International Dividend ETF Now Pays Nearly Double SCHD — This One Is Beating US Stocks Too
SCHD has delivered solid income and returns in 2025, but a lesser-known international ETF has quietly outpaced its benchmark while nearly doubling SCHD's yield, and the strategy behind it challenges everything most investors assume about covered call funds.
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U.S. stocks were never going to outperform forever, and 2026 has been a reminder of that. That’s not to say they’ve done poorly. Quite the opposite. Large-cap value has held up especially well. As of June 30, the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) had returned 17.5% year to date on a total return basis. At the same time, it continued to offer a respectable 3.23% 30-day SEC yield, much of which has historically qualified for favorable tax treatment thanks in part to SCHD’s methodology excluding real estate investment trusts (REITs).
Still, I don’t think dividend investors should limit themselves to the U.S. market. SCHD does have an international sibling, but there are also actively managed ETFs that attempt to boost income further through covered calls. Personally, I’m selective about those strategies. I’m generally not a fan of funds that mechanically sell at-the-money calls across an entire index, as they often sacrifice too much upside in exchange for higher headline yields. I think there’s a stronger case for a tactical approach that writes covered calls on individual stocks instead.
What Is IDVO?
Amplify CWP International Enhanced Dividend Income ETF (IDVO) is an actively managed ETF sub-advised by Capital Wealth Planning and Seymour Asset Management. The portfolio focuses on high-quality international large- and mid-cap companies held either directly or through American Depositary Receipts (ADRs). Using ADRs provides an important advantage because many of them have liquid U.S. options markets, making individual covered call writing much more practical.
The managers begin with companies from the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index before evaluating factors such as earnings growth, free cash flow generation, dividend growth, return on equity, market capitalization, and management quality. Unlike an index fund, the managers also have discretion to overweight or underweight countries, sectors, and individual companies based on their investment outlook.
Layered on top of the stock portfolio is a tactical covered call strategy. Rather than writing calls mechanically across an entire index, the managers selectively write covered calls on individual holdings while adjusting strike prices, expiration dates, and overwrite levels as market conditions change. The goal is to generate meaningful option income while preserving more upside participation than a traditional buy-write strategy.
The result is a yield that sits in the middle ground. Based on the most recent July monthly distribution, IDVO currently offers a 5.93% distribution rate. That’s almost double SCHD’s yield, although still lower than many traditional covered call ETFs that prioritize maximizing current income above all else.
Total Return Is What Matters
If you’re still accumulating assets rather than living off your portfolio, total return should matter far more than headline yield. That’s where IDVO has been particularly impressive. Since inception through the quarter ended June 30, the fund’s net asset value has generated a 111.16% cumulative total return, outperforming its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index, which returned 95.01% over the same period.
Few covered call ETFs have managed to outperform their underlying benchmarks after accounting for option writing. One reason tactical covered call strategies can occasionally succeed is that skilled managers aren’t obligated to continuously overwrite every position. By selectively choosing which stocks to write calls against, along with adjusting strike prices and expirations, they may preserve more upside while still collecting meaningful option premiums.
The flip side is that this approach depends heavily on manager skill. Unlike a systematic index strategy, there’s no guarantee the current team will continue generating excess returns indefinitely. Investors are placing considerable trust in the managers’ judgment, making active risk an important consideration. The other notable drawback is cost. IDVO charges a 0.65% expense ratio, considerably higher than SCHD’s passive 0.06% fee.
Even so, the track record so far has been excellent. For investors with a significant home-country bias toward U.S. equities, IDVO offers a relatively straightforward way to diversify internationally while generating above-average income and participating in a strategy that has, to date, successfully balanced yield with long-term total returns.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Tony Dong is the founder of ETF Portfolio Blueprint. He also serves as Lead ETF Analyst for ETF Central, a partnership between Trackinsight and the NYSE.
Tony’s work focuses on ETF strategy, portfolio construction, and risk management, with an emphasis on making complex investment concepts accessible to everyday investors. His insights and analysis have also appeared in U.S. News & World Report, Kiplinger, MoneySense, and The Motley Fool.
Tony holds a Master of Science degree in enterprise risk management from Columbia University and the Certified ETF Advisor (CETF) designation from The ETF Institute.
