Jamie Dimon Says Stock Valuations Are Too High. But That Shouldn’t Change How You Invest. Consider These 3 ETFs.

JPMorgan Chase(JPM +0.95%) CEO Jamie Dimon recently gave a provocative interview with a CNBC podcast. On Monday, Dimon effectively said that he wouldn’t buy most stocks right now at today’s high valuations.

Even if Dimon is somewhat bearish on the stock market, that doesn’t mean everyday investors should be. For one thing, Jamie Dimon is a billionaire, and he’s getting closer to retirement; his investment goals and time horizon are probably a lot different from yours. And perhaps even more important: No one knows how to time the market, not even the CEOs of major banks.

Even if you share Dimon’s concerns that some stock valuations are too high, that doesn’t mean you should stop investing. Let’s look at three exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that might be good choices for non-billionaire, long-term investors.

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI): 3,531 stocks, 25 years of 9.48% annualized returns

Even if valuations are high, it’s almost always a good idea for long-term investors to keep buying a broadly diversified stock market index fund like the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI -0.01%). This Vanguard ETF holds a portfolio of 3,531 U.S. stocks of companies of all sizes (large cap, mid cap, and small cap) and charges an ultralow expense ratio of 0.03%.

In the past 25 years since this fund’s inception in May 2001, it’s delivered average annual returns of 9.48%. More recently it’s done even better, with annualized returns of 15.04% in the past 10 years and 12.24% in the past five years.

Just like the S&P 500 index, this index fund has grown a bit top heavy with tech stocks. The top-10 stock holdings in the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF are all major tech names, and the portfolio’s largest sector weighting is in technology (41% of the fund), while industrials (12.5%) and consumer discretionary (12.3%) rank a distant second and third.

But index funds like VTI don’t just keep holding the same stocks forever. They constantly adjust their holdings based on which stocks are gaining or falling. Even if some stocks in the index are overpriced and go through a downturn, investors might rotate into other stocks and sectors.

Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD): 103 stocks, 14 years of 13.09% annualized returns

If you’re worried about high valuations of tech stocks and want to make a play for a specific category of stocks, another option could be to buy dividend ETFs. These tend to hold value stocks that are less tied to the AI trade. If you’re worried about tech stock valuations, buying a less tech-heavy fund could be a good choice.

The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD +1.49%) is one of the best dividend index funds. It holds 103 stocks selected for their fundamental strength and charges a low expense ratio of 0.06%. For the past 14 years since this ETF was established in October 2011, it has delivered average annual returns of 13.09%. It’s done even better in the past year with a 24.08% annual return.

This fund is not tech heavy. The information technology sector makes up only 9.23% of the fund’s portfolio. The top sectors are healthcare (20.7% of the fund), consumer staples (20.4%), and energy (14.1%). The fund’s largest stock holdings are healthcare and pharmaceutical stocks like Abbott Laboratories (4.5% of the fund), UnitedHealth Group (4.5%), and Merck (4.4%).

This dividend ETF pays great dividends, with a trailing-12-month yield of 3.30%. And this fund might still be undervalued. Its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is 19, which is about a 25% discount compared to the S&P 500 index’s multiple of 25.5.

Vanguard International High Dividend Yield ETF (VYMI): 1,565 stocks, 3 years of 21.1% annualized returns

Want to diversify even further away from the (possibly overvalued) artificial intelligence (AI)-driven tech trade? Consider buying international stocks. The Vanguard International High Dividend Yield ETF (VYMI +0.66%) holds 1,565 stocks from 45 countries. This global dividend ETF has been on a hot streak of strong performance lately, with average annual returns of 21.11% in the past three years and about 27.5% in the past year.

This dividend ETF owns stocks of consistently profitable, financially strong companies in developed markets beyond the U.S. The fund’s top holdings include global banks like HSBC Holdings and Royal Bank of Canada, and pharma giants like Novartis and Roche Holding. The Vanguard International High Dividend Yield ETF has paid a trailing-12-month dividend yield of 3.68% and might also be cheap compared to the S&P 500. This global ETF’s P/E ratio is only 14.6.

Why buy VTI, SCHD or VYMI… or just keep investing?

No one knows for certain what the future holds for stocks. Sometimes stocks go through volatility or bear markets, but they tend to recover and deliver strong returns for investors in the long run. Just continuing to buy and hold a broadly diversified index fund like the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF is often a solid move for long-term investors.

Or if you want to try to diversify away from highly valued tech stocks and the AI trade, you could consider a dividend index fund like the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF or the Vanguard International High Dividend Yield ETF.