Monthly payouts in 2026 have run $0.102, $0.105, and $0.108, tracking close to the $0.1055 average seen across 2025. That is a meaningful step up from the $0.0865 average in 2024.
Chinese stocks have spent the last five years really testing the patience of even the most hardcore contrarians. Between the property sector struggles, the crackdown on tech platforms, and the constant friction over chip exports and tariffs, valuations have been pushed down across the board.
The iShares Biotechnology ETF is the default large-cap vehicle for the sector. It is market-cap weighted, which concentrates the fund in cash-generative incumbents rather than spreading capital across clinical-stage names.
"This is a system shock," says Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group. "You have a material energy supply disruption and a structural shift toward fragmentation."
EMLC holds a broad mix of about 507 bonds issued by emerging market governments, all denominated in local currencies such as the Brazilian real, South African rand, Turkish lira, and Mexican peso. Almost the entire portfolio is sovereign debt at roughly 99 percent, so the fund is essentially a pure government credit exposure.
The U.S. and its allies have expended a great deal of their arsenal in the past few years. It simply does not matter if there's a peace deal tomorrow, because those weapons must be stockpiled again and then some.
The Value ETF tracks the CRSP US Large Cap Value Index, focusing on large-capitalization value stocks. It holds positions in a diversified set of companies, with recent data indicating around 312 stocks in total. Rather than the large tech stocks found propping up the portfolios of other ETFs, such as the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF or the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF, its largest positions emphasize traditional value sectors rather than high-growth momentum.
EDIV tracks a yield-weighted index of dividend-paying companies across emerging markets. Rather than weighting by market cap, the fund tilts toward companies paying the highest dividends relative to their size. Banks, telecom operators, and consumer staples dominate the portfolio. The top positions include Brazilian beverage giant Ambev, Brazilian bank Bradesco, China Railway Group, and a cluster of Taiwanese industrials and telecom names.
While over-diversification is not a term you hear often, the financial industry has spent decades telling investors that more is better. More funds, more sectors, more geographic exposure, and more asset classes, galore. The thing is, when a retiree holds 15 or 20 ETFs across overlapping strategies, the result isn't going to be safety, more like dilution.
At lower portfolio sizes, income investing feels like something of a compromise. A 4% yield on $200,000 gives you $8,000 a year, which is barely $667 a month, so it's supplemental income at best. However, jump up to $500,000, even a moderate 5% blended yield can produce $25,000 a year, or right around $2,080 monthly.
