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 October 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IWMY | Defiance R2000 Weekly Distribution ETF | -54.5% | 30.90% | 0 | +2.6% | $82M |
| YMAX | YieldMax Universe Fund of Option Income ETF | -50.7% | 42.78% | 22 | -3.8% | $352M |
| NFLP | Kurv Yield Premium Strategy Netflix ETF | -50.3% | 18.42% | 9 | -45.2% | $5M |
| DVDN | Kingsbarn Dividend Opportunity ETF | -48.6% | 15.44% | 7 | -27.4% | $3M |
| EIDO | iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF | -46.1% | 4.59% | 19 | -41.1% | $419M |
| TLTW | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond BuyWrite Strategy ETF | -41.7% | 16.79% | 22 | -3.7% | $1.6B |
| LQDW | iShares Investment Grade Corporate Bond BuyWrite Strategy ETF | -36.4% | 20.17% | 15 | +0.9% | $348M |
| XDTE | Roundhill S&P 500 0DTE Covered Call Strategy ETF | -32.7% | 19.80% | 50 | +16.3% | $323M |
| QQQY | Defiance Nasdaq 100 Weekly Distribution ETF | -32.6% | 31.51% | 0 | +17.5% | $185M |
| ISPY | ProShares S&P 500 High Income ETF | -30.8% | 6.36% | 58 | +13.0% | $1.2B |
| YMAG | YieldMax Magnificent 7 Fund of Option Income ETF | -30.3% | 36.17% | 23 | +10.6% | $286M |
| ABXB | Abacus Flexible Bond Leaders ETF | -29.6% | 4.65% | 39 | -0.2% | $2M |
| AMZP | Kurv Yield Premium Strategy Amazon ETF | -29.3% | 17.00% | 49 | +6.8% | $17M |
| PFLD | AAM Low Duration Preferred and Income Securities ETF | -29.2% | 5.64% | 74 | +2.8% | $376M |
| DVYE | iShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF | -28.8% | 7.39% | 67 | +24.5% | $1.2B |
| RDTE | Roundhill Russell 2000 0DTE Covered Call Strategy ETF | -27.6% | 30.71% | 27 | +11.8% | $154M |
| CAAA | First Trust AAA CMBS ETF | -27.3% | 4.23% | 72 | +1.0% | $35M |
| EMBX | VanEck Emerging Markets Bond ETF | -27.0% | 5.61% | 69 | +5.0% | $288M |
| CRDT | Simplify Opportunistic Income ETF | -25.8% | 5.85% | 62 | -8.3% | $27M |
| KLIP | KraneShares China Internet and Covered Call Strategy ETF | -24.7% | 24.63% | 1 | -12.9% | $91M |
| XSHD | Invesco S&P SmallCap High Dividend Low Volatility ETF | -24.2% | 4.63% | 53 | +3.9% | $64M |
| LBO | WHITEWOLF Publicly Listed Private Equity ETF | -24.0% | 5.83% | 62 | -10.9% | $6M |
| PFRL | PGIM Floating Rate Income ETF | -22.4% | 5.72% | 68 | +5.7% | $132M |
| IQQQ | ProShares Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF | -22.1% | 6.58% | 61 | +13.3% | $408M |
| HYGW | iShares High Yield Corporate Bond BuyWrite Strategy ETF | -21.6% | 16.02% | 43 | +3.4% | $110M |
| QDTE | Roundhill Nasdaq-100® 0DTE Covered Call Strategy ETF | -21.2% | 24.15% | 35 | +18.9% | $901M |
| MSFY | Kurv Yield Premium Strategy Microsoft ETF | -20.0% | 11.25% | 52 | -3.0% | $12M |
| RTAI | Rareview Tax Advantaged Income ETF | -18.1% | 5.55% | 49 | -5.8% | $16M |
| BLDG | Cambria Global Real Estate ETF | -17.6% | 6.42% | 55 | +5.0% | $51M |
