This ETF Hogs Yield

In scanning the list of holdings, I see such things as an emerging-market debt fund, Pfizer (PFE), PetroChina (PTR) and Nationwide Health Properties (NHP). This is a very diverse mix indeed.

CVY's price-to-earnings ratio is 11.13, compared to 14.71 for DVY; its price-to-book of 1.68 is also lower than DVY's 2.62. I might take this data with a grain or two of salt because of some of the unusual holdings in CVY.

In addition, the betas are very similar: 0.87 for CVY and 0.85 for DVY. Finally, according to the Claymore literature, CVY's standard deviation (also a measure of volatility, where a lower number indicates less volatility) of 12.52 is slightly lower than DVY's 12.72.

For investors willing to include a dividend ETF in their large-cap allocation as a way of introducing yield, this fund has the potential of being a better mousetrap.

I would not, however, buy the Yield Hog just yet. In general, I like to give something a few months of trading to get a feel for what it will do on a day-to-day basis. At a minimum, this fund merits serious consideration.

At the time of publication, Nusbaum was long DVY as a client holding, although positions may change at any time.

Roger Nusbaum is a portfolio manager with Your Source Financial of Phoenix, Ariz., and the author of Random Roger's Big Picture Blog. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Nusbaum appreciates your feedback; click here to send him an email.

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