Weakness in ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF's Process and People Pillar ratings limits this strategy to a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Negative. The portfolio maintains a cost advantage over competitors, priced within the lowest fee quintile among peers.  

 The strategy gets a Low Process Pillar rating, after recently downgrading from Below Average. Independent of the rating, analysis of the strategy's portfolio shows it has maintained a significant overweight position in liquidity exposure and an underweight in quality exposure compared with category peers. High liquidity exposure is attributed to stocks with a high trading volume, lending managers more flexibility. And a low quality exposure is rooted in stocks with higher financial leverage and lower profitability. The team managing this passive strategy earns a Below Average People Pillar rating. Although this strategy's parent firm still has a way to go to be a high-quality steward, it has bright spots like portfolio managers who invest a substantial amount in their strategy but could focus on high portfolio manager turnover. As a result, the firm has a Low Parent Pillar.

Analyst Rating

Newmont Mining

AT&T

Kraft Heinz

ONEOK

AbbVie

Duke Energy

Southern Company

Dominion Energy

Philip Morris

Prudential Financial

Morningstar's evaluation of this security's process aims to determine the likelihood that it will outperform its Morningstar Category benchmark on a risk-adjusted basis over the long term. ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF earns a Low Process Pillar rating. 

The primary detractor from the rating is the fund's unremarkable long-term risk-adjusted performance. This can be seen in its five-year alpha calculated relative to the category index, which suggests that the process has struggled over that period. The parent firm's five-year retention rate of 60% also weakens the process. The parent firm's five-year risk-adjusted success ratio of 43% further limits the process. The measure indicates the percentage of a firm's funds that survived and outperformed their respective category's median Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return for the period. The parent's subpar success ratio suggests that the firm could do better across its fund lineup.

 This strategy leans toward smaller, more value-oriented companies compared with its average peer in the Large Value Morningstar Category. Examining additional factor exposure, this strategy has held more highly liquid stocks compared to Morningstar Category Peers in the past few years. More-liquid assets contribute to more-flexible exit strategies without price changes and tend to be a ballast during market selloffs. For example, if the portfolio faces successive redemptions in a short period of time, it will be less likely to suffer from a significant loss. In recent months, the strategy was more exposed to the Liquidity factor compared with its Morningstar Category peers as well. This strategy has also favored low-quality stocks. This means the fund avoids holding companies that are consistently profitable, growing, and have solid balance sheets. Such positions do not tend to provide much ballast for a portfolio. Similarly, in recent months, the strategy also had less exposure to the Quality factor than peers. In addition, this strategy's holdings have included more companies with high dividend or buyback yields than peers over these years. High-yield stocks tend to be connected to more mature companies earning enough cash to return some to shareholders. At times, however, extreme market pressure can force them to cut their dividends, which hurts stock performance. In this month, the strategy also had more exposure to the Yield factor over its peers. More information on a fund and its respective category's factor exposure can be found in the Factor Profile module within the Portfolio section. 

 The portfolio is overweight in consumer cyclical and utilities relative to the category average by 5.2 and 4.6 percentage points, respectively. The sectors with low exposure compared to category peers are financial services and healthcare, underweight the average by 8.0 and 3.9 percentage points of assets, respectively. The portfolio is positioned across 52 holdings and is diversified among those holdings. In its most recent portfolio, 21.9% of the strategy's assets were concentrated in the top 10 fund holdings, compared to the category’s 28.9% average. And finally, in terms of portfolio turnover, this fund trades less regularly than the typical peer in its category, which may result in a lower cost to investors.

Process

ALPS’s team remains inferior, compared with better-resourced rivals, resulting in a Below Average People Pillar rating. There are two managers listed on the fund: Ryan Mischker, Andrew Hicks.  Together, they manage a total of 25 strategies, with mixed prospects. The asset-weighted average Morningstar Medalist Rating across the strategies is Neutral. This means, in aggregate, they are not positioned to deliver positive alpha relative to the category median. This group has been working together for a while and has been successful in retaining talent compared to peers, with no departures in the last five years.

