TBG vs VUS

TBGBTBG Dividend Focus ETF

VUSBVirtus U.S. Dividend ETF

In short

TBG An actively run dividend-growth playbook in ETF form: a hand-picked roster of US companies the manager judges able to keep raising payouts, run for income and long-term appreciation rather than headline yield.

VUS An AI-assisted dividend fund at a passive-fund price. A quant model reads sentiment and valuation, humans make the final call, and it charges 0.25%, less than half the typical active US dividend ETF.

Stated mandate

TBG The Fund seeks income and long-term capital appreciation.

VUS The Fund seeks current income and, secondarily, long-term capital appreciation.

Why people hold it

• TBG Active, not a screen. The sub-adviser picks US companies it believes can grow dividends over time, with room for REITs and MLPs alongside common stock.etfarchitect.com
• 0.45%, with no waiver propping it up. That sits right around the typical active dividend fee and level with BGIG at 0.45%.
• Pays quarterly, and the stated mandate covers both income and long-term capital appreciation, not yield alone.
• Lands in the upper half of a 40-fund active dividend field, one of the stronger builds in a crowded aisle.

• VUS 0.25% a year, under half the 0.55% median for active US dividend ETFs and cheaper than every top-graded name in the cohort (CGDV, HIDV, MBOX, BGIG, TDVG).
• The engine: a proprietary alpha model using AI-powered language processing for sentiment plus valuation factors. Virtus portfolio managers make the final trading calls.sec.gov
• About 90 US-listed dividend payers, with at least 80% of net assets in them. Focused enough for picks to register, wide enough to spread single-name risk.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• TBG Thinly traded for its category, which can mean wider spreads and more slippage on big or hurried orders.
• Several of the category's top-rated peers cost less: VUS at 0.25%, CGDV at 0.33%, HIDV at 0.35%, none on a waiver.
• Hand-picked means results ride on the sub-adviser's judgment, and the fund only opened in 2023, so the record is short.etfarchitect.com

• VUS Launched December 2025 with a small asset base and light volume, so spreads can run wider than the cohort's household names and live history on the model is short.
• The prospectus lets the fund put more than 15% of assets in a single sector, so the portfolio can lean hard into a few corners of the market.sec.gov
• Income arrives annually or semiannually rather than monthly, so the cash shows up in lumps.

Full TBG profile⁠

Full VUS profile⁠