With $100 billion in assets, the Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) is widely recommended by financial advisors as a conservative, dividend-focused ETF. Now, a newly launched ETF aims to mirror the SCHD portfolio while doubling the yield through option trading – the YieldMax US Stocks Target Double Distribution ETF (DDDD), notes Tim Plaehn, editor of The Dividend Hunter.
Both human and AI advisors will have SCHD near the top of their lists of recommended ETFs. The SCHD goal is to track, as closely as possible, the total return of the Dow Jones US Dividend 100 Index before fees and expenses. The index focuses on quality, sustainable dividends. Stocks are selected for fundamental strength based on financial ratios.
YieldMax US Stocks Target Double Distribution ETF (DDDD)
In March 2026, YieldMax ETFs launched DDDD, designed to double SCHD’s distribution yield. DDDD owns shares also to match the Dow Jones US Dividend 100 Index. YieldMax adds an actively managed overlay to sell call option credit spreads on select stocks in the index. The top 10 DDDD holdings almost exactly match the top 10 in the SCHD.
DDDD will also pay quarterly dividends. However, the options trading boosts the distribution yield to 6.3%. Trading options increases expenses, and DDDD has a 1.01% expense ratio.
It is too soon to tell. But it will be interesting to see if DDDD can match SCHD’s share price returns and add an extra 3% yield on top.
