Open Access Dividend Portfolio Construction with Ethical Exclusion Criteria

This site presents a model dividend portfolio constructed around cruelty-free criteria, offering a transparent and research-driven example of how values-based filtering can intersect with income-oriented investing. The portfolio applies a single ethical exclusion screen—vegan-aligned criteria—to a traditional dividend equity universe, referencing publicly available data and third-party animal welfare assessments such as those from Cruelty Free Investing.

Rather than functioning as a product or solicitation, this model is intended as an educational demonstration of how thematic filters can be layered onto familiar portfolio structures. It highlights how even narrow philosophical constraints can produce viable frameworks for dividend selection and long-term income modeling—without the need for active management or proprietary inputs.

This material is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security and should not be construed as personalized investment advice. Any references to specific companies are illustrative only and do not imply any recommendation or endorsement.

Time Series Charts

2008-2025 Open Backtests

The following time series visualizations illustrate the historical behavior of a price-weighted collection of publicly traded equities selected using thematic screening criteria. This model portfolio, referred to here as the Vegan Aristocrats Open Portfolio, was constructed using publicly available closing price data and is intended for research and educational purposes only. It reflects an approach to examining companies with long histories of dividend growth while incorporating additional screening related to animal welfare considerations. For comparative context, we also include a price-normalized reference to the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) from its inception in 2013. These charts do not reflect live portfolio performance and should not be interpreted as investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

The Price Weighted Vegan Aristocrats Portfolio

This chart represents a price-weighted, research-oriented basket composed of select dividend-paying companies drawn from the broader S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats universe. Constituents include IBM, Essex Property Trust, Cincinnati Financial, Genuine Parts Company, Automatic Data Processing, Expeditors International, Chubb Limited, Aflac, Dover Corporation, S&P Global, W.W. Grainger, and Brown & Brown. Each firm has historically maintained a stable dividend, ranging approximately from 0.7% to 4.3% annually. To construct this illustrative portfolio, all selected companies were also screened using publicly available cruelty-free investment databases to exclude known involvement in animal agriculture or conventional utility operations. This methodology is intended to explore the feasibility of a passive dividend strategy aligned with certain ethical investment themes. This material is for informational and illustrative purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell securities.

Historical Price Performance: Vegan Aristocrats Portfolio and S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF

This chart represents a price-weighted, research-oriented basket composed of select dividend-paying companies drawn from the broader S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats universe. Constituents include IBM, Essex Property Trust, Cincinnati Financial, Genuine Parts Company, Automatic Data Processing, Expeditors International, Chubb Limited, Aflac, Dover Corporation, S&P Global, W.W. Grainger, and Brown & Brown. Each firm has historically maintained a stable dividend, ranging approximately from 0.7% to 4.3% annually. To construct this illustrative portfolio, all selected companies were also screened using publicly available cruelty-free investment databases to exclude known involvement in animal agriculture or conventional utility operations. For comparative context, the chart also includes a reference to the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF, which follows the full index without ethical exclusions and uses a different weighting methodology. This material is for informational and illustrative purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell securities.

Individual Equity Performance: 2008–2025

The following twelve companies collectively constitute the Vegan Aristocrats portfolio, a price-weighted group selected from among high-dividend-paying U.S. equities that have also been reviewed against publicly available ethical investment screens. Each time series chart below reflects the adjusted closing prices of these individual securities from January 2008 through the end of Q1 2025. These visualizations are intended to illustrate the long-term price movement of each company over this period and do not account for dividends or other sources of total return. This material is for informational purposes only and does not represent an investment recommendation.

IBM (International Business Machines, Inc.)

