ETF selected: SPDR S&P US Dividend Aristocrats UCITS ETF (Dist)

What's in this ETF?

This ETF selects companies that have increased their dividends every year for at least 20 consecutive years. It includes 121 lines, making it a highly diversified product, especially as the top ten holdings account for just 17.9% of total assets. These include 3M Co (2.3%), Realty Income (2.2%), Edison International (1.8%), Intel (1.7%), Chevron (1.7%), Southern (1.7%), WEC Energy (1.6%), ABBVIE (1.6%), Kimberly-Clark (1.6%) and T. Rowe Price (1.6%).

The entire amount is invested in the United States. Sector-wise, the industrial sector unsurprisingly accounts for 20% of the total, followed by non-cyclical consumer goods (17.7%) and utilities (17%). Financials (11.2%), materials (9%), healthcare (7%) and information technology (5.7%) are also well represented.

Dividends are paid quarterly. Fees are rather moderate (0.35%) and the fund's assets under management are high, which is reassuring, particularly for the ETF's liquidity. It reaches $3.75 billion.

What are its advantages?

  • The ETF provides exposure to a portfolio of defensive companies that have been paying rising dividends for many years.
  • Outstandings are reassuringly high, and fees are low.
  • The ETF has been in existence for 12 years, and its track record is very solid.

Negative points

  • Companies are mature, which means that their upside potential seems more limited than that of quality or growth companies. As a result, dividend gains may be reduced by falling share prices. Since the end of 2022, growth stocks have outperformed, including the S&P 500, for example. However, since the ETF's inception in 2012, performance has been good and close to that of the S&P 500.

ETF ID card:

Number of positions: 121

ISIN code: IE00B6YX5D40

Ticker: SPYD GY

Fees: 0.35

The ETF (below EXCLUDING dividends) has long been on a par with the S&P500. When dividends are added, it outperforms the index. Since the end of 2022, growth stocks have clearly outperformed defensive stocks (source: Zonebourse).