QGRO vs VYM

QGROBAmerican Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF

VYMAVanguard High Dividend Yield ETF

In short

QGRO Plenty of growth funds pay any price for growth. QGRO tracks an index that screens U.S. large- and mid-caps on quality, growth and valuation together, roughly 190 names, for 0.29% a year.

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

QGRO The fund seeks exposure to U.S. large- and mid-capitalization companies selected for attractive quality, growth and valuation 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

• QGRO The screen is a three-part filter, not a momentum chase: quality, growth and valuation characteristics all feed the American Century U.S. Quality Growth Index that the fund follows.americancentury.com
• 0.29% a year sits under the typical multifactor fund's fee, and you get an active-shop screen wrapped in a rules-based index.
• It does what the label says: the portfolio hews closely to its stated index, with tight, easy trading and over a billion dollars in assets behind it.
• Live since 2018 with a quarterly distribution, so it has a real multi-cycle record rather than 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

• QGRO Cheap beta is cheaper. IUSG runs 0.04% and FNDX 0.25% for their own large-cap tilts, so you are paying up for the multi-factor screen.
• A growth tilt held in about 190 names carries more swing than a total-market fund. Its risk profile is the weakest link in an otherwise upper-half showing.
• It is a style sleeve, not a whole portfolio: the mandate is U.S. large- and mid-caps only, no international or small-cap exposure.

• 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 QGRO profile⁠

Full VYM profile⁠