  • 10-K Summary (LINK): International Business Machines Corporation (IBM or the company) was incorporated in the State of New York on June 16, 1911, as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. (C-T-R), a consolidation of the Computing Scale Co. of America, the Tabulating Machine Co. and The International Time Recording Co. of New York. Since that time, IBM has focused on the intersection of business insight and technological innovation, and its operations and aims have been international in nature. This was signaled over 100 years ago, in 1924, when C-T-R changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation. And it continues today—we create sustained value for clients by helping them leverage the power of hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence (AI). Our hybrid cloud platform and AI technology support clients’ digital transformations and helps them reimagine critical workflows, at scale, and modernize applications to increase agility, drive innovation and create operational efficiencies. Our offerings draw from leading IBM capabilities in software, consulting services capability to deliver business outcomes, and deep incumbency in mission-critical infrastructure, all bolstered by one of the world’s leading research organizations.
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ESS (Essex Property Trust, Inc.)

  • 10-K Summary (LINK): The Company is engaged primarily in the ownership, operation, management, acquisition, development and redevelopment of predominantly apartment communities, located along the West Coast of the United States. As of December 31, 2024, the Company owned or had ownership interests in 255 operating apartment communities, aggregating 62,157 apartment homes, excluding the Company’s ownership in preferred equity co-investments, loan investments, two operating commercial buildings, and a development pipeline comprised of various predevelopment projects (collectively, the “Portfolio”).
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CINF (Cincinnati Financial Corporation)

  • 10-K Summary (LINK): The Cincinnati Insurance Company was founded by four independent insurance agents and 2025 marks 75 years in business. They established the mission that continues to guide all of the companies in the Cincinnati Financial Corporation family – to grow profitably and enhance the ability of local independent insurance agents to deliver quality financial protection to the people and businesses they serve by: providing insurance market stability through financial strength; producing competitive; up-to-date products and services; developing associates committed to superior service.
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GPC (Genuine Parts Company)

  • 10-K Summary (LINK): We are one global team unified by our mission to be an employer of choice, supplier of choice, valued customer, responsible corporate citizen and investment of choice for our shareholders. In order to execute this mission, we focus our businesses on delivering excellent customer service, profitable growth, operational efficiencies and strong cash flow. In 2024, we had net sales of $23.5 billion and our revenue mix was 74% in North America, 16% in Europe and 10% in Australasia. We are organized into two business segments: our Automotive Parts Group (“Automotive”) and our Industrial Parts Group (“Industrial”). Our main Automotive customers are repair and maintenance shops, and our main Industrial customers are businesses operating distribution, manufacturing and production equipment. In Automotive, we see long-term growth opportunities across each of the markets we serve which are supported by an increasing number of miles driven, a growing and aging car parc, increasing vehicle complexity, and an emerging opportunity with electric vehicles. In Industrial, growth drivers include disruptions in the global supply chain creating opportunities with nearshoring, a strong outlook for automation and robotics solutions, the need for industrial expertise due to an aging technical workforce and diversified end market opportunities. Together, our business segments create a competitive differentiation in two distinct and growing markets with compelling shareholder value.
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ADP (Automatic Data Processing)

  • 10-K Summary (LINK): We were founded in 1949 on an innovative idea: to help business owners focus on core business activities by freeing them up from certain non-core tasks such as payroll. Today we are one of the world’s leading providers of cloud-based human capital management (HCM) solutions to employers, offering solutions to businesses of all sizes, whether they have simple or complex needs. We serve over 810,000 clients in 140 countries and territories. Our common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market® under the symbol “ADP.”
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EXPD (Expeditors International of Washington)

  • 10-K Summary (LINK): Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (herein referred to as “Expeditors,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our”) provides a full suite of global logistics services, offering customers access to an international network of people and integrated information systems to support the movement and strategic positioning of goods. As a third-party logistics provider, we purchase cargo space from carriers (such as airlines, ocean shipping lines, and trucking lines) on a volume basis and resell that space to our customers. We do not compete for overnight courier or small parcel business and do not own aircraft or ships. We provide a broad range of transportation services and customer solutions, such as customs brokerage, order management, time-definite transportation, warehousing and distribution, temperature-controlled transit, cargo insurance, specialized cargo monitoring and tracking, and other customized logistics and consulting solutions. In addition, our Project Cargo unit handles special project shipments that move via a single method or combination of air, ocean, and/or ground transportation and generally require a high level of specialized attention because of the unusual size or nature of what is being shipped.
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CB (Chubb Limited)

