Two of the market's most popular income ETFs compared side-by-side. See which one fits your yield strategy.
What this means: Both O and VNQ fall intoTier 3: Specialty. This suggests they share a similar risk profile and volatility expectation.
| Metric | O | VNQ |
|---|---|---|
| Total Return (1Y) | 13.35% | -0.21% |
| NAV Change (1Y) | 8.35% | -3.74% |
| Max Drawdown | -15.41% | -15.42% |
| Beta | - | - |
* Returns include dividend reinvestment. Drawdown calculates peak-to-trough decline over trailing 12 months.
Realty Income (O) and VNQ represent two fundamentally different philosophies for REIT exposure: one is a single elite operator with a decades-long dividend growth record, the other is a broad index fund that owns a slice of the entire real estate investment trust universe. Both carry Tier 3 (Sector Specialties/Medium) risk on the DivAgent spectrum, but the risk character is very different.
O currently yields approximately 4.8% at $67.56 per share and pays monthly — a material cash-flow advantage for investors matching income to recurring expenses. VNQ yields roughly 3.6% at $95.93 and pays quarterly. The 120-basis-point yield gap favors O, though VNQ's diversification may justify accepting lower headline income.
VNQ's 150+ holdings span retail, industrial, residential, office, data centers, and healthcare REITs — genuine sector diversification that cushions idiosyncratic tenant or property-type shocks. O concentrates in triple-net-lease commercial properties leased to investment-grade tenants like Walgreens, Dollar General, and 7-Eleven. That focus is a feature if you believe in net-lease, but a liability if net-lease faces structural headwinds (e-commerce disruption, pharmacy consolidation).
Realty Income has raised its dividend over 125 times and sustained payments through recessions, the 2008 financial crisis, and COVID-19 — a durability record few public companies can match. VNQ's distributions fluctuate with the collective earnings of its underlying REITs and are not guaranteed to grow. For income-first investors, O's predictability premium is real.
Choose O if:
Choose VNQ if:
Every investor has a unique risk profile. Use our Portfolio Intelligence tool to see the impact of adding these ETFs to your holdings.