Topic: How To Invest

Q: Pat, would you please comment on the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG)? Many thanks.

Article Excerpt

A: Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF, $156.07, symbol VIG on New York (Units outstanding: 425.0 million; Market cap: $66.3 billion; www.vanguard.com), aims to track the S&P U.S. Dividend Growers Index. That index is comprised of a group of 289 stocks that have had at least 10 consecutive years of increasing annual dividend payments. That means the index excludes a number of sound companies that pay dividends but haven’t increased them annually. The ETF has a very low 0.06% MER. It started up in April 2006. The Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF yields 1.9%. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF’s top holdings are diverse: Microsoft Corp., Home Depot, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., UnitedHealth Group Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble Co., Visa Inc., Broadcom, PepsiCo and Mastercard. We generally advise against basing an investment solely on one consideration—in this case at least 10 consecutive years of dividend increases. However, we do have a high opinion of a long history of rising dividends; it also seems like a..