RJDI vs VIG

RJDIFRJ Eagle GCM Dividend Select Income ETF

VIGAVanguard Dividend Appreciation 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.

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

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.

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

• 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.

• 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

• 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.

• 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 RJDI profile⁠

Full VIG profile⁠