Richmond Investment Services Trims $6 Million from First Trust SMID Cap Rising Dividend Achievers ETF (SDVY) Position

Richmond Investment Services disclosed it sold 206,264 shares of First Trust SMID Cap Rising Dividend Achievers ETF (SDVY), trimming the position by $6.31m to 354,450 shares valued at $13.5m as of Sept. 30, 2025 and reducing the stake from 4.2% to 2.5% of its 13F-reportable AUM, making SDVY its tenth-largest holding. The sale looks like modest profit-taking or rebalancing after SDVY rose roughly 10% over the prior six months; the ETF has $9.25bn AUM, a 1.34% yield, trades at $38.41 (down 1% over one year and ~1% below its 52-week high), has underperformed the S&P 500 by about 14 percentage points over the past year, and carries a 0.59% expense ratio — indicating a small tactical shift away from SMID dividend-growth exposure rather than a major strategic change.

Analysis

Richmond Investment Services sold 206,264 shares of First Trust SMID Cap Rising Dividend Achievers ETF (SDVY), reducing the position by $6.31 million to a post-trade holding of 354,450 shares valued at $13.5 million as of Sept. 30, 2025; the stake fell to 2.5% of Richmond's 13F-reportable AUM from 4.2%, making SDVY the firm's tenth-largest holding. The firm's top five holdings remain concentrated in broad and thematic ETFs—IWL ($64m, 11.9% of AUM), SPYM ($39m, 7.3%), MOAT ($33m, 6.1%), QQQ ($30m, 5.5%) and VNLA ($21m, 3.8%)—so this trade appears a modest reallocation rather than a strategic shift.

SDVY trades at $38.41 as of Dec. 9, 2025, with one-year performance down 1% and about 1% below its 52-week high; the fund has $9.25 billion AUM, a 1.34% dividend yield and a 0.59% expense ratio, and it tracks 100 SMID U.S. names with a rules-based dividend-growth screen. Commentary in the filing and coverage notes Richmond had added to SDVY over the prior three quarters and appears to have realized gains after roughly a 10% rise in the prior six months.

Implications for investors are mixed: SDVY has lagged the S&P 500 since its 2017 debut (article cites a 121% to 203% total-return comparison) but currently shows a lower P/E (~16) versus the S&P (~29), indicating a value tilt offset by higher fees. The trade should be read as tactical profit-taking and rebalancing—monitor relative performance, fee drag and position sizing rather than treating the sale as a negative signal about the SMID dividend-growth theme itself.

Key Decisions for Investors

• If you own SDVY, reassess position sizing and consider trimming into recent strength as Richmond did after about a 10% six‑month gain, given the fund's 0.59% expense ratio which reduces net returns
• Monitor SDVY versus the S&P 500 and fund flows closely because SDVY has underperformed the S&P by ~14 percentage points over one year and Richmond's sale signals tactical rebalancing rather than a fundamental downgrade
• Evaluate lower‑cost SMID dividend-growth alternatives or selective stock selection given SDVY's P/E of ~16 versus the S&P's ~29 and a modest 1.34% yield to determine whether the fee and diversification trade‑offs fit your strategy