RDVI vs VEGA

RDVIAFT Vest Rising Dividend Achievers Target Income ETF

VEGADAdvisorShares STAR Global Buy-Write ETF

In short

RDVI Two engines in one wrapper: roughly 50 rising-dividend stocks on the equity side, and calls sold on the S&P 500 (not on those stocks) for the income, targeting 8 points above the index's dividend yield, paid monthly.

VEGA The options-income aisle's odd duck: a 2012-vintage global fund-of-funds that allocates across ETFs worldwide, then writes options on top to chase upside and soften the ride. Two active decisions in one ticker.

Stated mandate

RDVI The Fund seeks current income and, secondarily, capital appreciation. It primarily invests in U.S.-traded equities in the Nasdaq US Rising Dividend Achievers Index and sells U.S.-traded calls on the S&P 500 Index or ETFs tracking it.

VEGA The Fund seeks consistent, repeatable returns across market cycles through an actively managed global fund-of-funds approach. It allocates among ETPs and sometimes individual securities while using options to pursue appreciation and reduce portfolio volatility.

Why people hold it

• RDVI The income target is written into the mandate: annualized distributions aimed at 8 percentage points above the S&P 500's dividend yield, paid monthly.
• Calls are written on the S&P 500, not on the fund's own holdings, so no individual dividend grower in the portfolio gets called away when it runs.ftportfolios.com
• A concentrated equity sleeve of about 50 US dividend growers, not a 500-name index clone wearing an options overlay.
• Billion-dollar-plus asset base and active daily trading, which puts it among the easier funds to move in and out of in this crowded category.

• VEGA A fund-of-funds with an options overlay: the manager sets the global ETP mix and the options written on top, all inside one ticker.advisorshares.com
• Live since 2012, so its record spans several full market cycles.
• Global by mandate and measured against the MSCI All Country World Index, so the yardstick is world stocks, not the S&P 500.
• Options do double duty here: pursuing appreciation and reducing portfolio volatility, rather than maximizing a headline payout.

Worth knowing

• RDVI At 0.75%, it runs above the typical S&P 500 income fund, and cheaper overlays exist in the same lane (IVVW at 0.25%, GPIX at 0.35%).
• The prospectus discloses distributions can include return of capital, so part of a monthly payment may be your own money coming back.
• Stocks and options sit on different benchmarks. When the S&P 500 outruns the dividend-grower sleeve, the short calls give back more than the holdings pick up.

• VEGA The 1.25% expense ratio sits above the 0.95% cohort median, and peers like PAPI (0.29%) and DIVO (0.56%) charge a fraction of it.
• Thinly traded, so spreads and order timing matter more here than in the category's household names.
• Distributions are paid at least annually, not monthly, so the design leans on total return over a steady income drip.advisorshares.com

Full RDVI profile⁠

Full VEGA profile⁠