Here’s how dividend ETFs pick their stocks

Article Excerpt

Companies that pay regular and growing dividends have performed very well over time when compared to the broad market indices. A strategy such as selecting stocks with a long history of uninterrupted dividend growth—as represented by the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats—has resulted in gains of 11.8% per year over the past 30 years; this compares to 10.9% for the S&P 500 Index. Not only did those top dividend payers beat the overall market, they were less volatile, or risky. Over the most-recent 10-year period, dividend stocks overall still generated attractive returns but not quite as high as the S&P 500 index. Note, however, that a more sophisticated dividend strategy, which aims to select the highest-quality dividend-paying companies managed to beat the broad market index even in recent years (see graph top left). This superior performance can be attributed to a combination of several factors: Companies with long histories of regular and growing dividend payments generally have competitive business models and growing profits; they…