SCHD vs SDOG

SCHDASchwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF

SDOGBALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF

In short

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.

SDOG Dogs of the Dow, run sector by sector. SDOG buys the five highest-yielding stocks in each of ten US sectors and weights them equally, so the usual yield pileup into utilities and energy can't swallow the portfolio. Running since 2012.

Stated mandate

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

SDOG The Fund seeks to replicate, before fees and expenses, the performance of the S-Network Sector Dividend Dogs Index. That index selects the five highest-yielding stocks from each of ten U.S. GICS sectors, excluding real estate, and equally weights them.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• SDOG Sector-neutral by construction: five top yielders from each of ten US GICS sectors, equally weighted. Yield hunting with guardrails instead of a bet on whichever sector happens to pay most.alpsfunds.com
• Roughly 50 names, equally weighted. No single mega-cap dominates the way it can in cap-weighted dividend funds.
• Trading since 2012, it tracks its index closely and ranks among the stronger implementations in its dividend-screen peer group. Income is paid quarterly.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• SDOG At 0.36% a year, it costs multiples of the cap-weighted heavyweights (SCHD at 0.06%, VIG at 0.04%). The sector-equal-weight rulebook is what the extra buys.
• Real estate is excluded from the index outright, so REIT income never enters the portfolio.alpsfunds.com
• Screening for the highest yielders in each sector is a value tilt, and a fat yield sometimes marks a company the market has already knocked down.

Full SCHD profile⁠

Full SDOG profile⁠