Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG 0.68%) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at VIG and see what CAPS investors are saying about the ETF right now.

VIG facts

Inception

April 2006 

Total Net Assets

$12.4 billion

Investment Approach

Seeks to track the performance of the Dividend Achievers Select Index, which consists of common stocks of companies that have a record of increasing dividends over time.

Expense Ratio

0.13%

1-Year / 3-year / 5-Year Annualized Returns

13.4% / 11% / 4.7%

Dividend Yield

2.4%

Alternatives

iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index (NYSEMKT: DYY)
Vanguard High Dividend Yield Index ETF
(DVY 0.49%)
WisdomTree LargeCap Dividend
(DLN 0.43%)

Sources: Morningstar and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 95% of the 277 members who have rated VIG believe the ETF will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just last week, one of those Fools, All-Star rd80, tapped VIG as a particularly solid total-return opportunity:

Dividend growth stocks are my favorite type of investment. VIG offers an ETF full of them along with Vanguard's famous low fees. If I wasn't interested in owning individual stocks, this fund would probably be a core holding. Expect this to outperform in a soft market, but may lag in a strong up market.

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