Rules-based dividend strategy
Dividend income from 50 companies chosen to keep paying
The Trefis Income Solution holds 50 US dividend payers, chosen and weighted by the same written rules at every rebuild. It starts from the recipe behind the best-known dividend index funds and refines it where income investors feel it most: dividend cuts, taxes, balance sheets and falling markets.
3xthe S&P 500’s dividend yield. The portfolio yields 3.1%, against about 1.0% for the S&P 500. How we measure it
- 50 companies
- At least 3% portfolio yield at every rebuild
- No company above 5%, no sector above 30%
- Rebuilt about every 13 months
What you getA free 15-minute discussion with our local Boston-based partner investment firmA free discussion with our partner advisory firm, Aksala Wealth Advisors2, about the Income Solution and how much of your portfolio should be in income.Join >$500 million in assets1There is no obligation to invest. Nothing changes in your portfolio unless you decide.
Glenn Caldicott, CIO, Empirical Asset ManagementOur Boston-based partner firm, which oversees more than $500 million in assets.
Evan Guido, CEO, Aksala Wealth AdvisorsOur partner advisory firm, which oversees more than $500 million in assets.
Trefis featured in
How it differs
The classic dividend-index recipe, refined for income investors
SCHD and DGRO are two of the most widely held dividend funds. The Income Solution uses the same building blocks, a long dividend record, quality measures and capped weights, and changes the parts that matter most to someone living on the income.
Dividend record and cutsA cut screen that reads the regular payment rate, not just the payment history
Trefis Income Solution10 straight years of dividends, plus a cut screen that reads the regular payment rate, so a missed special dividend or a change in payment schedule is not mistaken for a cut, and a real cut is not missed
SCHD10 consecutive years of dividends
DGRO5 consecutive years of dividend increases
Taxable accountsBuilt for taxable accounts: no REITs, MLPs or BDCs
Trefis Income SolutionA version built for taxable accounts: no REITs and no pass-through structures such as MLPs and BDCs, whose payouts are mostly not qualified dividends and can bring K-1 tax forms. A separate version serves IRAs and other tax-deferred accounts
SCHDOne portfolio for every account type; REITs excluded
DGROOne portfolio for every account type
Quality and cash flowSeven quality and cash-flow measures, not four
Trefis Income SolutionA seven-measure rank: return on equity capped at 40%, so equity shrunk by buybacks cannot dominate; free cash flow to debt, with debt-free companies scored correctly; cash as a share of assets; dividend yield; 5-year dividend growth
SCHDRanks on cash flow to debt, return on equity, dividend yield and 5-year dividend growth
DGROScreens on payout ratio and earnings growth; weights by dividends paid
Falling marketsFavors companies that held up when the S&P 500 fell
Trefis Income SolutionNearly a quarter of the rank rewards companies that fell less than the S&P 500 in its down months over the past year, and whose prices swing less day to day
SCHDNot part of the rules
DGRONot part of the rules
Which companies qualifyUS-based businesses only; heavily shorted companies left out
Trefis Income SolutionA US-company screen that looks at where a business is actually based, not only where its shares trade; size and trading minimums; the 10% most heavily shorted companies are left out, and a holding that becomes heavily shorted is sold
SCHDUS stocks above size and trading minimums
DGROUS stocks with a record of dividend growth
YieldA portfolio yield of at least 3% at every rebuild
Trefis Income SolutionYield in the top half of eligible payers, and a portfolio yield of at least 3% at every rebuild
SCHDYield is ranked; no portfolio-level target
DGROThe highest-yielding 10% are left out
Portfolio50 stocks, at most 5% per company and 30% per sector
Trefis Income Solution50 stocks weighted by company size; at most 5% per company and 30% per sector
SCHDAbout 100 stocks; at most 4% per stock and 25% per sector
DGROAbout 400 stocks, weighted by dividends paid
Rebalancing and taxesRebuilt about every 13 months, so gains are generally long-term
Trefis Income SolutionRebuilt about every 13 months, so gains realized at a rebuild are generally long-term, with turnover held within a limit
SCHDReconstituted every year, rebalanced every quarter
DGROReconstituted every year, rebalanced every quarter
Select a point to compare it with SCHD and DGRO.
SCHD: Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF, which tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index. DGRO: iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF, which tracks the Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index. Fund rules are simplified summaries of the published index methodologies; see each fund’s prospectus. Trefis is not affiliated with either fund.
How it works
Four steps, the same at every rebuild
1Start with proven payersUS companies with 10 straight years of dividends, no recent cut and a yield in the top half of eligible payers: a few hundred companies.
2Rank on staying powerProfitability, yield, steadiness when the market falls, dividend growth and balance-sheet strength, combined in one score.
3Hold the top 50Weighted by company size, with no company above 5% and no sector above 30%.
4Hold the yield floorIf the portfolio yields less than 3%, weight shifts toward higher yielders until it reaches 3%. Rebuilt about every 13 months.
The rules are applied the same way at every rebuild, with no discretionary overrides.
Model portfolio
Since the 10/31/2026 rebuild
The model portfolio is the 50-company portfolio the rules produced at the 10/31/2026 rebuild, held as built. Total return, dividends included, from the 10/30/2026 close to the 11/9/2026 close.
