Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 62

Screens Higher Yields, Hold the Risk By Bradley Kay Do dividend ETFs live up to their name? Use this screen to put them to the test. We have seen a proliferation of dividend ETFs in the past several years, offering the alluring promise of steady income from a low-risk stock investment. Unfortunately, as the markets collapsed at the end of last year, most of these income funds fell alongside them or even faster. Most of these funds had not found the magic stock screens that separate the high-yielding princes from the numerous distressed frogs. Investors saw their payments cut as companies slashed dividends, and they were left with no cushion against the precipitous fall in the fund price. But were there any dividend funds that succeeded where the others failed? For this screener, we decided to put them to the test along with the rest of the ETF universe and look for higher dividends that came with lower risk. The first thing we need to do is make sure that we are screening for stock funds. Bonds may provide a steady yield and low risk, but they have a return to match. Even ignoring the potential for capital gains, stock yields tend to grow over time along with the companies who pay them. Bonds offer a higher income now, but it will never grow to keep up with inflation. Plus, most equity dividends qualify for special tax treatment at a lower rate, while bond interest payments contribute to taxable income. To this end, we used an initial screen to make sure that we only looked through ETFs of domestic or international stocks. Special Criteria And ( % US Stocks Or % Non-US Stocks 5 ETFs > 50 > 50 ) Now we need to check on those dividends. Numerous factors can affect the 12-month yield for an ETF other than its current income generation. Many funds in our database could have high 12-month yields from holding previously high-yielding stocks such as General Electric GE or Bank of America BAC, having large outflows between dividend payouts in the last year, or from recently changing their payout schedule. None of these explanations would imply strong income for shareholders in the future. So we instead look at the SEC yield, which is a measure of how much the fund has been paid in dividends or interest income over just the past 30 days. This gives a good idea of what sort of yields the portfolio is still receiving today, even after a major round of dividend cuts, without distortions from logistical factors such as fund flows or payout dates. Because the stocks in the S&P 500 yielded 3.31% at the end of March, we decided to use that as the minimum for our screen. 62 Morningstar Advisor June/July 2009

Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009

Morningstar Advisr - June/July 2009
Contents
New on MorningstarAdvisor.com
Letter from the Editor
Contributors
Is SRI a Relevant Investment Strategy?
A Head for Numbers
Building a Business on SRI
Investment Briefs
The Liquidity Premium
Navigating the SRI Patchwork
Profit and Progress
How the Fed Contributes to Crises
Holding Steady
Appleseed Adds Value to SRI Formula
Four Picks for the Present
Long-Term Investors Can Find Value among Industrials
Higher Yields, Hold the Risk
Bargains in U.S. Industrials
Mutual Fund Analyst Picks
50 Most Popular Equity ETFs
Undervalued Stocks
Most Popular Variable Annuities
New at Morningstar
Talkin’ ‘bout a Revolution
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 47
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Morningstar Advisr - June/July 2009
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Cover2
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Contents
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 2
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 3
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - New on MorningstarAdvisor.com
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 5
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 6
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Letter from the Editor
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Contributors
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 9
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Is SRI a Relevant Investment Strategy?
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 11
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - A Head for Numbers
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 13
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 14
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Building a Business on SRI
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 16
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 17
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Investment Briefs
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 19
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 20
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 21
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 22
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - The Liquidity Premium
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 24
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 25
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 26
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 27
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 28
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 29
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Navigating the SRI Patchwork
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 31
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 32
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 33
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 34
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Profit and Progress
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 36
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 37
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 38
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 39
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - How the Fed Contributes to Crises
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 41
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 42
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 43
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 44
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 45
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 46
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 47
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Holding Steady
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 49
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 50
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 51
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Appleseed Adds Value to SRI Formula
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 53
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 54
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 55
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Four Picks for the Present
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 57
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Long-Term Investors Can Find Value among Industrials
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 59
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 60
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 61
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Higher Yields, Hold the Risk
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 63
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Bargains in U.S. Industrials
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 65
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Mutual Fund Analyst Picks
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 67
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 68
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 69
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 50 Most Popular Equity ETFs
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 71
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Undervalued Stocks
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 73
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 74
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 75
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Most Popular Variable Annuities
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 77
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - 78
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - New at Morningstar
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Talkin’ ‘bout a Revolution
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Cover3
Morningstar Advisor - June/July 2009 - Cover4
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