Covered, but thin and pricey. A 1.39% trailing yield from up to 100 dividend-paying technology and telecom companies, dividend-weighted, at a 0.50% expense ratio — the highest fee among the plain dividend funds built here. The income is ordinary dividends from profitable tech names (Texas Instruments, IBM, Microsoft among the largest), but the yield is thin and the latest quarterly distribution fell to $0.35 from $0.42 the quarter before.
Key risk: Tech concentration plus a thin, variable payout — the fund holds only dividend-paying tech and telecom names, so it misses non-paying tech giants, and quarterly distributions move with holdings' payouts.
Changes if: The expense ratio rises further, or quarterly distributions fall for two more consecutive quarters.
- !Yield check: 1.39% trailing at the $113.27 close on Oct. 23, 2026 — thin for an income holding, and the September 2026 quarterly distribution of $0.35 was down from $0.42 the quarter before.
- !Expense check: 0.50% expense ratio — well above broad dividend funds at 0.27–0.38%, a real drag on a 1.39% yield.
- ✓Coverage check: Distributions are ordinary dividends from dividend-paying tech and telecom holdings — no option-premium or return-of-capital structure.
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.