SCHD vs SPDG

SCHDASchwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF

SPDGBState Street SPDR Portfolio S&P Sector Neutral Dividend 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.

SPDG The dividend-aristocrat idea at a discount-rack price. SPDG tracks a sector-neutral S&P index of long-running dividend payers for 0.05% a year, a sliver of what the household names in this corner charge.

Stated mandate

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

SPDG The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the S&P Sector-Neutral High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index.

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.

• SPDG 0.05% a year, against a 0.40% median in its dividend-aristocrat peer group and the 0.35% charged by the older, bigger names SDY and NOBL.
• Sector-neutral by construction: the index constrains sector weights instead of letting a yield screen pile the portfolio into whichever corner pays most. Roughly 300 stocks.ssga.com
• Simple plumbing: US stocks, one published S&P index, quarterly distributions. No options overlay, no leverage, no active stock picking.
• Sits in the upper half of its aristocrat peer group in our review, largely because the fee is a fraction of the cohort's.

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.

• SPDG Small asset base and thin trading. Spreads can be wider than the crowded aristocrat funds, which matters more on larger orders than on small ones.
• Launched in 2023, so the record is short next to peers that have been running for well over a decade.
• Income here is a pass-through, not a policy: payouts arrive quarterly and rise or fall with what the underlying companies actually declare.

Full SCHD profile⁠

Full SPDG profile⁠