4-Factor Dividend Growth Strategy outperforms SCHD with 16.94% average annual returns since inception.

The 4-Factor Dividend Growth Strategy, inspired by the Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD), targets high-quality dividend stocks using four specific metrics. Since its inception, it has delivered an average 12-month return of 16.94%, outperforming SCHD by 5.21% over completed cycles. Despite SCHD's strong rally in 2026 narrowing the performance gap, the 4-Factor portfolio maintains a slight annualized alpha of 0.26% and exceeds its 12% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) target. A simplified ROC/PEG variant is currently being tested, but the original strategy remains more resilient in early trials.