  • 10-K Summary (LINK): Chubb Limited is the Swiss-incorporated holding company of the Chubb Group of Companies. Chubb Limited, which is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, and its direct and indirect subsidiaries (collectively, the Chubb Group of Companies, Chubb, we, us, or our) are a global insurance and reinsurance organization, serving the needs of a diverse group of clients worldwide. At December 31, 2024, we had total assets of $247 billion and total Chubb shareholders’ equity, which excludes noncontrolling interests, of $64 billion. Chubb was incorporated in 1985 at which time it opened its first business office in Bermuda and continues to maintain operations in Bermuda. We have grown our business through increased premium volume, expansion of product offerings and geographic reach, and the acquisition of other companies, to become a global property and casualty (P&C) leader. We expanded our personal accident and supplemental health (A&H), and life insurance business with the acquisition of Cigna’s business in several Asian markets in 2022. We further advanced our goal of greater product, customer, and geographical diversification with incremental purchases that led to a controlling majority interest in Huatai Insurance Group Co. Ltd (Huatai Group), a Chinese financial services holding company with separate P&C, life, and asset management subsidiaries (collectively, Huatai) on July 1, 2023. At December 31, 2024, our ownership interest in Huatai Group was approximately 85.5 percent. Refer to Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on our acquisitions.
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(AFL) Aflac Incorporated

  • 10-K Summary (LINK): Aflac Incorporated (the Parent Company) was incorporated in 1973 under the laws of the state of Georgia. The Parent Company and its subsidiaries (collectively, the Company) provide financial protection to millions of policyholders and customers in Japan and the United States (U.S.). The Company’s principal business is supplemental health and life insurance products with the goal to provide customers the best value in supplemental insurance products in Japan and the U.S. When a policyholder or insured gets sick or hurt, the Company pays cash benefits fairly and promptly for eligible claims. Throughout its 69-year history, the Company’s supplemental insurance policies have given policyholders the opportunity to focus on recovery, not financial stress.
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(DOV) Dover Corporation

  • 10-K Summary (LINK): Dover Corporation is a diversified global manufacturer and solutions provider delivering innovative equipment and components, consumable supplies, aftermarket parts, software and digital solutions and support services through five operating segments: Engineered Products, Clean Energy & Fueling, Imaging & Identification, Pumps & Process Solutions, and Climate & Sustainability Technologies. Unless the context indicates otherwise, references herein to “Dover,” “the Company,” and words such as “we,” “us,” or “our” include Dover Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries. Dover was incorporated in 1947 in the State of Delaware and became a publicly traded company in 1955. Dover is headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois and currently employs approximately 24,000 people worldwide.
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(SPGI) S&P Global Inc.

  • 10-K Summary (LINK): S&P Global Inc. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, “S&P Global,” the “Company,” the “Registrant,” “we,” “us” or “our”) is a provider of credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity and automotive markets. The capital markets include asset managers, investment banks, commercial banks, insurance companies, exchanges, trading firms and issuers; the commodity markets include producers, consumers, traders and intermediaries within energy, chemicals, shipping, metals, carbon and agriculture; and the automotive markets include manufacturers, suppliers, dealerships, service shops and customers. We serve our global customers through a broad range of products and services available through both third-party and proprietary distribution channels. We were incorporated in December of 1925 under the laws of the state of New York.
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(GWW) W.W. Grainger, Inc.

  • 10-K Summary (LINK): W.W. Grainger, Inc., incorporated in the State of Illinois in 1928, is a broad line, distributor of maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) products and services with operations primarily in North America, Japan and the United Kingdom (U.K.). In this report, the words “Grainger” or “Company” mean W.W. Grainger, Inc. and its subsidiaries, except where the context makes it clear that the reference is only to W.W. Grainger, Inc. itself and not its subsidiaries.
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