1,250 large and mid-cap US companies, cuts non-payers, then drops the lowest-scoring quintile on a Dividend Quality Score built from financial health measures.flexshares.com
• Quality is ranked sector by sector, an apples-to-apples comparison that surfaces payers across the market instead of crowding into the usual high-yield corners.flexshares.com
• The index targets overall beta similar to the Northern Trust 1250 parent, so the yield tilt is not built around a defensive, low-beta portfolio.flexshares.com
• Live since December 2012, a multi-billion-dollar fund holding roughly 140 stocks and paying quarterly.

• VIG At 0.04% a year, the fee is roughly a tenth of the typical dividend-screen fund's 0.39%, and undercuts every other top-graded fund in the group, DGRO and SCHD included.
• The screen rewards a record of increasing dividends rather than the biggest current payout, so the basket leans on payout discipline instead of stretched yields.
• Live since 2006, over $100 billion in assets and actively traded, which shows up as easy fills rather than wide spreads.
• About 300 holdings, cash paid quarterly, and one of the strongest overall implementations in its dividend-screen peer group.

Worth knowing

• QDF At 0.39% (net of a waiver through March 1, 2027) the fee lands near the category median, but well above index rivals like SCHD at 0.06% and VIG at 0.04%.
• Trades less actively than the category's largest funds, so limit orders are the sane way in and out.
• FlexShares flags that the fund can sit more than 25% in one industry and uses representative sampling, which can widen the gap between fund and index returns.flexshares.com

• VIG Growth of payouts, not maximum income, is the mandate. That puts it on a different axis than high-dividend funds such as SPYD.
• US stocks only, no bonds and no overseas payers, and sector weights are whatever the index screen spits out.
• Portfolio risk and concentration measures land mid-pack for the category: it is fully invested in equities and drops when the market drops.

Full QDF profile⁠

Full VIG profile⁠