Income Solution model portfolio
+1.13%
S&P 500 (SPY)
−0.40%
SCHD
−0.36%
DGRO
+0.36%
Hypothetical model portfolio results, before advisory fees, trading costs and taxes; not the results of any client account. Returns over days or weeks say little about how any strategy will do over time. Updated after each market close. See the notes at the end of this page.
The portfolio today
Where the 50 companies sit, and what they pay
Sector mix at the 10/31/2026 rebuild
Share of the portfolio by GICS sector, with the number of companies in brackets. Consumer staples sits at the 30% sector cap.
Light on technology
Technology is 4.5% of the portfolio, against 35.5% of the S&P 500 and 16.2% of SCHD. Its income and returns depend far less on the handful of large technology companies that now drive much of the market.
Share of each portfolio in technology. Fund weights are current, from Financial Modeling Prep, on each fund’s own sector scheme; the Income Solution uses GICS. Communication services (for example Alphabet and Meta) are not counted as technology in either.
Dividend yield
3.0%
Indicated portfolio yield at the 10/31/2026 rebuild; the rules require at least 3%
3.1%
Dividends paid over the past 12 months as a share of today’s prices, 11/9/2026
3x the S&P 500’s dividend yieldThe portfolio’s 3.1% compares with about 1.0% for the S&P 500. On $1 million, that is about $31,000 a year in dividends instead of about $10,000.
S&P 500: SPY’s distributions over the past 12 months, averaged and annualized, as a share of its 11/9/2026 close. Before taxes and fees; dividends are not guaranteed and can be cut.
Leadership team
- Manish Jhunjhunwala: MIT PhD Chemical Engineering/Physics of fluids, McKinsey
- Cem Ozkaynak: Cornell Electrical Engineering, UBS
Select investors and advisors
- Ankur Moitra: MIT Computer Science and AI Lab & Professor of Mathematics
- Art Samberg: Pequot Capital, Former Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
- Rob Wadsworth: Harbourvest Partners, Board Member, Former CEO
- Sandy Pentland: MIT Media Lab Professor. Stanford HAI Fellow
- Semyon Dukach: OneWay VC, Partner, Former MIT Blackjack team leader
See whether the Income Solution fits your plan
The Trefis Income Solution is implemented for clients by Empirical Asset ManagementAksala Wealth Advisors, an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Send a request and the team will follow up. There is no obligation to invest.
About the model portfolio
The Income Solution model portfolio is the portfolio the strategy’s rules produced at its October 31, 2026 rebuild, held as built. Its results are hypothetical: they do not reflect actual trading, advisory fees, trading costs or taxes, and they are not the results of any client account. Returns include dividends, counted on their ex-dates and not reinvested, and are measured from the October 30, 2026 close, the last market close before the rebuild. ETF returns are measured the same way and reflect fund expenses. Holdings change at each rebuild. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security. Past results are no guarantee of future returns.
SCHD, DGRO and the S&P 500 are shown for comparison only; they differ from the strategy, which holds about 50 securities. Trefis is not affiliated with Charles Schwab, BlackRock (iShares), S&P Dow Jones Indices or Morningstar.
Disclaimer
Trefis is a technology and investment research provider only and does not, nor is it licensed to, provide investment advisory services. Trefis is not registered as an investment adviser under federal or state securities laws and provides information for educational and research purposes only. Any implementation of Trefis strategies is conducted solely and independently by unaffiliated third-party investment advisory firms with proper registration and pursuant to a separate agreement.
Trefis has partnered with Empirical Asset Management LLC (“EAM”), an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which implements the High Quality (HQ) portfolio and other Trefis strategies and oversees more than $500 million in assets.
Compensation & Conflicts of Interest
Trefis is not an investment advisory client of EAM. Trefis receives compensation from EAM consisting solely of a fixed annual licensing fee for the use of Trefis models and technology. Trefis does not receive referral fees, commissions, or asset-based compensation in connection with prospective clients introduced to EAM. However, this commercial licensing relationship creates an inherent conflict of interest, as Trefis has an incentive to feature partner advisers who license its models. Implementation of Trefis strategies by third-party advisers may vary based on market conditions, account customization, and platform execution. Model and backtested returns do not represent actual trading and are not a guarantee of future performance. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.
Trefis Wealth LLC (“Trefis”), is a research provider only and does not, nor is it licensed to, provide investment advisory services. Trefis is not registered as an investment adviser under federal or state securities laws and provides information for educational purposes only. Any implementation of Trefis strategies will be done by unaffiliated third party investment advisory firms with proper registration and pursuant to a separate agreement. Trefis has partnered with Aksala Wealth Advisors LLC (“Aksala”), an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Aksala implements HQ and other Trefis strategies, and oversees more than $500 million in assets.
Compensation & Conflicts of Interest
Trefis is not an investment advisory client of Aksala Wealth Advisors LLC. Trefis receives compensation, including licensing fees and a percentage of advisory fees collected by Aksala attributable to clients referred by Trefis. This economic arrangement creates a material conflict of interest, as Trefis has a financial incentive to refer prospective clients to its partner advisers. Implementation of Trefis strategies by third-party advisers may vary based on market conditions, account customization, and platform execution. Model and backtested returns do not represent actual trading and are not a guarantee of future performance. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.
1 Empirical Asset ManagementAksala Wealth Advisors, our partner investment firm, oversees more than $500 million in assets (see the partner disclosure above).
2 Trefis refers interested investors to Aksala Wealth Advisors to discuss investing in Trefis strategies.
Model portfolio data as of the 11/9/2026 close.