TMDV vs VIG

TMDVCProShares Russell U.S. Dividend Growers ETF

VIGAVanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF

In short

TMDV A dividend fund built around a longevity test: TMDV holds roughly 60 U.S. companies with long unbroken records of raising their payouts, drawn from the full Russell 3000 rather than only the mega-cap crowd.

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

TMDV TMDV seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the Russell 3000 Dividend Elite Index, which selects U.S. companies with long records of annual dividend increases.

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

• TMDV The screen is the whole story: only U.S. companies with long records of annual dividend increases make the Russell 3000 Dividend Elite Index.proshares.com
• At 0.35%, it undercuts the typical fund in its dividend-screen peer group.
• About 60 names pulled from the whole Russell 3000, so mid-sized dividend raisers can qualify, not just the usual large-cap payers.proshares.com
• Rules-based and legible: one published index, quarterly distributions, and a portfolio that has stayed close to that stated mandate since the 2019 launch.

• 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

• TMDV Small asset base and thin trading volume, so the cost of getting in and out can matter more here than with the category's heavyweights.
• 0.35% is several times what the largest dividend-growth funds charge: VIG, SCHD and DGRO all sit under a tenth of a percent.
• With roughly 60 holdings, single names and sector tilts carry real weight next to broad dividend funds that own hundreds of stocks.

• 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 TMDV profile⁠

Full VIG profile⁠