Below Average

People

In an increasingly competitive industry, ALPS falls behind on a number of key metrics, resulting in a Low Parent Pillar rating. Despite the negative rating, an area of strength of the firm is manager investment.  Over 35% of the firm's assets are covered by invested managers, in an effort to align portfolio manager and shareholder interests. A detractor from the firm's rating is its lower-than-average portfolio management retention over the past five years, as elevated turnover bears watching. The firm charges fees on its open-end and exchange-traded funds that are on par with category peers. On average, fees on its funds are within the middle quintile, giving it neither an advantage nor disadvantage compared with the competition.

Parent

ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF

SDOG tracks an equal-weighted index of the five highest-yielding S&P 500 securities in each sector.

ALPS International Sector Dividend Dogs ETF

ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF

SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF

Progressive financial advisors and investors have realized that a longtime popular stock market saying is not very accurate anymore, at least when it comes to investing for yield. That phrase is: “It's not a stock market, it's a market of stocks.

Sector Allocation Matters for Portfolio Dividend Yield

Alerian MLP ETF

Amplify Lithium & Battery Technology ETF

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VictoryShares US Large Cap High Div Volatility Wtd ETF

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MUSQ Global Music Industry ETF

American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF

ROBO Global Robotics and Automation ETF

Robo Global Artificial Intelligence ETF

Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF

Invesco High Yield Equity Dividend Achievers ETF

With the acquisition of EQM Indexes, VettaFi's family of indexes now powers nearly $19 billion in ETFs and other investment vehicles. In May 2022, VettaFi was created by unifying complementary businesses who shared a common vision for client success, the value of relationships, and the importance of data.

VettaFi's Growing Thematic Index Family Supports Key Slice of Portfolios

Innovator S&P 500 Buffer ETF - September

Invesco S&P Emerging Markets Low Volatility ETF

iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Emerging Markets ETF

The Goldman Sachs Future Planet Equity ETF

iShares Global Clean Energy ETF

KPOP and Korean Entertainment ETF

KraneShares Global Carbon ETF

Global X AgTech & Food Innovation ETF

Neuberger Berman Carbon Transition Infrastructure ETF

First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund

Tema American Reshoring ETF

AllianzIM US Large Cap Buffer20 Sep ETF

Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF

Engine No 1 Transform Supply Chain ETF

iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF

Greetings, VettaFi Voices! In recent months, we've talked about a lot of different issues, from the micro to the macro, but let's go REALLY big picture this week.

VettaFi Voices On: The Biggest Threat to the Global Economy

Many investors and advisors have likely already thought long and hard about their big tech allocations. Earlier this year, they may have asked themselves whether they had too small of an allocation.

Overweight Big Tech? Consider SDOG

Investors have faced some contrasting narratives this year. Entering 2023, the narrative suggested doom and gloom, rising rates, and a looming recession.

Three Dividend Stocks to Watch in SDOG

O'Shares US Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF

Level Four Large Cap Growth Active ETF

SS&C ALPS Advisors launched a new ETF on Wednesday, an active large-cap ETF to add to its roster. Collaborating with Level Four Capital Management, the firm has added the Level Four Large Cap Growth Active ETF (LGRO) to its ETF suite.

SS&C ALPS Advisors Launches Active Large-Cap ETF

JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF

Xtrackers MSCI Japan Hedged Equity ETF

WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund

iShares MSCI EAFE ETF

iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol EAFE ETF

iShares MSCI Japan ETF

Franklin FTSE Japan ETF

WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund

iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF

IQ FTSE International Equity Currency Neutral ETF

Invesco S&P International Developed Momentum ETF

iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF

iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF

Hartford Multifactor Developed Markets (ex-US) ETF

SPDR Portfolio Developed World ex-US ETF

SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF

Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF

Vanguard Total International Stock ETF

There's been more talk lately about aiming for diversification through international investing, which wasn't a major topic of discussion for a while.

VettaFi Voices On: International Investing's Revival

The ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF offers a 4% dividend yield with consistent and steady dividend growth, providing investors with a growing income. SDOG selects the five highest-yielding stocks from each of the 10 sub-sectors within the S&P 500 index, with most picks being large caps. Despite underperforming the S&P 500 index and Schwab's SCHD, it could be a good addition to investors' portfolios if they are looking for value plays in case value outperforms.

