Dividend Vision Lists
ETFs That Cut Their Distributions
Income ETFs whose trailing-12-month distribution came in at least 10% below the prior year, ranked deepest cut first. Leveraged and inverse funds are excluded, so this is a list of income funds that genuinely shrank their payout.
Updated July 2026 · 60 funds
DV Scorecard
Our proprietary snapshot of this list — averages and standouts, computed from the funds below. Not investment advice.
A distribution cut is the clearest signal an income fund can send, and it usually arrives without an announcement — the payment simply comes in smaller. This page finds the income ETFs where that has happened: funds whose trailing-12-month distribution landed at least 10% below the prior year.
The comparison is year-over-year rather than a trend line, so a fund that merely shifted its payment schedule does not appear. Read the two right-hand columns together: a cut alongside a <em>rising</em> price is often a fund normalizing an unsustainable payout, while a cut alongside a falling price is the harder combination — less income and less principal at the same time.
How this screen works
A materially smaller trailing distribution than a year ago, deepest cut first.
- Cut: trailing-12-month distributions at least 10% below the prior 12 months (year-over-year, so payment-timing shifts don't count).
- History: at least a 2-year (24-month) distribution record, so there are two full years to compare.
- Universe: income ETFs yielding 4% or more — funds held for income, where a cut actually matters.
- Excluded: leveraged and inverse funds, whose distributions are incidental capital-gains events rather than income.
- Rank: by depth of the cut, largest decline first.
ETFs That Cut Their Distributions
Ranked live from our data pipeline on every build — click any column header to re-sort, or open a ticker for the full analysis. We never hard-code the figures.
| Ticker | Fund | Payout change (1y) | Yield | Distribution Safety Score™ ⓘ | Price (1y) | AUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EMBX | VanEck Emerging Markets Bond ETF | -91.6% | 5.73% | 55 | +9.7% | $258M |
| HERZ | Herzfeld Credit Income Fund, Inc | -90.8% | 12.39% | 0 | +31.5% | — |
| TIME | Clockwise Core Equity & Innovation ETF | -82.7% | 4.37% | 41 | +13.4% | $14M |
| SEA | U.S. Global Sea to Sky Cargo ETF | -59.6% | 5.25% | 46 | +32.6% | $19M |
| ESGN | Columbia Sustainable International Equity Income ETF | -58.0% | 6.03% | 36 | +13.0% | $93M |
| INEQ | Columbia International Equity Income ETF | -58.0% | 6.00% | 36 | +21.3% | $93M |
| DFGX | Dimensional International Core Fixed Income ETF | -54.5% | 16.07% | 7 | +1.0% | $1.7B |
| DFJ | WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend Fund | -52.3% | 4.98% | 37 | +25.4% | $382M |
| KLIP | KraneShares Trust - KraneShares China Internet and Covered Call Strategy ETF | -52.1% | 22.80% | 10 | -5.9% | $102M |
| KCCA | KraneShares California Carbon Allowance ETF | -51.0% | 5.79% | 35 | +11.9% | $117M |
| DVDN | Kingsbarn Dividend Opportunity ETF | -42.9% | 13.31% | 35 | -21.3% | $3M |
| IQQQ | ProShares Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF | -37.4% | 11.77% | 70 | +17.5% | $395M |
| DES | WisdomTree U.S. SmallCap Dividend Fund | -37.3% | 4.27% | 61 | +27.9% | $2.2B |
| QQQH | NEOS Nasdaq-100 Hedged Equity Income ETF | -36.1% | 9.42% | 52 | +10.2% | $380M |
| MJ | Amplify Alternative Harvest ETF | -35.7% | 10.39% | 0 | +6.4% | $251M |
| GYLD | Arrow Dow Jones Global Yield ETF | -33.5% | 7.05% | 48 | +14.4% | $36M |
| ISPY | ProShares S&P 500 High Income ETF | -32.1% | 6.38% | 63 | +14.2% | $1.2B |
| IQDF | FlexShares International Quality Dividend Index Fund | -31.9% | 6.01% | 50 | +25.8% | $1.1B |
| DVYE | iShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF | -30.1% | 6.77% | 73 | +20.2% | $1.2B |
| HTUS | Hull Tactical US ETF | -29.8% | 10.87% | 45 | +18.8% | $153M |
| IQDY | FlexShares International Quality Dividend Dynamic Index Fund | -29.7% | 5.70% | 51 | +29.4% | $110M |
| PFLD | AAM Low Duration Preferred and Income Securities ETF | -29.2% | 5.52% | 73 | +5.4% | $416M |
| MAXI | Simplify Bitcoin Strategy PLUS Income ETF | -28.6% | 10.53% | 7 | -64.8% | $28M |
| MSFY | Kurv Yield Premium Strategy Microsoft ETF | -28.6% | 14.45% | 38 | -25.0% | $12M |
| BKGI | BNY Mellon Global Infrastructure Income ETF | -28.4% | 4.96% | 79 | +22.1% | $1.2B |
| LBO | WHITEWOLF Publicly Listed Private Equity ETF | -27.6% | 5.47% | 50 | -20.2% | $7M |
| JBBB | Janus Henderson B-BBB CLO ETF | -23.1% | 5.83% | 79 | +5.0% | $1.4B |
| CAAA | First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV | -22.7% | 4.18% | 79 | +4.2% | $35M |
