In this day and age of low, low yields, investors are on the prowl for some income. One place you can find it is in dividend exchange traded funds (ETFs) – especially in the cream of the crop: aristocrats and achievers.
Beyond the regular type of dividend-paying companies – some years, paying dividends, other years boosting them, sometimes reducing them – there are two types that stand in a class all their own, and you can play them with ETFs.
Dividend Aristocrats are companies that have consistently increased their dividends for 25 consecutive years. If they miss a dividend hike even once, they start back at zero, so this is an impressive feat. Dividend aristocrats are also prized because they tend to outperform the S&P 500 and they have lower volatility. [Listen to Our Dividend ETF Podcast.]
On this rarefied list includes such names as Exxon (XOM), Coca-Cola (KO), General Electric (GE) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ).
An easy way to get exposure to these names is through SPDR S&P Dividend (NYSEArca: SDY), which according to the ETF Resume is up 5.7% in the last month and is currently yielding 3.47%.