Hey there, it’s Hirokichi! This is my U.S. dividend ETF portfolio update for August 2026. U.S. equities held up well this month, but rising long-term interest rates were a bit of a headwind for my bond ETF. The combined value of my five holdings reached ¥3,195,623, with an unrealized gain of ¥652,759 (+25.7%). That’s only up ¥26,214 from last month, but the portfolio keeps building steadily.
Holdings and Total Value
I currently hold five positions in total: three U.S. ETFs (VYM, HDV, and LQD) plus two mutual funds (Rakuten SCHD and a Nikkei High Dividend index fund). I don’t include individual Japanese stocks in this series. LQD is held in a taxable account, while the other four are all held in NISA (Japan’s tax-free investment account).
What stands out in this chart is that the total has trended steadily upward ever since I added the two mutual funds back in October 2025. Here’s the breakdown as of August 2026:
・VYM (Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF): held in NISA, valued at ¥1,393,014 (cost basis ¥1,034,602, unrealized gain +¥358,412, +34.6%)
・HDV (iShares Core High Dividend ETF): held in NISA, valued at ¥1,012,862 (cost basis ¥764,970, unrealized gain +¥247,892, +32.4%)
・LQD (iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF): held in a taxable account, valued at ¥695,737 (cost basis ¥668,546, unrealized gain +¥27,191, +4.1%), plus about ¥13,018 worth of unused USD cash
・Rakuten SCHD (a Japan-domiciled mutual fund tracking Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF): a NISA mutual fund, valued at ¥52,842 (cost basis ¥43,057, unrealized gain +¥9,785, +22.7%)
・Nikkei High Dividend (Tracers Nikkei 225 High Dividend Yield Stock 50 Index fund): a NISA mutual fund, valued at ¥41,168 (cost basis ¥31,689, unrealized gain of roughly +¥9,479, +29.9%)
Across all five holdings, the total value was ¥3,195,623 against a cost basis of ¥2,542,864, for an unrealized gain of +¥652,759 (+25.7%).
Breakdown by Holding
By allocation, VYM is my largest holding at 43.6% of the total, followed by HDV at 31.7% and LQD at 21.8%. Rakuten SCHD and the Nikkei High Dividend fund are still small at 1.7% and 1.3% respectively, since I’ve been investing in them for less than a year, but I keep adding to them every month.
In August alone, VYM and HDV both gained in value, while LQD’s valuation slipped from ¥713,450 last month to ¥695,737. As I’ll explain below, rising long-term U.S. interest rates were the main driver there. I kept up the automatic monthly investments into Rakuten SCHD and the Nikkei High Dividend fund (¥2,000 and ¥3,000 respectively), and both continue to build unrealized gains steadily.
The expense ratio — the ongoing fee you pay just for holding a fund, similar in spirit to a mutual fund’s management fee — was one of the reasons I chose these three ETFs in the first place. VYM charges 0.04% (per Vanguard’s official site), HDV charges 0.08% (per etfdb.com), and LQD charges 0.14% (per BlackRock’s official site) — all low-cost levels typical of U.S.-domiciled ETFs.
Dividend Record
Dividends (similar to a stock dividend, but paid out by the ETF) are the best part of following this series. My 2026 year-to-date total stands at ¥48,664 (VYM ¥14,056, HDV ¥16,945, LQD ¥16,602, Rakuten SCHD ¥656, Nikkei High Dividend ¥405). My cumulative total since 2021 has now reached ¥217,789.
This chart shows that annual dividends have trended upward every year since 2022, reaching ¥72,858 for the full year of 2025. 2026 is only partway through, but with the two mutual funds now contributing as well, I expect the dividend base to keep broadening. Rather than reinvesting dividends right away, I’ve been thinking about setting them aside for a family trip or camping fund. Even though I know an index-investing autopilot is theoretically the optimal approach, there’s still something satisfying about seeing actual cash dividends land in the account.
This Month’s Market and Trading
U.S. equities had a solid August, with the S&P 500 gaining +2.62% for the month (7,489.72 → 7,686.14) and now up +12.28% year-to-date. Financials, information technology, and healthcare led the gains, while defensive sectors such as utilities, real estate, and consumer staples lagged. High-dividend ETFs tend to hold more of those defensive names, so it was a somewhat sluggish environment for this kind of strategy.
Late in the month, Fed Chair Warsh struck a cautious tone on inflation at the Jackson Hole symposium, which strengthened expectations for another rate hike in September and pushed the 10-year Treasury yield up to 4.75%. I believe that rise in yields was the main factor weighing on LQD’s valuation this month.
On the currency side, the yen weakened gradually from ¥158.47 at the end of July to around ¥159.80 by the end of August. That weaker yen likely helped support the yen-denominated value of HDV and VYM.
I didn’t make any new purchases of either the ETFs or the mutual funds this month, aside from continuing the automatic monthly investments into Rakuten SCHD and the Nikkei High Dividend fund (¥5,000 combined). I’m keeping dividends in cash rather than reinvesting them, and if the market sees a meaningful pullback, I’d consider using that cash to add to VYM or HDV.
Looking Ahead
My basic approach hasn’t changed: keep dividends in cash rather than reinvesting, and use them to buy more whenever prices dip. Depending on where U.S. rates head next, a bond ETF like LQD could see further pressure, but I’d actually welcome that as a buying opportunity rather than a concern. For Rakuten SCHD and the Nikkei High Dividend fund, I plan to keep the automatic monthly investments running quietly in the background. The amounts are small for now, but I want to keep tracking how they compound over the long run.
Summary
In August 2026, a combination of rising U.S. stocks and a gradually weaker yen pushed my total portfolio value past ¥3.19 million, and my year-to-date dividend total crossed ¥48,000. Rising rates were a headwind for LQD, but overall I’m still holding onto unrealized gains north of ¥650,000. Slow and steady — see you next month!
My previous U.S. ETF update (June 2026 results)
My overall net worth update for the same month is here
Full archive of my net worth updates (Japanese, from 2021 onward)
My comparison of VYM, VOO, and VTI is here [2026 edition]
日本語版はこちら → 【資産公開】米国ETF 2026年8月結果！合計評価額3,195,623円、含み益は65万円を突破
* This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. Please invest at your own responsibility.
コメント