There was a time when dividend stocks were as popular with retail investors as any type of equity investing. In fact, after the twin wealth-destruction periods of 2000-2003 and 2007-2009, many bruised investors shied away from growthier names, barely wanting to touch stocks at all.
Fast-forward to 2025, and the script has clearly flipped. The largest U.S. dividend-focused ETF, the Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) has $70 billion in assets under management. That pales in comparison to scores of growth stock ETFs.
