Description

The fund of fund is passively managed to provide exposure to large- and midcap US dividend-paying stocks that are expected to continue to pay and grow their dividends. The fund employs a smart beta investment and rules-based proprietary index methodology, to provide investors with exposure to targeted strategic factors. The starting universe is composed of the largest 1,000 US stocks. Stocks are screened further based on their composite factor score based on dividend yield, payout ratio, and dividend growth. Size bias is removed by blending the composite score with a size factor. Within each sector, securities are selected based on the size-adjusted composite score. Between 60 to 100 stocks are selected, and groups with higher dividend yields are given more weight. The index is rebalanced annually.