RJDI vs SCHD

RJDIFRJ Eagle GCM Dividend Select Income ETF

SCHDASchwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF

In short

RJDI Most dividend funds just run a screen. RJDI writes its goals down as a contract: yield above the S&P 500 and inflation, dividend growth above inflation, and volatility no higher than the index over a full cycle. Active, and priced like it.

SCHD The dividend fund that checks the balance sheet before it checks the yield. SCHD only considers companies with 10 straight years of payouts, then ranks the survivors on cash flow, return on equity and dividend growth. Quality gate first, income second, at six basis points.

Stated mandate

RJDI The fund seeks current income and capital appreciation. It is actively managed and targets dividend yield above the S&P 500 and inflation, dividend growth above inflation, and volatility no higher than the index over a full market cycle.

SCHD The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100TM Index.

Why people hold it

• RJDI The mandate is unusually specific for an active fund: yield above both the S&P 500 and inflation, dividend growth above inflation, and volatility no higher than the index over a full market cycle.
• Actively managed rather than screen-bound, so a manager can act on a deteriorating payer between reconstitution dates instead of waiting for the index calendar.
• Income lands quarterly, and the stated objective pairs current income with capital appreciation instead of reaching for the highest yield on the board.

• SCHD Charges 0.06% a year, near the floor for US equity ETFs and a fraction of what the typical dividend-screen fund costs.schwabassetmanagement.com
• The rulebook is strict: 10 consecutive years of dividends to qualify, then a composite rank on cash-flow-to-total-debt, return on equity, yield and five-year dividend growth.spglobal.com
• Index rules cap any single stock at 4.5% and any sector at 25%, so one hot name cannot quietly become the whole income stream.spglobal.com
• Running since 2011 and now among the largest, most heavily traded dividend ETFs, with tracking that stays very close to its index.

Worth knowing

• RJDI Active management carries an active price tag: 0.63% a year, while cohort leaders SCHD, VIG and DGRO charge single-digit basis points for rules-based dividend exposure.
• It launched in October 2025, so there is little history yet to judge the yield, growth and volatility targets against.
• A young, thinly traded fund can show wider bid-ask spreads than the category's household names, a cost that shows up on the way in and the way out.

• SCHD Roughly 100 names, every one a long-time dividend payer. The fast-growing non-payers that drive much of the US market are not eligible, by design.spglobal.com
• The yield and quality screens tilt it toward mature, cash-generating sectors, so it looks nothing like a total-market fund. Distributions land quarterly, not monthly.spglobal.com
• Not the absolute cheapest shelf item: VIG runs 0.04% and DIVB 0.05%, though both screen for dividends differently.

Full RJDI profile⁠

Full SCHD profile⁠