TILT vs VYM

TILTANorthern Trust Morningstar US Market Factor Tilt ETF

VYMAVanguard High Dividend Yield ETF

In short

TILT TILT doesn't swap out the market, it bends it: roughly 1,900 US stocks with small-cap and value names weighted heavier than a pure market-cap index would have them. A 2011 original, at 0.25% net of a waiver through March 1, 2027.

VYM The no-frills dividend workhorse. VYM buys the higher-yielding end of the US market, roughly 600 names, for four basis points: no quality screen, no dividend-growth-streak test, just yield, at scale since 2006.

Stated mandate

TILT The Fund seeks results that generally correspond, before fees and expenses, to the price and yield performance of the Morningstar U.S. Market Factor Tilt Index.

VYM The Fund seeks to track a benchmark index measuring the investment return of common stocks from companies characterized by high dividend yields.

Why people hold it

• TILT Owns the market, then leans. No value sleeve, no stock-picking: the index keeps broad US exposure and simply overweights smaller and value names.sec.gov
• Reach down to the micro caps. The universe covers the top 99.5% of US market cap, so roughly 1,900 holdings span mega to tiny.flexshares.com
• Running since 2011, with a tracking record among the stronger implementations in its multifactor peer group.
• Billion-dollar fund with a single published index and quarterly distributions. Nothing to interpret.

• VYM Four basis points a year, against a peer-group median near 0.32%. Cheaper than cohort neighbors VONV (0.06%) and FNDX (0.25%).
• Running since 2006 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so ordinary orders tend to fill at tight spreads.
• Simple mandate: track the FTSE High Dividend Yield Index of US common stocks screened on yield. No manager discretion, no options overlay, plain 1940-Act fund.vanguard.com
• Pays quarterly, and among 100-plus value and multifactor rivals it stands as one of the strongest overall packages in the group.

Worth knowing

• TILT You pay up for the tilt: 0.25% net of a waiver through March 1, 2027 (0.26% gross) versus VYM and ILCV at 0.04% and VONV at 0.06%, though each buys a narrower slice.
• Trading is thin next to the giant index names, so quoted spreads can be wider than the fund's size suggests.
• A tilt is a choice. Leaning small and value means stretches of looking different from the cap-weighted market, in either direction.sec.gov

• VYM The screen is yield, not payout growth or dividend quality, so a company can qualify simply because its share price fell.
• This is a value slice by design, tilted to established payers, so it behaves differently from a total US market fund.
• Roughly 600 holdings, but weight leans toward the largest payers, so the top of the roster does more of the work than the count suggests.

Full TILT profile⁠

Full VYM profile⁠