Just how important are stock dividends? Over the long haul, these cash payouts have accounted for about 30% of overall U.S. market returns. In periods of poor performance, they’ve played an even larger role in overall market returns. For that reason, we set out to find the best exchange-traded funds that invest in dividend-paying stocks. As you’ll see, every dividend index fund has its own strategy. The funds are listed in alphabetical order. All returns and yields are through August 20.
Current yield: 3.3%
Assets: $802 million
Expense ratio: 0.40%
Top five holdings: Williams Cos., Windstream Holdings, Frontier Communications, Intel, Cablevision Systems-NY Group
