Covered, diversified, compounding. A 2.19% trailing yield from the mid-cap slice of the U.S. dividend market, dividend-weighted, at a 0.38% expense ratio. Monthly distributions are ordinary dividends from a broad mid-cap portfolio, and the trailing-12-month payout grew 7.93% year over year — mid-cap value income without a single-company bet.
Key risk: Mid-cap value tilt — smaller, more cyclical payers than the large-cap funds, so a mid-cap drawdown or a wave of small dividend cuts hits harder than a broad-market fund.
Changes if: Trailing distributions fall for two consecutive quarters, or the expense ratio rises materially.
- ✓Yield check: 2.19% trailing — $1.24 of distributions over the trailing 12 months at the $56.65 close on Oct. 23, 2026.
- ✓Expense check: 0.38% expense ratio — below the mid-cap value category average.
- ✓Payout / growth check: Distributions are ordinary dividends from a dividend-weighted mid-cap index — no return-of-capital trap structure — with trailing-12-month growth of 7.93%. Monthly amounts vary with holdings' calendars (Sep. 2026 $0.12, Jun. $0.155, Mar. $0.18).
What this grade doesn't say: It screens the dividend only — covered, real, compounding. It says nothing about valuation or price: a well-covered payer can still be overpriced, and its price can still fall.