3 Dividend ETFs With Over $10 Billion Each Pay Up to 3.31% and Beat the S&P 500 Over the Past Year

The iShares Select Dividend ETF (NASDAQ:DVY), the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:SCHD) and the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (NYSEARCA:VYM) each manage more than $10 billion, and all three beat the S&P 500 over the year ended October 23, 2026, when the S&P 500 comparison fund, the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:IVV), returned 14%.

Their trailing yields run from 2.3% to 3.3%, and their one-year total returns ran from 17% to 35%.

All returns here are total returns over identical windows, including reinvested distributions. Yields reflect each fund’s trailing twelve months of payouts against its latest closing price, and each fund made 4 quarterly distributions over that stretch. Treat those yields as a record of what was paid.

iShares Select Dividend ETF Carries the Highest Yield of the Three

DVY is the overlooked fund in this group, and its index explains why it behaves differently. The Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index requires a five-year dividend record, positive five-year dividend growth, and an average payout ratio of 60% or less, then weights its survivors by the dollars of dividends they pay instead of by company size.

Under that weighting, a midsize utility with a generous payout can earn a bigger slot than a megacap paying a token dividend, which leans the fund toward slower-growing, cash-rich businesses. DVY held $23.47 billion in net assets as of its July 31, 2026 filing and yields 3.3%.

It returned 18% over the past year and 61% over five years. Its expense ratio of 0.38% comes straight out of the income stream. Dividend weighting also leans heaviest into the largest payers, and a high yield sometimes signals a stock that fell because investors doubt the dividend. A higher yield means more income today but says nothing about the sustainability of that income.

Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF Posted a 35% Year on a Middle Yield

SCHD is the quality screen of the group. Its benchmark, the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index, starts with companies that have paid dividends for at least 10 consecutive years, then ranks them on cash flow to total debt, return on equity, dividend yield, and five-year dividend growth before selecting about 100. The aim is income from companies that can afford it, which filters out stressed high yielders.

With $94.95 billion in net assets as of its May 31, 2026 filing, SCHD yields 3.0%.

It returned 35% over the past year, far ahead of the other two, and 62% over five years.

A trailing yield is the sum of the past year’s payouts divided by today’s price. When the price rises faster than payouts grow, the yield shrinks even if shareholders collect the same cash or more. SCHD paid $1.0541 per share over the trailing twelve months, so most of its big year arrived as price gains that contracted the yield.

If you check its payout history, quarterly distributions of $0.7545 in September 2024 dropped to $0.2645 that December. That reflects a share split, which shrank per-share figures without cutting anyone’s income.

Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF Trades Yield for Breadth

VYM is the widest option. The FTSE High Dividend Yield Index excludes REITs, keeps the higher-yielding half of U.S. dividend payers, and weights them by market value. The portfolio typically includes 400-plus stocks, so one dividend cut has minimal impact on the fund.

It held $99.19 billion as of its July 31, 2026 filing. Its 2.3% yield and 17% one-year return trail the others.

Yet its 72% five-year gain leads the group. Market-cap weighting explains both. Riding the biggest companies lifts long-run returns when large caps lead, while holding yield down because giants tend to pay less relative to their price.

What Pushed Dividend Funds Past the S&P 500 This Year

The S&P 500 is weighted by market value, so a handful of megacap growth companies paying small or no dividends drive much of its return. When those leaders surge, any yield-screened fund holds less of them and falls behind. When leadership widens toward banks, energy producers, healthcare, and consumer staples, the same screens become an advantage. The three funds beating the comparison fund’s 14% fits a market that rewarded cash-paying businesses more than it had in prior years.

Five Years Tell a Less Flattering Story

Stretch the window to five years, and none of the three kept up. The comparison fund returned 80%, against 72% for VYM, 62% for SCHD, and 61% for DVY.

One year of outperformance after a long stretch of lagging tells you which part of the market led recently. Dividend strategies tend to lag while low-yielding growth companies compound fastest and hold up better when that leadership fades or growth valuations contract. Their appeal rests on income and temperament, which is why we ranked ten long-running dividend payers by valuation in a free Dividend Kings report.

Concentration and Sector Tilts Separate These Funds

DVY owns 98 stocks, and its top ten make up just 20% of assets. Its sector bets are larger: financials at 26% and utilities at 22%. Utilities borrow heavily and compete with bonds for income buyers, so rising rates can weigh on them.

SCHD’s May filing shows QUALCOMM at 7%, Texas Instruments at 6%, and UnitedHealth at 5%, ahead of Coca-Cola, Merck, and Chevron. Investors expecting a staples-and-energy fund got meaningful chip exposure, and a rough quarter at the top can move the whole fund.

VYM’s diversity hides one large position. Broadcom was 7% of assets in its July filing, followed by JPMorgan Chase at 4% and ExxonMobil at 3%.

Matching the Fund to the Investor

DVY suits income investors who want the most current cash of the three and can stand a utilities and financials lean that responds to interest rates. SCHD fits investors who want balance-sheet and dividend-growth screens behind every payout and can accept a concentrated top ten that shifts at each reconstitution. VYM suits investors who value diversification and the strongest five-year record among these three funds, accepting the lowest yield as a trade-off.

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