
TSE:VDY
ETFs that focus on the dividend growers will concentrate on companies with really strong fundamentals such as ROE, free cashflow, and long-term history of raising dividends during ups as well as downs. The high payers will probably look at market capitalization and what's paying the highest dividend. Less concerned about quality.
This question precludes ETFs with covered call writing, as those are capital gains distributions rather than dividends.
VDY tracks performance of Canadian companies with high dividends. MER is about 0.22, yield is ~4-5%. Doesn't prioritize dividend growth.
Conversely, XDIV looks at dividend growers and their dividend sustainability and growth metrics. Concerned with growth of future dividends. MER is 0.10. Dividend yield is lower, about 4%.
When you go for high-dividend payers in Canada you get the banks, insurance companies, pipelines, and some of the energy names. Yield will be a bit over 4%. A nice way to play.
Vanguard, iShares, and BMO all have offerings, but they all do it slightly differently. BMO has a covered call version, ZWC. There's ZDV, XDV, VDY. Take a look at them all and see what you like. All have different weights to the components. They're all equally good.
He likes XEI and VDY. Both pay ~5% yield. VDY is about 45% Canadian banks. XEI is a bit more diversified, with 23% Canadian banks as its top weighting.
For income, he prefers these to a covered call strategy. Though the covered call strategies look very attractive, they tend to underperform the underlying securities, especially in a rising equity market. Great if you need the income, but you'll get a better total return with the other.
Basket of high-dividend-paying stocks. Very heavy in Canadian banks, about 46%. Depending on your outlook for the banks, you need to decide if this holding makes sense for you. Choose this one if you're looking for yield. Yield is about 3.3%.
XIC will be much more diversified, as its focus is not juicy dividends. Dividend is lower. Banks make up only 21%. Yield is ~2.3%.