Sound Equity Dividend Income ETF

Sound Equity Dividend Income ETF (DIVY) is actively managed: rather than tracking an index, sub-adviser Sound Income Strategies picks about 30 dividend-paying mid- and large-size companies it judges undervalued. It pays dividends monthly and aims for a yield at least twice the S&P 500's. Its 0.45% fee is near the 0.47% average for similar dividend ETFs, but with $29 million in assets as of August 31, 2026, it is the smallest of them.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, DIVY returned +23.2%, 3rd of 7 among similar funds.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2024 (+4.1%); its best was 2025 (+7.5%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 18.3% (Nov 29, 2024 to Apr 8, 2025), recovered by Jul 23, 2025.

As of Aug 31, 2026, the fund held 35 securities; the ten largest made up 37.71% of assets.

• Over the three months to Aug 31, 2026, investors withdrew a net $1.5M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +2.38%, +4.18%, +3.03%.

DIVY does not track an index. It is an actively managed ETF (exchange-traded fund): sub-adviser Sound Income Strategies picks the stocks, and Tidal Financial Group is the issuer. The goal is a portfolio dividend yield (yearly dividends as a share of price) at least twice the S&P 500's. The managers look for dividend payers on US exchanges, typically worth over $2 billion at purchase, with low price-to-earnings ratios (share price relative to profit per share) and high yields.

Each company gets "bottom-up" research focused on the business. The managers favor firms they consider undervalued, with generally positive cash flow, healthy profits and manageable debt, plus a catalyst that could lift the share price, such as new management, new products or a restructuring. At least 80% of net assets normally go into dividend-paying stocks. Foreign companies are held only through shares listed on US exchanges.

Changes follow the managers' judgment: a stock may be dropped when it reaches a price target, the original case for owning it changes, or the business weakens. Portfolio turnover, the share of holdings replaced over a year, was 26%. As of August 31, 2026, the fund held 35 stocks, led by Omnicom Group at 4.6%, with the 10 largest making up 37.7%. It held no derivatives and uses no leverage or options.

• DIVY charges 0.45% a year, versus an average of 0.47% for the similar funds below (4th of 7, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $46 in the first year and $567 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

Its stated objective is current income through a dividend yield at least twice the S&P 500's, and it pays dividends monthly.

DIVY could add monthly dividend income: its yield over the prior 12 months was 2.89% as of October 27, 2026. Launched in December 2020, it has no record from the 2008 or 2020 crashes. When stocks slumped in 2022, it gained 3.83% for the year, though it lost 8.02% in the quarter ending September 30, 2022. Its weakest calendar year from 2021 to 2025 was 2024, up 2.63%. Its deepest drop between April 2023 and October 27, 2026 was 18.3%, from November 29, 2024 to April 8, 2025; it recovered about 3.5 months later. Anyone forced to raise cash near such a low would lock in losses.

Its 0.45% annual fee comes to $46 in the first year and $567 over 10 years on $10,000 under the SEC's standard example. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan needs to look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by closest holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports (no similar fund shares 20% or more of its holdings).