Some of the biggest ETFs in the popular dividend category are now yielding less than 10-year Treasury notes after the recent jump in interest rates.
Yields on the 10-year note climbed above 2.6% this week.
The largest dividend ETF, Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (NYSEArca: VIG), currently pays a 30-day SEC yield of 2.11%, according to Vanguard. The fund holds $15.5 billion of assets.
Meanwhile, the $11.5 billion SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (NYSEArca: SDY) has a 30-day SEC yield of 2.53%, according to State Street. SDY is the third-largest dividend ETF.
Yet not all dividend ETFs are yielding less than 10-year Treasuries. The $12.1 billion iShares Select Dividend ETF (NYSEArca: DVY) is currently paying 3.63%, according to BlackRock.
Varying yields in dividend ETFs reflect the different methodologies baked into the funds’ tracking benchmarks. Investors should be comfortable with how a dividend ETF works before buying in.
For example, some of the ETFs weight individual stocks by dividend yield, while others weight companies by their market cap. These seemingly small wrinkles can result in different yields and performance.