S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats
Financial index / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats is a stock market index composed of the companies in the S&P 500 index that have increased their dividends in each of the past 25 consecutive years. It was launched in May 2005.[1]
There are other indexes of dividend aristocrats that vary with respect to market cap and minimum duration of consecutive yearly dividend increases.
Components are added when they reach the 25-year threshold and are removed when they fail to increase their dividend during a calendar year or are removed from the S&P 500. However, a study found that the stock performance of companies improves after they are removed from the index.[2]
The index has been recommended as an alternative to bonds for investors looking to generate income.[3]
To invest in the index, there are several exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which seek to replicate the performance of the index. One example would be NOBL by ProShares, which is traded in BATS.[4]