What Is VIG? Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF

VIG is the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF, a fund that holds roughly 340 US companies with a long record of raising their dividends, at least 10 consecutive years. It tracks the S&P US Dividend Growers Index, which screens for dividend growth and quality rather than the highest current yield, and it deliberately excludes the very top-yielding names that often signal stress. At a 0.05% expense ratio, it is one of the lowest-cost ways to hold a dividend-growth strategy.

The defining feature of VIG is what it optimizes for. Many dividend funds chase the biggest current payouts; VIG instead favors companies that consistently grow their dividends, which tends to select for financially stable, higher-quality businesses. The trade-off is a lower yield, around 1.7%, well below high-yield funds like VYM or SCHD. The payoff investors look for is rising income over time and a quality tilt rather than maximum income today.

Approximate weights as of early 2026; refresh quarterly from Vanguard's fund page. Each ticker links to its individual stock guide in Walnut.

VIG's top holdings are large-cap, financially stable US companies with long dividend-raising records: Broadcom, Microsoft, Apple, JPMorgan Chase, Visa, Exxon Mobil, Walmart, Mastercard, Costco, and Procter & Gamble. Each sits at roughly 2-5%, so no single name dominates the fund. See the top-10 table above for current weights. The holdings span technology, financials, consumer staples, healthcare, and industrials, a more balanced sector mix than a pure tech fund.

Below the top 10 sit roughly 330 more dividend growers, which is what gives VIG its diversification across the dividend-paying part of the US market. Because the index requires a decade or more of consecutive dividend increases and screens out the highest-yielding names, the fund skews toward established, quality businesses rather than high-payout or distressed companies. That quality-and-growth screen, not a yield target, is the entire reason VIG looks and behaves differently from a high-yield fund.

All three are popular low-cost dividend ETFs, but they target different points on the dividend spectrum. VYM (Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF) selects for the highest current yields, around 2.7%, leaning toward value and income today. SCHD screens for quality plus a higher yield, around 3.5%, combining current income with a quality filter. VIG screens for dividend growth and quality, which produces the lowest yield of the three, around 1.7%, but the strongest tilt toward consistent, high-quality growers.

The practical choice is current income versus rising income and quality. If you want the most yield today, VYM or SCHD pay more. If you want companies that keep raising their payouts and a higher-quality tilt, VIG is the dividend-growth expression, accepting a lower starting yield in exchange for growth and stability. Many investors hold VIG for total return plus a rising income stream rather than for the largest check each quarter.

VIG's total return comes from price appreciation across its holdings plus a dividend that yields roughly 1.7%, paid quarterly and growing over time as its constituents raise their payouts. Because it tilts toward high-quality, established companies, VIG has historically been somewhat less volatile than the broad market in downturns, though it still moves with US equities. Its lower yield means more of the return tends to come from price growth than from income compared with a high-yield fund.

The central thing to understand before buying is what VIG is built to do: deliver a quality tilt and a rising income stream rather than the highest current yield or pure growth. In strong growth-led markets it can trail a tech-heavy fund, and its yield will look modest next to VYM or SCHD. VIG is best judged over full cycles on total return and dividend growth together, rather than on starting yield alone.

VIG is a common holding for investors who want a quality-tilted, dividend-growth strategy at a very low cost: one ticker covers roughly 340 US companies with decade-plus records of raising their dividends. It suits people who value rising income and financial stability over the maximum current yield, and who want a more balanced sector mix than a pure value or pure tech fund.

Where it falls short: VIG's lower yield (~1.7%) means it pays less today than VYM or SCHD, so income-focused investors may prefer those, and its quality-growth tilt can lag a high-growth fund in tech-led rallies. It also overlaps heavily with other dividend-growth funds like DGRO, so holding both is largely redundant. Walnut isn't an investment adviser and this isn't a recommendation, but in conversation Walnut's AI can show you how much dividend and quality exposure you already carry and where VIG fits as a dividend-growth holding.

VIG trades on NYSE Arca during US market hours (9:30am to 4:00pm ET) and is available commission-free at every major broker, including Robinhood, Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, Public, M1, and Webull. Fractional shares are supported at most modern brokers, which lets the quarterly dividends reinvest automatically as fractional shares (DRIP), useful for compounding a dividend-growth holding over time.

Walnut doesn't replace your broker, it sits on top of it. Connect any major broker and Walnut adds an AI layer that helps you build baskets around VIG, track how your holdings are doing against your targets, and rebalance when your allocation drifts.

VIG is the dividend-growth-and-quality pick: roughly 340 US companies that have raised dividends for a decade or more, at a 0.05% fee, with a lower yield (~1.7%) than high-yield funds in exchange for higher-quality, more stable growers. It fits investors who want total return plus rising income over time rather than the maximum current yield of a fund like VYM or SCHD.

Whether VIG is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, concentration, and what would have to be true for it to outperform from here in is VIG a buy?

VIG yields ~1.7% as of early 2026, paid by passing through the dividends of its underlying holdings. For the payout schedule, history, and how the distributions are taxed, see VIG dividend: yield and schedule.