Data sourced from Dakota Marketplace, the global LP and GP intelligence platform trusted by thousands of investment professionals. Learn More | Book a Demo
Every quarter, institutional investment managers with $100 million or more in 13(f) securities report their holdings to the SEC (SEC Form 13F FAQ). The filings are public but not built for prospecting: each is one firm's list of issuer names, share counts and values, with no asset class tags and no quarter-over-quarter comparison. Finding which RIAs hold a given ETF means pulling filings firm by firm and doing the matching yourself.
Dakota Marketplace does that work for you. Its 13F tab holds 2,621,000+ holdings, including 938,000+ ETF positions, searchable by ticker, asset class and product structure, with Status fields that flag each position as New, Increased, Decreased or Sold-Out versus last quarter.
We used that data to find which US dividend ETFs the most RIAs actually own. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (VIG) leads with 149 RIAs for the quarter ending December 31, 2025, followed by Vanguard High Dividend Yield (VYM) at 107 and Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity (SCHD) at 105. Demand stayed strong through 2025: SCHD alone took in about $5.5 billion and First Trust Rising Dividend Achievers (RDVY) about $2.7 billion through mid-October (etf.com, October 2025).
In this article, we’ll rank the 10 dividend ETFs held by the most RIAs, show where the dollars concentrate, and break down what RIA dividend portfolios mean for managers selling income and equity strategies.
The Top 10 Dividend ETFs Held by RIAs
Ranked by the number of distinct RIAs reporting a position in 13F filings for the quarter ending December 31, 2025.
|
Rank
|
Ticker
|
ETF
|
Category
|
RIA holdings
|
|
1
|
VIG
|
Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF
|
Dividend growth
|
149
|
|
2
|
VYM
|
Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF
|
High yield
|
107
|
|
3
|
SCHD
|
Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF
|
Dividend quality
|
105
|
|
4
|
DVY
|
iShares Select Dividend ETF
|
High yield
|
69
|
|
5
|
DGRO
|
iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF
|
Dividend growth
|
57
|
|
6
|
SDY
|
SPDR S&P Dividend ETF
|
Dividend growth
|
52
|
|
7
|
RDVY
|
First Trust Rising Dividend Achievers ETF
|
Dividend growth
|
44
|
|
8
|
HDV
|
iShares Core High Dividend ETF
|
High yield
|
35
|
|
9
|
FVD
|
First Trust Value Line Dividend Index Fund
|
Dividend quality
|
33
|
|
10
|
DGRW
|
WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Fund
|
Dividend growth
|
32
|
Source: Dakota Marketplace 13F holdings data, quarter ending December 31, 2025
What the Ranking Shows
1. Three Funds Anchor the Category (VIG, VYM and SCHD)
VIG, VYM and SCHD are each held by more than 100 RIAs. No other dividend ETF reaches 70. Of the 195 RIAs holding at least one of the three, 114 hold two or more and 52 hold all three.
Each screens for something different. VIG looks for companies that have raised dividends for years, VYM for high current yield, and SCHD for high yield with quality filters. RIAs that hold more than one are combining income with growth or quality rather than picking a single approach. In total, 235 RIAs hold at least one US dividend ETF.
2. Dividend Growth Beats Dividend Yield (186 RIAs vs. 155)
Five of the top 10 funds focus on dividend growth: VIG, DGRO, SDY, RDVY and DGRW. Across the category, 186 RIAs hold a dividend growth ETF with $1.5B in holdings, compared with 155 RIAs and $760M in high yield dividend ETFs. 124 RIAs hold both.
RIAs put about twice as much money into companies that grow their dividends as into companies that simply pay the most today. Dividend growth reads as a quality signal, and that fits how most RIAs build a long-term equity core.
3. RIAs Build Dividend Sleeves, Not Single Positions (122 RIAs Hold Three or More)
Dividend ETFs are rarely a one-fund decision. 122 RIAs hold three or more dividend ETFs, and 69 hold five or more. Only 61 RIAs hold just one.
