Which is cheaper, SDVD or VAIE?

SDVD charges 0.85% a year and VAIE charges 0.74%, so VAIE is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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SDVD vs VAIE: Dividend Yield & Total Return

SDVD and VAIE both write options for income. Net assets: $886m on Oct 20, 2026 for FT Vest SMID Rising Dividend Achievers Target Income ETF, and $67m on Oct 19, 2026 for VegaShares US Equity Autocallable Income ETF.

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Answers cite the figures on this page.

VAIE costs 0.11 points a year less; SDVD is 13.2 times larger.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

SDVD vs VAIE: Dividend Yield & Total Return
	SDVD	VAIE
Expense ratio	0.85%	0.74%
Net assets, as of Oct 19, 2026	$877m	$67m
Total return, 1 year	+14.9%	not published
Benchmark	First Trust SMID Cap Rising Dividend Achievers ETF, measured through SDVY	not published
Holdings in common	not published
Against its benchmark, same days	ahead by 2.0 pts
Price change	rose 5.0% (1 year)	fell 3.6% (since May 12, 2026)

9.5%

SDVD cash paid, 1 year

6.8%

VAIE cash paid, since launch, May 12, 2026

+14.9%

SDVD total return, 1 year

+3.3%

VAIE total return, since launch, May 12, 2026

SDVD · 1 year to Oct 20, 20262 pts ahead of SDVY

SDVD

+14.9%

SDVY

+12.9%

2 pts ahead of SDVY

SDVD over 1 year: paid 9.5%, price +5.0%, total +14.9%, SDVY +12.9%, +2.0 pts. Figures to Oct 20, 2026.

SDVY

+12.9%

SDVD

+14.9%

9.5% of it arrived as cash

2 pts ahead of SDVY

Total return, distributions reinvested

2 pts ahead of SDVY

SDVD over 1 year: paid 9.5%, price +5.0%, total +14.9%, SDVY +12.9%, +2.0 pts. Figures to Oct 20, 2026.

SDVY

+12.9%

SDVD

+14.9%

9.5% as cash

2 pts ahead of SDVY

9.5% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. SDVD over 1 year: paid 9.5%, price +5.0%, total +14.9%, SDVY +12.9%, +2.0 pts. Figures to Oct 20, 2026.

Figures to Oct 20, 2026.

VAIE · since launch to Oct 20, 2026Not measured

VAIE

+3.3%

none

Not measured

VAIE since launch: paid 6.8%, price −3.6%, total +3.3%, not measured against a benchmark. Figures to Oct 20, 2026.

VAIE

+3.3%

6.8% as cash

Total return, distributions reinvested

Not measured

VAIE since launch: paid 6.8%, price −3.6%, total +3.3%, not measured against a benchmark. Figures to Oct 20, 2026.

VAIE

+3.3%

6.8% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, with zero at the line. VAIE since launch: paid 6.8%, price −3.6%, total +3.3%, not measured against a benchmark. Figures to Oct 20, 2026.

Figures to Oct 20, 2026.

Performance, window by window

Performance, window by window: SDVD vs VAIE: Dividend Yield & Total Return
	Total return		Cash paid		Against the benchmark
Window	SDVD	VAIE	SDVD	VAIE	SDVD	VAIE
3 months	−1.6%	+2.5%	1.4%	4.1%	+1.1 pts	not measured
6 months	+0.8%	–	3.5%	–	+1.1 pts	–
1 year	+14.9%	–	9.5%	–	+2.0 pts	–
3 years	+64.1%	–	32.5%	–	+1.2 pts	–
Since launch Not the same days: SDVD Aug 2023 · VAIE May 2026	+49.4%	+3.3%	30.5%	6.8%	+2.3 pts	not measured

Source: ETFIQ. – means no data for this window, usually because the fund is younger than it. Open this comparison in the app →

On the same fields

SDVD

FT Vest SMID Rising Dividend Achievers Target Income ETF · Writes calls on the Russell 2000, investing in the Nasdaq US Small-Mid Cap Rising Dividend Achievers Index, paying monthly

VAIE

VegaShares US Equity Autocallable Income ETF · Autocallable, paying weekly

Issuer First Trust VegaShares

Strategy dividend stocks with call overlay autocallable

Benchmark First Trust SMID Cap Rising Dividend Achievers ETF (SDVY) none

Pays monthly weekly

Payout rate, annualized 8.4% 16.8%

Expense ratio 0.85% 0.74%

Cash paid, 1 year 9.5% 6.8% (since launch, May 12, 2026)

Price change, 1 year +5.0% −3.6% (since launch, May 12, 2026)

Total return, 1 year +14.9% +3.3% (since launch, May 12, 2026)

Benchmark return, 1 year +12.9% not published

Ahead or behind +2.0 pts not available

Return of capital, latest estimate not published not published

Age 3.2 years 161 days

Net assets, SDVD as of Oct 20, 2026 and VAIE as of Oct 19, 2026 $886m $67m

As of Oct 20, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid is what the fund distributed over the window, as a share of its price at the start. Payout rate is its latest payment, annualized, over today’s price.

About SDVD

Over the year to Oct 20, 2026, SDVD paid 9.5% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 5.0%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +14.9%. First Trust SMID Cap Rising Dividend Achievers ETF (SDVY) returned +12.9% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 2.0 pts. At its price on Oct 20, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 8.4%, paid monthly.

About VAIE

Over the period from its first trade on May 12, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, VAIE paid 6.8% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 3.6%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +3.3%. At its price on Oct 20, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 16.8%, paid weekly.

Questions people ask

Which is cheaper, SDVD or VAIE?: SDVD charges 0.85% a year and VAIE charges 0.74%, so VAIE is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

SDVD vs YLDE SDVD vs SIOO SDVD vs DJIA SDVD vs FEPI VAIE vs FEPI VAIE vs DJIA VAIE vs YLDE VAIE vs MAGY

First Trust SMID Cap Rising Dividend Achievers ETF (SDVY) →All income ETFs ranked by the Distribution Coverage Score →How the scores are computed →SDVD on its own →VAIE on its own →SDVD dividend history →SDVD holdings →VAIE dividend history →How every figure is computed →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

SDVD filings on SEC EDGAR ↗SDVD prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗First Trust page for SDVD ↗VAIE filings on SEC EDGAR ↗VAIE prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗VegaShares page for VAIE ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, SDVD against VAIE, data as of Oct 20, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/sdvd-vs-vaie

Open data

Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.