SCHY Just Paid Its Largest Dividend Ever: International Twin Yields 6.3%

The Schwab International Dividend Equity ETF (SCHY) distributed $0.36 per share in its latest quarter, the largest payout in the fund's history. The payment lifts the trailing yield to about 6.3%, above the yield of its better-known U.S. counterpart, SCHD.

The two funds share the same methodology. Schwab built SCHY on the Dow Jones International Dividend 100 Index, screening for consistent payers with stable distributions and weighting by yield within quality guardrails. The same architecture turned SCHD into one of the country's largest dividend ETFs. SCHY holds about $2.27 billion in net assets, a fraction of SCHD's haul.

International dividend funds have outperformed their U.S. peers over the past year. SCHY has gained 25%. The iShares International Select Dividend ETF (IDV) has returned 29%, and the Vanguard International High Dividend Yield ETF (VYMI) has advanced 31%. Payout ratios in Europe, Japan, and Australia have historically run higher than in the U.S., where buybacks absorb a larger share of shareholder returns. The gap widened after several years of dollar weakness and rising profitability at European banks.

SCHY's top positions include BHP Group, TotalEnergies, and Eni at roughly 5% each. Allianz, Deutsche Post, British American Tobacco, and Roche carry weightings above 3.5%. The geographic mix runs across France, Germany, the UK, Australia, Switzerland, and Italy, with smaller sleeves in Japan and Singapore. The methodology creates a tradeoff: it tilts the portfolio toward mature European and Australian names. Energy and financials dominate, with consumer staples close behind. Growth-oriented shareholders will find little here.

IDV takes a different approach. It ranks developed-market companies by current yield rather than dividend consistency. The fund holds about 100 names: European financials, UK integrated oils, Australian miners, and utility operators. The design drives both yield and volatility. IDV's trailing twelve-month distribution of $2.28 against a share price near $42 works out to a yield above 5%. The June 2026 distribution alone was a substantial payment, reflecting the seasonal European dividend calendar. The fund's expense ratio is 0.50%, higher than the Schwab and Vanguard alternatives. Distributions swing sharply from quarter to quarter, from $0.20 in March 2026 to $1.10 in June 2026. The fund suits investors who care more about annual income totals than a smooth monthly paycheck. IDV has returned 166% on a total-return basis over ten years, benefiting recently from a rerating in European bank stocks.

VYMI casts the widest net. It tracks the FTSE All-World ex-US High Dividend Yield Index and holds well over 1,300 stocks across developed and emerging markets, including small-cap payers that the Schwab and iShares products exclude. The expense ratio is 0.07%, the lowest on the list. The trailing distribution of $3.60 against a share price near $104 produces a yield of around 3.5%. No single holding dominates the portfolio. About a fifth of VYMI's assets sit in emerging markets, with Taiwanese semiconductor firms and Chinese banks the largest slices, and Brazilian energy names mixed in. Currency and political risk come with that sleeve. In exchange, it captures dividend payers that appear in almost no other U.S.-listed fund.

For an income investor who wants the closest methodological cousin to SCHD, SCHY is the match: the same 0.09% fee and a higher current payout. IDV suits someone whose primary metric is annual dividend dollars and who can tolerate lumpy quarterly payments. VYMI fits the investor building a single international sleeve inside a total market portfolio, trading some yield for breadth and emerging-market exposure.