VIG vs NOBL: Two Dividend Growth ETFs, Very Different Rulebooks

VIG is the kind of fund that whispers low fees in your ear while the others shout their prices. NOBL, meanwhile, prances around with a parade of blue-chip names, all polished and predictable.

Both chase dividend growers, but VIG is a wide-eyed optimist with a tech obsession, while NOBL is a grizzled veteran who only trusts names that have survived 25 years of rain and war.

Snapshot (cost & size)

Metric NOBL VIG
Issuer ProShares Vanguard
Expense ratio 0.35% 0.05%
1-yr return (as of Dec. 12, 2025) 3.05% 12.73%
Dividend yield 2.04% 1.59%
Beta 0.77 0.79
AUM $11.3 billion $120.4 billion

The numbers don’t lie. VIG is a penny pincher’s dream, while NOBL’s fee is a tax on its own pretensions.

Performance & risk comparison

Metric NOBL VIG
Max drawdown (5 y) (17.92%) (20.39%)
Growth of $1,000 over 5 years $1,319 $1,557

What’s inside

VIG is a sprawling estate of 338 names, its wealth concentrated in tech, finance, and healthcare. Top dogs like Apple and Microsoft loom large, their dividends as reliable as a bullet in the chamber.

NOBL is a tighter, more disciplined fortress. Its 70 holdings are equally weighted, a chessboard of industrials and consumer staples. No single name dominates, but the whole feels like a well-armed guard dog.

What this means for investors

Dividend funds are like bad marriages-seemingly alike until the first fight. VIG’s broad strokes favor the market’s titans, while NOBL’s narrow focus clings to the past, its rules as rigid as a prison cell.

Costs matter. VIG’s fee is a whisper in your ear. NOBL’s is a shout from a crowded room. The difference isn’t just money-it’s strategy, philosophy, and the weight of time.

For an activist, the choice is clear. VIG is the future, a fund that grows with the market. NOBL is a relic, clinging to a past that may not return. But then, not all investors want to chase the future.

Glossary

Expense ratio: The annual fee, as a percentage of assets, that a fund charges its investors.
Dividend yield: Annual dividends paid by a fund or stock divided by its current price, expressed as a percentage.
Total return: The investment’s price change plus all dividends and distributions, assuming those payouts are reinvested.
Beta: A measure of an investment’s volatility compared to the overall market, typically the S&P 500.
Max drawdown: The largest percentage drop from a fund’s peak value to its lowest point over a specific period.
AUM (Assets Under Management): The total market value of all assets managed by a fund.
Equal-weighted: A portfolio strategy where each holding has the same allocation, regardless of company size.
Defensive tilt: A portfolio emphasis on sectors or stocks considered less sensitive to economic downturns.
Full replication: An index fund strategy that holds all securities in the benchmark index in the same proportions.
Dividend growth: The consistent increase of dividend payments by a company over time.
Sector weights: The percentage of a fund’s assets allocated to each industry sector.
Constituents: The individual stocks or securities that make up an index or fund.

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2025-12-30 22:57