SDOG: High Yield Coupled With Dividend Growth

Siren DIVCON Dividend Defender ETF

With earnings week well underway this Tuesday, investors have much to look forward to in stock news. All sorts of firms are reporting their Q2 earnings, including the intriguing high-end tools manufacturer Snap-On Inc (SNA).

Ride Snap-On Earnings in Equal Sector ETF SDOG

ALPS Barron's 400 ETF

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust

With more than half of 2023 in the books, advisors may want to take a broader look at their portfolios.

The Role Dividend ETF SDOG Can Play in a Portfolio

Dividends have stood out as a key investing theme over the last 12 months. Their ability to equip portfolios with consistent, current income initially stood out as a solution for expected volatility.

Get to Know These 3 Dividend Stocks in SDOG

Dividends took the lead among investing themes towards the end of 2022, but megacap tech growth has stolen the show. Whether via spikes for names like Nvidia (NVDA) or simply by growth for the S&P 500, tech has overshadowed dividends.

The Bull Case for High Dividend ETFs in SDOG

SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF

While fixed income ETFs remain popular with advisors, we sense a shift in sentiment. Now that the Federal Reserve has paused raising interest rates, many advisors are also looking to alternative income strategies.

Chart of the Week: Dividend ETFs Worthy of Attention

ETF analysis relies on many indicators and patterns, but there's one that offers a particular spin: the RSI indicator. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) measures the speed and magnitude of changes in an ETF's price.

This Equal-Weight Dividend ETF Is Almost Oversold

SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Value ETF

Dividends have been a hugely popular option over the last several months, with advisors and investors using current income to buoy their portfolios. Dividends aren't the only investing factor to have had a solid few months, as value has reemerged as a big dog among investment styles.

Avoid Value Trap in Value Dividend ETF SDOG

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Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund

This week, the VettaFi Voices gather around the water cooler and talk smart beta and equal weight ETFs.

VettaFi Voices On: Smart Beta and Equal-Weight ETFs

So far, dividends and current income have been a very popular theme in 2023. Income offers an added cushion for investors facing some chop, whether from the banking crisis or from the ins and outs of Fed watching.

Dividend Value ETF SDOG Sending Key Buy Signal

SDOG: ETF With A Simple And Sensible Strategy, But Average Result.

SDOG: ETF With A Simple And Sensible Strategy, But Average Result

When it comes to dividend investing, the names of the game are consistency, dependability and reliability. No, investors need not sacrifice yield to reach those attributes.

Cream of Dividend Crop Found in This ETF

Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF

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First Trust Nasdaq Artificial Intelligence & Robotics ETF

Invesco Alerian Galaxy Crypto Economy ETF

A decade ago, when the ROBO Global Robotics & Automation Index ETF (ROBO) launched, the U.S. thematic ETF market was nascent, with only a handful of products and minimal assets. However, at the end of 2021, there was approximately $130 billion in assets invested, per Global X.

Thematic Index Lineup Joins VettaFi and the Future Is Bright

SS&C ALPS Advisors has lowered the fees on its popular dividend value ETF. The ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (SDOG) reduced its expense ratio to 36 basis points from 40 basis points, effective April 1.

ALPS Cuts Fees on Dividend Value ETF ‘SDOG'

The ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (SDOG) is a solution for advisors looking to supplement fixed income yields in client portfolios. SDOG is a deep-value portfolio of high-yielding large-cap stocks.

Find Alternative Income With SDOG

OShares U.S. Quality Dividend ETF

Advisors can capture yield in client portfolios by layering the ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (SDOG), a deep value strategy, and the ALPS O'Shares U.S. Quality Dividend ETF (OUSA), a quality strategy.

Layer Deep Value and Quality to Capture Yield

The ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (SDOG) has maintained its S&P 500 outperformance over one- and three-year periods while offering an attractive dividend yield. SDOG is a deep-value portfolio of high-yielding large-cap stocks, which continues to be in favor as inflation remains elevated, resulting in cyclical sectors with pricing power maintaining their leadership.

SDOG Maintains S&P 500 Outperformance Over 1- and 3-Year Periods

SDOG is a subset of the S&P 500, which focuses on the high highest yielders in 10 of the 11 S&P sectors. It equal-weighting and focused portfolio make it a solid "know what you own" dividend ETF.

News for ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF ETF (SDOG)