Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG)
$241.77−0.12%close of Oct 16, 2026
Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) run by Vanguard. This fund owns shares of about 330 large US companies that keep raising their dividends. It charges 0.04% a year. From May 2006 to October 2026 it returned about 10.2% a year, and its worst drop was −46.8%.
Written by the Tactfolio research team. Fund facts checked October 17, 2026. Prices through October 16, 2026.
- Yearly fee
- 0.04%
- about $4 on $10,000
- 1-year return
- 14.2%
- to Oct 16, 2026
- Return per year
- 10.2%
- since May 2006
- Worst drop
- −46.8%
- since 2006
- Below its high
- −1.6%
- now
- Volatility
- 16.9%
- yearly swings
- Issuer
- Vanguard
- Tracks
- S&P U.S. Dividend Growers Index
- Started trading
- April 21, 2006
- Type
- US stocks, ETF
- Holdings
- 333 holdings as of September 30, 2026
- Expense ratio
- 0.04% a year
How has VIG done since 2006?#
From May 2006 to October 2026, VIG returned about 10.2% a year. The S&P 500 returned about 11.0% a year over the same dates. Say you put in $10,000 at the start. It would have been worth about $72,375 at the end, with every dividend reinvested.
| Period | VIG | S&P 500 (SPY) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 month | 3.0% | 1.5% |
| 3 months | 1.5% | 1.9% |
| 6 months | 8.4% | 9.3% |
| Year to date | 11.3% | 12.8% |
| 1 year | 14.2% | 16.8% |
| 3 years per year | 17.4% | 22.0% |
| 5 years per year | 10.6% | 12.8% |
| 10 years per year | 13.5% | 15.4% |
| Since 2006 per year | 10.2% | 11.0% |
Periods longer than a year show the return per year (CAGR). Prices through October 16, 2026. Figures use daily closing prices adjusted for splits, with dividends reinvested. They do not include taxes or the cost of buying and selling. Past results do not tell you what will happen next.
VIG returns by month and year#
VIG rose in 164 of its 246 months (67%). Its best month was November 2020, at 10.0%. Its worst was October 2008, at −14.1%.
| Year | Total | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 11.3% | 1.9 | 1.6 | −5.2 | 6.4 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.2 | −3.2 | 3.6 | ||
| 2025 | 14.2% | 3.3 | 0.5 | −4.0 | −1.5 | 3.6 | 3.9 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 2.7 | 0.6 | 2.6 | −0.9 |
| 2024 | 17.0% | 1.2 | 3.4 | 2.8 | −4.1 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 4.0 | 3.3 | 1.4 | −1.9 | 5.4 | −3.9 |
| 2023 | 14.5% | 2.9 | −2.7 | 1.9 | 2.3 | −2.7 | 6.5 | 2.4 | −1.9 | −4.3 | −1.5 | 7.5 | 4.1 |
| 2022 | −9.8% | −5.3 | −2.8 | 3.0 | −5.1 | −0.1 | −6.2 | 6.8 | −3.4 | −8.2 | 10.0 | 6.8 | −3.7 |
| 2021 | 23.8% | −2.9 | 1.6 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 1.8 | −0.1 | 3.2 | 1.7 | −5.0 | 6.9 | −1.4 | 6.5 |
| 2020 | 15.4% | 0.6 | −8.3 | −9.6 | 9.9 | 3.6 | 0.1 | 5.0 | 6.2 | −1.0 | −2.3 | 10.0 | 2.5 |
| 2019 | 29.6% | 6.3 | 4.6 | 1.1 | 3.7 | −4.6 | 6.6 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 2.5 | 2.2 |
| 2018 | −2.1% | 5.0 | −4.0 | −1.3 | −0.9 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 4.7 | 2.8 | 1.7 | −6.4 | 4.1 | −8.7 |
| 2017 | 22.2% | 1.8 | 4.3 | −0.1 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 0.7 | −0.4 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 4.5 | 1.4 |
| 2016 | 12.0% | −2.3 | 1.1 | 6.3 | −0.3 | 1.0 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 0.0 | −1.0 | −1.9 | 3.0 | 1.2 |
| 2015 | −1.9% | −3.4 | 5.6 | −2.3 | −0.2 | 1.0 | −2.5 | 2.2 | −5.9 | −1.8 | 6.7 | 0.3 | −0.9 |
| 2014 | 10.1% | −5.0 | 4.9 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 1.5 | −3.3 | 3.7 | −1.0 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 0.1 |
| 2013 | 28.9% | 5.9 | 1.2 | 3.4 | 1.7 | 1.2 | −1.5 | 5.4 | −3.6 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 2.3 | 2.0 |
| 2012 | 11.7% | 2.6 | 2.8 | 2.1 | −0.3 | −4.4 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 1.9 | −1.3 | 1.4 | 0.5 |
| 2011 | 6.2% | 1.4 | 3.4 | 1.1 | 3.5 | −1.3 | −0.8 | −3.5 | −3.2 | −6.2 | 9.6 | 1.9 | 1.0 |
| 2010 | 14.7% | −2.3 | 2.4 | 4.6 | 2.2 | −7.2 | −4.3 | 6.4 | −3.4 | 8.3 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 5.4 |
| 2009 | 19.6% | −7.6 | −10.5 | 7.0 | 7.3 | 5.0 | 0.5 | 6.6 | 2.4 | 3.2 | −0.4 | 5.8 | 0.7 |
| 2008 | −26.7% | −5.3 | −1.5 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 0.3 | −7.9 | 1.1 | 2.1 | −6.7 | −14.1 | −2.5 | 0.9 |
| 2007 | 5.6% | 1.6 | −1.7 | 0.3 | 4.4 | 2.5 | −1.6 | −2.5 | 2.3 | 3.4 | −0.3 | −2.0 | −0.5 |
| 2006 | 8.4% | −1.5 | −0.2 | 0.2 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 0.8 | 1.6 |
Each month runs from the last close of the month before. The first month counts from the first close.