That layering creates room for new entrants. An RIA already running several dividend funds is evaluating strategies side by side, not looking for a single answer.
Want to see which RIAs in your territory hold these funds? Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace.
Breadth vs. Dollars: Where RIA Assets Concentrate
The ETFs held by the most RIAs are not always the ones holding the most RIA money. RIAs reported $3.2B in US dividend ETF holdings for the quarter ending December 31, 2025, and the top 10 funds account for $2.6B of it, about 82%.
|
Ticker
|
ETF
|
RIA holding
|
RIA holdings
|
|
VIG
|
Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF
|
149
|
$625M
|
|
SCHD
|
Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF
|
105
|
$580M
|
|
VYM
|
Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF
|
107
|
$478M
|
|
RDVY
|
First Trust Rising Dividend Achievers ETF
|
44
|
$257M
|
|
DGRO
|
iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF
|
57
|
$204M
|
|
DGRW
|
WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Fund
|
32
|
$201M
|
SCHD draws bigger tickets than VIG, averaging $5.5M per RIA against VIG’s $4.2M. DVY goes the other way: fourth by holders, but just $99M in holdings and an average position of $1.4M.
The largest average positions belong to newer or more selective funds. Capital Group Dividend Value (CGDV), the most popular dividend ETF of 2025 by inflows, is held by only 18 RIAs, but they average $8.7M each. DGRW averages $6.3M and RDVY $5.8M.
Source: Dakota Marketplace 13F holdings data, quarter ending December 31, 2025.
What This Means for Investment Firms Pitching RIAs
Most RIAs already own two or three dividend ETFs, which makes dividends a crowded but active category. Managers win by showing what their strategy adds to the sleeve.
-
Pitch against the core, not instead of it. An RIA holding VIG or SCHD is unlikely to sell it. Show how your strategy fits beside it: a different screen, a higher yield, mid and small cap dividend payers, or active stock selection.
-
Lead with dividend growth. 186 RIAs hold dividend growth ETFs, with twice the dollars of high yield funds. Growth and quality dividend strategies start with the larger and more committed audience.
-
Target the multi-fund builders. The 69 RIAs holding five or more dividend ETFs are actively comparing strategies. They are the most likely to make room for one more.
-
Use dividend holdings to find income buyers. An RIA with a large dividend sleeve is serving clients who want cash flow. That makes it a natural audience for option income, preferreds, private credit and other yield strategies too.
Turn 13F Holdings Into a Prospect List
Every number in this post came from the 13F tab in Dakota Marketplace. Members filter 2,621,000+ holdings by account name, investment strategy, ticker, asset class, sub-asset class, product structure, fund balance range and filing period, and switch between a By Investor and a By Fund view.
Seven new fields make the data faster to act on:
- Quarter-over-quarter change on any holding: Previous No. of Shares, Previous Quarter Value and Status (New, Increased, Decreased, Equal Shares or Sold-Out) show who is adding or trimming a position, with no filing to open and no math to do.
- ETF exposure on every account: ETF AUM, ETF AUM %, Active ETF AUM and Passive ETF AUM answer "does this RIA use ETFs, and how much?" right on the account page.
That gives investment firms three ways to build a sharper list:
-
Find who holds a competitor's fund. Search a ticker and pull every firm reporting it.
-
Spot momentum. Filter by Status to see which RIAs bought or added to a position last quarter, and which sold out.
-
Target real holdings, not stated mandates. An RIA that leans active in its ETF book is a very different conversation than one that runs almost entirely passive.
Members can now build and save their own 13F lists with Create a List and My Lists, then export any list to Excel to share or print.
Find the RIAs Behind the Holdings
Dakota Marketplace tracks 8,700+ RIAs and 48,300+ RIA contacts, with 13F holdings attached to each firm profile. Filter by ETF ticker or asset class held, by RIA AUM, by metro area, or by decision-maker title such as CIO or portfolio manager.
Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace to know what an RIA already owns before you pitch what it should add.
