10 dividend ETFs that beat the S&P 500 in February

• Friday's market close finished out the month of trading for February. The S&P 500 finished up 2.91% for the month.
• A lot of talk has been about Thursday's selloff of the bond market and the uncertainty around financial markets. That overshadowed the performance of large, dividend-based ETFs.
• All 10 of the exchange traded funds below have at least $1B under management, and all outperformed the S&P 500 for February. See below a list of the outpacing funds, which include their dividend rate and frequency.
• #1. SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF (NYSEARCA:SPYD), February return: 9.39% and $1.63 quarterly dividend rate.
• #2. WisdomTree SmallCap Dividend ETF (NYSEARCA:DES), February return: 7.98% and $0.67 monthly dividend rate.
• #3. First Trust Rising Dividend Achievers ETF (NASDAQ:RDVY), February return: 7.95% and $0.61 quarterly dividend rate.
• #4. iShares Select Dividend ETF (NASDAQ:DVY), February return: 7.91% and $3.52 quarterly dividend rate.
• #5. Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (NYSEARCA:SDOG), February return: 7.10% and $1.62 quarterly dividend rate.
• #6. WisdomTree MidCap Dividend ETF (NYSEARCA:DON), February return: 7.08% and $0.89 monthly dividend rate.
• #7. ALPS Alerian MLP ETF (NYSEARCA:AMLP), February return: 5.64% and $2.72 quarterly dividend rate.
• #8. Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:SCHD), February return: 5.43% and $2.03 quarterly dividend rate.
• #9. SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (NYSEARCA:SDY), February return: 4.53% and $3.02 quarterly dividend rate.
• #10. First Trust Morningstar Dividend Leaders Index ETF (NYSEARCA:FDL), 4.37% and $1.33 quarterly dividend rate.

• The dividend-investing community tends to focus its attention on dividend-related stocks, but exchange traded funds can offer a balanced, diverse market approach as well.
• Check out the chart below on how these dividend funds outperformed against the S&P 500 this month.

• Investors interested in learning more about the outlook for dividends in 2021 should check out the Janus Henderson report. The report outlines a worst-case scenario of dividends falling 2%, and a best-case scenario of dividends up 5% on a headline basis.