Pay Attention to Dividend Distribution Frequency!

My category is going to be pretty simple. I'm just going to look at dividend frequency and consistency. That alludes to the distribution schedule of each of these funds. I think while you don't necessarily need to live off your portfolio income if you own one of these funds, I think a lot of people are relying on their portfolio to deliver them predictable and consistent income.

If you look at a lot of the international equity funds that deliver dividends, most of them do it on a quarterly basis. A lot of these quarter-over-quarter distributions are really choppy and inconsistent. You may have a huge distribution one quarter, and a very slight one the next quarter. There's just not a lot of predictability to it.

IDVO, on the other hand, obviously it's a covered call strategy, so it works differently, but it delivers its distributions on a monthly basis. If you look historically at those distributions, they've been very steady. They've actually been increasing over time, so shareholders have gotten a nice pay raise over the last several years. I think for people who are relying on their portfolios for income, that's an important factor to consider.

So, just from a standpoint of income predictability and steadiness for income seekers, I think IDVO is the winner.