| SCIO | First Trust Structured Credit Income Opportunities ETF | -17.4% | 5.68% | 82 | +2.2% | $545M |
| HIGH | Simplify Enhanced Income ETF | -16.7% | 5.75% | 58 | -3.5% | $57M |
| WDTE | Defiance S&P 500 Weekly Distribution ETF | -16.7% | 30.64% | 14 | +16.5% | $72M |
| UJB | ProShares Ultra High Yield | -16.6% | 4.40% | 44 | -2.0% | $6M |
| IGBH | iShares Interest Rate Hedged Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF | -16.3% | 5.82% | 78 | +5.4% | $254M |
| BSJR | Invesco BulletShares 2027 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | -16.1% | 5.29% | 86 | +3.1% | $945M |
| ICLO | Invesco Aaa Clo Floating Rate Note ETF | -15.6% | 4.64% | 70 | +4.9% | $610M |
| VPC | Virtus Private Credit ETF | -15.4% | 7.94% | 52 | -10.2% | $28M |
| IWMW | iShares Russell 2000 BuyWrite ETF | -15.1% | 19.46% | 61 | +8.2% | $55M |
| FLOT | iShares Floating Rate Bond ETF | -15.1% | 4.12% | 80 | +4.5% | $11.1B |
| PFF | iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF | -15.0% | 6.63% | 75 | -2.9% | $12.0B |
| TRPA | Hartford AAA CLO ETF | -14.6% | 4.18% | 83 | +5.3% | $160M |
| BSJQ | Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | -14.5% | 4.30% | 83 | +2.8% | $715M |
| FLRN | State Street SPDR Bloomberg Investment Grade Floating Rate ETF | -14.5% | 4.14% | 80 | +4.5% | $3.2B |
| BFIX | Build Bond Innovation ETF | -14.5% | 4.12% | 77 | +1.1% | $12M |
| THTA | SoFi Enhanced Yield ETF | -14.3% | 10.15% | 72 | +15.9% | $64M |
| JBBB | Janus Henderson B-BBB CLO ETF | -14.2% | 6.39% | 84 | +5.0% | $1.5B |
| BRLN | iShares Floating Rate Loan Active ETF | -14.1% | 6.61% | 72 | +4.0% | $51M |
| CLOZ | Eldridge BBB-B CLO ETF | -14.0% | 6.96% | 75 | +6.2% | $781M |
| AAA | AAF First Priority CLO Bond ETF | -13.9% | 4.32% | 77 | +3.8% | $73M |
| CLOA | iShares AAA CLO Active ETF | -13.4% | 4.68% | 85 | +5.1% | $2.7B |
| CDX | Simplify High Yield ETF | -13.3% | 7.73% | 79 | -3.9% | $320M |
| EVLN | Eaton Vance Floating-Rate ETF | -12.9% | 6.60% | 80 | +4.1% | $1.7B |
| VRIG | Invesco Variable Rate Investment Grade ETF | -12.9% | 4.49% | 82 | +4.3% | $1.9B |
| WBIY | WBI Power Factor High Dividend ETF | -12.8% | 4.18% | 81 | +22.4% | $60M |
| ABND | American Century Core Plus Income ETF | -12.8% | 5.10% | 90 | -0.6% | $294M |
| BAMY | Brookstone Yield ETF | -12.7% | 6.34% | 66 | +2.5% | $41M |
| VEMY | Virtus Stone Harbor Emerging Markets High Yield Bond ETF | -12.4% | 6.79% | 74 | +7.6% | $36M |
| CLOI | VanEck CLO ETF | -12.0% | 4.70% | 83 | +5.2% | $1.7B |
| LQDH | iShares Interest Rate Hedged Corporate Bond ETF | -11.8% | 5.95% | 77 | +5.0% | $597M |
| PAAA | PGIM AAA CLO ETF | -11.8% | 4.38% | 78 | +5.0% | $14.9B |
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 Distribution Safety Score readings refresh from our pipeline on every build; the list re-screens and re-ranks automatically.
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