| TLTW | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond BuyWrite Strategy ETF | -22.6% | 7.50% | 37 | +6.1% | $1.9B |
| XSHD | Invesco S&P SmallCap High Dividend Low Volatility ETF | -22.3% | 4.10% | 56 | +10.8% | $73M |
| THTA | SoFi Enhanced Yield ETF | -21.7% | 9.94% | 73 | +15.7% | $53M |
| TSLP | Kurv Yield Premium Strategy Tesla ETF | -21.7% | 28.47% | 52 | -7.8% | $19M |
| RFDI | First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Developed International ETF | -21.6% | 4.83% | 56 | +23.3% | $160M |
| XDTE | Roundhill ETF Trust - Roundhill S&P 500 0DTE Covered Call | -20.9% | 18.01% | 80 | +16.4% | $338M |
| LQDW | iShares Trust - iShares Investment Grade Corporate Bond BuyWrite Strategy ETF | -20.4% | 9.76% | 47 | +3.9% | $268M |
| EVLN | Eaton Vance Floating-Rate ETF | -20.3% | 6.43% | 84 | +3.6% | $1.4B |
| RMIF | ETF Series Solutions - LHA Risk-Managed Income ETF | -20.3% | 4.49% | 78 | +1.6% | $7M |
| CRDT | Simplify Opportunistic Income ETF | -20.1% | 5.22% | 82 | +1.7% | $36M |
| AIPI | REX SHARES AI Equity Premium Income ETF | -20.0% | 35.48% | 64 | +10.8% | $414M |
| PFRL | PGIM Floating Rate Income ETF | -20.0% | 5.59% | 75 | +5.5% | $122M |
| NFLP | Kurv Yield Premium Strategy Netflix ETF | -19.9% | 21.04% | 35 | -45.1% | $4M |
| EWO | iShares MSCI Austria ETF | -19.3% | 4.02% | 77 | +40.3% | $139M |
| OILK | ProShares K-1 Free Crude Oil Strategy ETF | -18.9% | 5.27% | 40 | +43.9% | $217M |
| MUSI | American Century Multisector Income ETF | -17.3% | 4.98% | 88 | +3.9% | $244M |
| BSJR | Invesco BulletShares 2027 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | -17.1% | 5.31% | 85 | +3.5% | $857M |
| CLOA | iShares AAA CLO Active ETF | -16.8% | 4.53% | 84 | +4.3% | $2.2B |
| JAAA | Janus Henderson AAA CLO ETF | -16.7% | 4.74% | 83 | +4.9% | $29.1B |
| QDTE | Roundhill Innovation-100 0DTE Covered Call Strategy ETF | -16.7% | 41.88% | 79 | +21.9% | $918M |
| CLOZ | Eldridge BBB-B CLO ETF | -16.2% | 6.32% | 79 | +5.7% | $778M |
| IGBH | iShares Interest Rate Hedged Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF | -16.0% | 5.04% | 74 | +5.6% | $202M |
| HIGH | Simplify Enhanced Income ETF | -16.0% | 5.61% | 61 | -3.7% | $70M |
| PFF | iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF | -16.0% | 5.64% | 79 | +1.3% | $13.1B |
| DYFI | IDX Dynamic Fixed Income ETF | -15.6% | 5.70% | 57 | +1.4% | $57M |
| HYGW | iShares Trust - iShares High Yield Corporate Bond BuyWrite Strategy ETF | -15.4% | 7.17% | 58 | +5.5% | $112M |
| BKLN | Invesco Senior Loan ETF | -15.3% | 6.41% | 78 | +3.3% | $7.0B |
| FLOT | iShares Floating Rate Bond ETF | -15.3% | 4.06% | 78 | +4.5% | $10.2B |
| RTAI | Rareview Tax Advantaged Income ETF | -15.1% | 4.70% | 61 | +9.6% | $18M |
| HYIN | WisdomTree Alternative Income Fund | -15.0% | 11.56% | 59 | -10.2% | $51M |
| FLRN | State Street SPDR Bloomberg Investment Grade Floating Rate ETF | -14.8% | 4.10% | 77 | +3.8% | $3.1B |
| JHHY | John Hancock High Yield ETF | -14.7% | 6.40% | 87 | +5.4% | $90M |
Screened and ranked from our own data. Not investment advice.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a distribution cut here?
A fund's trailing-12-month distributions coming in at least 10% below the previous 12 months. Using a year-over-year comparison means a fund that changed its payment timing — moving from quarterly to monthly, say — doesn't register as a cut. 60 income ETFs currently qualify.
Does a cut mean I should sell?
Not by itself. Some cuts are a fund normalizing a payout it was never earning, which can be healthier than continuing to fund distributions out of capital. Others signal genuine deterioration. The price column is the fastest tell: a cut with a rising price is a different situation from a cut with a falling one.
Why are option-income funds so common on this list?
Their distributions are funded by option premium, which scales with volatility. When markets calm down, premium shrinks and the payout follows. That makes distribution changes normal for the strategy rather than a sign of distress — but it also means the income is inherently variable, which is worth knowing before relying on it.
Why don't I see leveraged or inverse funds here?
They are excluded deliberately. Those funds distribute occasional capital gains rather than income, so their year-over-year swings are enormous and meaningless for an income investor. Left in, they would fill the entire top of the list with declines near -99%.
How often is it updated?
Distribution history, yields, prices, and Safety Scores refresh from our pipeline on every build; the list re-screens and re-ranks automatically.
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