Universe Constituents
Select US companies with at least ten consecutive years of increasing regular dividends (Mergent's US Dividend Achievers™). US companies must be listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ. Master Limited Partnerships(MLPs) and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are excluded from the Index. US Companies must have a minimum average daily cash volume of US$500,000 per day for the November and December prior to each Annual Reconstitution date. Rank the US companies in descending based on their current dividend yield as of the last trading date in December. Select the 50 US companies with the highest current dividend yield as of the last trading date in December.

General Index Rules
Companies are weighted based on their current dividend yield as of the last trading date in December. The index is reconstituted annually on the last trading date in January. The weight of each company will float between reconstitution and rebalance dates. The index is rebalanced quarterly on the last trading date in April, July and October. The rebalanced weights for April, July and October will be based on the current dividend yields as of the last trading date in March, June, and September, respectively. In the event of a corporate action, the company removed from the index will be replaced with the company with the highest current dividend yield based on the original reconstitution list. If the next ranked company is an acquisition target, then the index will select the second highest ranked company based on the original reconstitution list. A replacement company will be added to the index at the same weight as the company that was removed from the index until the next rebalance or reconstitution date. In the event a constituent suspends dividend payments, it will be replaced with the company with the highest current dividend yield based on the original reconstitution list at the next quarterly rebalance.