Quick Read
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DVY, SCHD, and VYM each top $10 billion in assets, beat the S&P 500’s 14% return, and yield up to 3.3%.
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Over five years, the S&P 500 returned 80%, outpacing all three dividend ETFs, which topped out at VYM’s 72%.
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Market leadership rotating toward banks, energy, and consumer staples rewarded dividend screens that hold fewer low-yielding megacap tech names.
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The iShares Select Dividend ETF (NASDAQ:DVY), the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:SCHD) and the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (NYSEARCA:VYM) each manage more than $10 billion, and all three beat the S&P 500 over the year ended October 23, 2026, when the S&P 500 comparison fund, the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:IVV), returned 14%.
Their trailing yields run from 2.3% to 3.3%, and their one-year total returns ran from 17% to 35%.
All returns here are total returns over identical windows, including reinvested distributions. Yields reflect each fund’s trailing twelve months of payouts against its latest closing price, and each fund made 4 quarterly distributions over that stretch. Treat those yields as a record of what was paid.
iShares Select Dividend ETF Carries the Highest Yield of the Three
DVY is the overlooked fund in this group, and its index explains why it behaves differently. The Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index requires a five-year dividend record, positive five-year dividend growth, and an average payout ratio of 60% or less, then weights its survivors by the dollars of dividends they pay instead of by company size.
Under that weighting, a midsize utility with a generous payout can earn a bigger slot than a megacap paying a token dividend, which leans the fund toward slower-growing, cash-rich businesses. DVY held $23.47 billion in net assets as of its July 31, 2026 filing and yields 3.3%.
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It returned 18% over the past year and 61% over five years. Its expense ratio of 0.38% comes straight out of the income stream. Dividend weighting also leans heaviest into the largest payers, and a high yield sometimes signals a stock that fell because investors doubt the dividend. A higher yield means more income today but says nothing about the sustainability of that income.
