New ETF DGR Spreadsheet

On June 24 2016 I purchased 125 shares of SCHD (Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF). Prior to the purchase I had been investigating low cost ETF’s (Exchange Traded Funds) that closely matched my dividend growth stock investing methodology. During my search I discovered SCHD and not long after my interest in buying SCHD, the BREXIT yes vote for Great Britain to leave the EU provided a nice dip, so I entered a position at $40.60. I have been impressed with the fund’s share price gain and the dividend income it has provided since that initial position.

The fund objective of SCHD is to only include firms with a 10-year history of paying dividends, and within that universe, SCHD uses fundamental screens (cash-flow to debt ratio, ROE, dividend yield, and dividend growth rate) to build its portfolio. Naturally I searched for the funds dividend growth rate, but it wasn’t published so I calculated it myself and found that the fund had a 5-year history of raising its dividend payment around 10% annually, and a 3% dividend yield. As Adam Sandler would say “not too shabby.”

Recently I have had a renewed interest in ETF’s designed for dividend growth, since I manage portfolios of six accounts and it can be quite time consuming investing in individual DGI stocks. In addition, I have been thinking of the future and the “what if” scenario. I know that my wife is not interested in managing investment portfolios the way I do, so what would she do? That said, I’m in the process of transitioning one of my private accounts from individual DGI stocks to a small low-maintenance ETF portfolio that she can continue with confidence in my absence. Better yet I hope to mentor her now so she can gain the necessary experience to take over its simple management duties. It will be interesting to see what her reaction will be when I have her proof-read this post <grin>.

For dividend growth investors who are in a similar situation, or don’t have the time for full DGI investing and need a simpler way to manage their investments, I have put together the “ETF DGR” spreadsheet. You can find it by clicking here or selecting ‘ETF DGR’ on the top menu bar.

This spreadsheet lists low-cost ETFs and their all important dividend growth rate averages. It is similar to David Fish’s Dividend Champions spreadsheet of individual stocks, but for ETFs. In the first column I have grouped the ETFs into three fund investment focus categories:

1. Dividend growth (SCHD falls into this category)
2. High dividend yield, and
3. REITs

Also, I have included ‘SPY’, the ETF that tracks the S&P 500 index for a benchmark against the market, for those that are interested. This row has a light gray fill color to separate it from the other rows.

Instead of having to scroll through the whole spreadsheet. I have grouped the data into worksheet tabs (see bottom of spreadsheet). From left to right the tabs are:

• Yield DGR – Dividend yield and dividend growth rate information
• Holdings – Sector weighting and the top 10 holdings
• Return History – Annual total returns including dividends
• Timing Qualtiy – Info on price, timing, valuation, quality, and sustainability
• Fund Info – Ticker, fund name, index followed, and other general fund information
• Fund Summary – Describes the fund strategy and investment rules for its stock selection

I hope this will be a valuable resource to all Dividend Geek readers. I would love your input on this or anything else you feel would be helpful to your ETF research.

Sincerely,

Filed in: Dividend Growth Investing • Productivity • Website Tools