How risky is VIG compared with the S&P 500?#
Measured from October 2021 to October 2026, on the days both traded.
- Beta 0.77. When the S&P 500 moved 1% in a day, VIG tended to move about 0.77%.
- Correlation 0.93. VIG mostly moved with the S&P 500.
- Up and down months. In months the S&P 500 rose, VIG rose 84% as much on average. In months it fell, VIG fell 86% as much.
| Measure | VIG | S&P 500 (SPY) |
|---|---|---|
| Return per year | 10.6% | 12.8% |
| Volatility | 14.1% | 17.1% |
| Worst drop | −20.4% | −24.5% |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.79 | 0.79 |
| Sortino ratio | 1.14 | 1.15 |
| Calmar ratio | 0.52 | 0.52 |
Volatility is how much the price swings in a year. The Sharpe ratio is return per unit of volatility, the Sortino ratio counts only the falls, and the Calmar ratio is the return per year over the worst drop. Higher ratios mean more return for the risk taken.
Is VIG above its 200-day average?#
VIG closed 5.2% above its 200-day average on October 16, 2026. A rule that holds VIG only above that average would hold it today.
- vs 200-day average
- +5.2%
- above it
- 50-day vs 200-day
- +4.3%
- trend rising
- vs 52-week high
- −1.6%
- high of $245.64
A moving average is the average close over the last so many days. Trend rules such as the 10-month moving average strategy hold a fund only while it is above one. You can build that rule for VIG and backtest it in a minute.
What was VIG’s worst drop?#
A drawdown is how far a fund falls from its last high point. VIG’s worst fall was −46.8%, from October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009. It got back to that high on February 16, 2011. On October 16, 2026 it was 1.6% below its highest close.
| Drop | From the high | To the bottom | Back to the high |
|---|---|---|---|
| −46.8% | Oct 9, 2007 | Mar 9, 200917 months | Feb 16, 201123 months |
| −31.7% | Feb 14, 2020 | Mar 23, 202038 days | Aug 26, 20205 months |
| −20.4% | Jan 4, 2022 | Sep 30, 20229 months | Dec 11, 202314 months |
| −17.3% | Sep 21, 2018 | Dec 24, 20183 months | Apr 5, 20193 months |
| −17.0% | Jul 7, 2011 | Oct 3, 20113 months | Feb 3, 20124 months |
Big drops are normal for some funds. They matter because selling during a drop locks in the loss.
What does VIG hold?#
This fund owns shares of about 330 large US companies that keep raising their dividends. A dividend is cash a company pays to its owners. The fund still rises and falls with the stock market, and companies can cut dividends.
It tracks the S&P U.S. Dividend Growers Index. It had 333 holdings as of September 30, 2026, according to Vanguard.
What is the VIG expense ratio?#
VIG charges 0.04% a year. An expense ratio is the yearly fee a fund takes to run itself. On $10,000, a 0.04% fee comes to about $4 a year. Of the 162 ETFs on Tactfolio, 80% charge more.
You never get a bill for it. The fund takes the fee out of its own value a little each day.
Which Tactfolio strategies hold VIG?#
No classic strategy holds VIG yet. You can add it to your own rules in the builder and see how they would have done.
How does VIG compare with similar ETFs?#
Funds that can stand in for VIG:
- DGRO: iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF, 0.08% a year
- DGRW: WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Fund, 0.28% a year
- NOBL: ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF, 0.35% a year
- VYM: Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF, 0.04% a year
See all 8 VIG alternatives, compared on the same dates as VIG.
Test VIG in your own rules#
Tactfolio is a platform where you build rules-based investing strategies, backtest them on decades of real prices, share them, and run them automatically in your own Alpaca account. Open the builder, add VIG, and see how a rule such as “hold it only above its 200-day average” would have done. Strategies run on daily prices and hold US stocks and ETFs only.
The details#
Prices come from Tactfolio’s stored daily prices for VIG and SPY. Each close is adjusted for splits, and dividends are reinvested on the day the fund pays them out. CAGR is the steady yearly return that turns the starting value into the ending value. Volatility is the yearly standard deviation of daily returns. Beta and correlation compare daily returns with the S&P 500 over the same dates.
Fund facts come from Vanguard. We checked them on October 17, 2026. Read what a backtest simulates and how to read drawdown and CAGR for more on these measures.
Common questions#
What is the expense ratio of VIG?#
VIG charges 0.04% a year, according to Vanguard as of October 17, 2026. That is about $4 a year for every $10,000 you hold.
When did VIG start trading?#
VIG started trading on April 21, 2006. It is run by Vanguard.
What does VIG track?#
VIG tracks the S&P U.S. Dividend Growers Index. This fund owns shares of about 330 large US companies that keep raising their dividends.
How much has VIG returned per year?#
From May 2006 to October 2026, VIG returned about 10.2% a year with dividends reinvested. Its worst drop was −46.8%. Past returns do not tell you what it will do next.
Is VIG above its 200-day moving average?#
On October 16, 2026, VIG closed 5.2% above its 200-day moving average. This page updates after each US market close.
Which strategies use VIG?#
None of Tactfolio’s classic strategies hold VIG yet. You can test it in your own rules in the builder.