VYMI Dividend: Next Ex-Date, History & Total Return

VYMI, the Vanguard International High Dividend Yield ETF, is an exchange-traded share class of Vanguard International High Dividend Yield Index Fund. It seeks to track the FTSE All-World ex US High Dividend Yield Index, which focuses on companies located in developed and emerging markets, excluding the United States, that are forecasted to have above-average dividend yields.¹

Under normal circumstances, VYMI invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in the stocks that make up the index. Vanguard's fact sheet shows VYMI pays dividends quarterly.^1,2

The FTSE All-World ex US High Dividend Yield Index is derived from the FTSE High Dividend Yield Index. It is market cap weighted and includes the large- and mid-cap universe of developed and emerging market stocks excluding the U.S. with the highest dividend yields.²

The index excludes real estate investment trusts (REITs), which the fact sheet says generally do not benefit from currently favorable tax rates on qualified dividends. It also uses buffer zones during annual rebalancing to reduce portfolio turnover.²

VYMI invests by sampling the index. It holds a range of securities that, in the aggregate, approximates the full index in terms of key risk factors and other characteristics. Vanguard describes this as a passively managed sampling strategy and says the fund remains fully invested.^1,2

Dividend Stacker's record of VYMI's past payments, with per-share amounts adjusted for any share splits or reverse splits, shows four distributions in each completed year from 2017 through 2025. The annual total went from $2.15 per share in 2017 to $3.32 in 2025, the highest annual total in the record. The lowest annual total was $1.96 in 2020, down 26.9% from 2019.³

The annual total rebounded 47.4% in 2021, slipped 2.9% in 2022, and then rose in each of the three completed years ending 2025. Payments within a year differed in size: in 2023 the four ranged from $0.3137 to $1.19, and in 2025 from $0.6003 to $1.08.³

VYMI's index covers companies located outside the United States, and the prospectus notes that foreign markets can perform differently than U.S. markets. To the extent the fund invests a large portion of its assets in one country or region, its performance may be hurt disproportionately by poor performance there.¹

The index also includes emerging market stocks, which the prospectus says are subject to higher degrees of risk and volatility than developed market investments. Emerging markets generally have less efficient trading markets with lower overall liquidity and more volatile currency exchange rates.¹

VYMI is subject to the risk that foreign currency will perform differently than U.S. dollars and increase the potential loss to the fund. The prospectus adds that exchange rates may be volatile and move rapidly.¹

The prospectus says foreign market, emerging market and currency risks may be heightened for VYMI's investments economically tied to China. Such investments may be restricted or sanctioned by the U.S. government, which could cause them to decline in value or become less liquid.¹

VYMI's emphasis on dividend-paying stocks could cause it to underperform other funds that invest without consideration of a company's track record of paying dividends. As of the fund's most recent fiscal year end, stocks of companies within the financials sector made up a significant portion of its index, so VYMI's performance may be impacted by the general condition of that sector.¹

Because VYMI does not hold every security included in its index, the representative sample the advisor selects may, in the aggregate, vary from the investment profile of the full index. As a result, the fund's performance may not match the index's performance, a risk the prospectus calls tracking error risk.¹