Introduction
BlackRock's (NYSE:BLK) iShares Select Dividend ETF (XNAS:DVY) is a roughly $19 billion fund that seeks to track the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index, which is composed of relatively high dividend-paying U.S. equities. As of Nov. 30, 2019, the 30-day SEC yield was 3.56%, which is significantly higher than the paltry sub-2% S&P 500 average (1.77%) and the 2.09% yield of the Dow Jones Industrial average. Of course, high yields themselves are no special predictor of high returns, and can even be a hindrance to underlying earnings and dividend growth.