Patience should pay off with this stock.
Investing is often about trade-offs. Are you looking for growth or value? Hunting for an established business, or one that's earlier on in its expansion story? Does your portfolio need more diversification or a bolder bet on certain sectors?
No single investment can check all those boxes, but certain exchange-traded funds (ETFs) come close. You can choose an ETF based on the sector it covers, for example, or on the types of stocks that are represented in its top holdings. And some even offer a balance between dividend income and earnings growth.
Let's look at one ETF that pays a solid current yield while giving you exposure to some high-growth companies as well.
Meet the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF
The Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG -0.11%) is one of the more popular funds in Vanguard's portfolio. It's an index-based fund, meaning it doesn't employ expensive portfolio managers but instead uses a passive approach that aims to replicate the performance of a given index.
That index is the S&P U.S. Dividend Growers index, a group of 340 large companies that have a track record of raising their dividends each year.
You'll find several well-known dividend leaders among the fund's top holdings, including Procter & Gamble and ExxonMobil. Yet this ETF doesn't target high yields alone, which means you get exposure to classic growth stocks as well.
Microsoft stock yields just 0.7%, but it is the top holding of the fund thanks to its recent record of fast dividend hikes. Apple is the fund's second largest holding. Overall, the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF will give you a yield of 1.8% today, or a bit more than the wider S&P 500's yield.
Earnings growth
Earnings growth is the main difference between this ETF and other dividend funds that focus on bigger yields. Stocks in the fund on average are boosting profits by a healthy 10% right now.
Compare that to the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM -0.13%) and its 8% average earnings gains and you'll see a key benefit of having a few tech giants in your portfolio. Most Wall Street pros are expecting top holding Microsoft to increase profits by 12% this year, putting it in a great position to post another double-digit dividend hike in early 2025.
The ETF is an ideal one for long-term investors because of that balance between current yield and potential earnings growth. You'll also hold on to almost all your returns while owning it. The ETF charges a rock-bottom 0.06% expense ratio compared to nearly 1% for many of its actively managed peers.
Why buy this ETF
There's one more big benefit of owning this ETF: It is cheaper than others that have been rallying lately. Your exposure to a few less-popular dividend giants like P&G will give you protection against the next stock market pullback, which will likely hit tech stocks the hardest.
In the meantime, sit back and collect that dividend payment, ideally choosing to reinvest those steady payouts to amplify your long-term returns. Looking back after a decade or more, you'll likely be thrilled that you added a mix of growth and income to your portfolio with this relatively cheap ETF.
Demitri Kalogeropoulos has positions in Apple. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Microsoft, Vanguard Specialized Funds-Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF, and Vanguard Whitehall Funds-Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
