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 August 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KEMQ | KraneShares Emerging Markets Consumer Technology | -83.6% | 4.95% | 47 | +18.7% | $25M |
| COMB | GraniteShares Bloomberg Commodity Broad Strategy No K-1 ETF | -72.6% | 7.20% | 33 | +37.9% | $146M |
| IWMY | Defiance R2000 Enchanced Options Income ETF | -54.7% | 29.94% | 59 | +18.5% | $98M |
| NULC | Nuveen ESG Large-Cap ETF | -51.9% | 8.57% | 50 | +16.8% | $70M |
| YMAX | YieldMax Universe Fund of Option Income ETFs | -45.8% | 41.30% | 56 | -1.2% | $392M |
| NFLP | Kurv Yield Premium Strategy Netflix ETF | -45.5% | 15.61% | 17 | -38.9% | $5M |
| QQQY | Defiance Nasdaq 100 Enhanced Income ETF | -39.6% | 29.71% | 63 | +24.1% | $187M |
| TLTW | iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond BuyWrite Strategy ETF | -38.8% | 8.63% | 27 | +3.3% | $1.8B |
| QAT | iShares MSCI Qatar ETF | -37.7% | 7.07% | 35 | -10.1% | $88M |
| DVYE | iShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF | -36.3% | 6.75% | 70 | +19.5% | $1.2B |
| ISPY | ProShares S&P 500 High Income ETF | -36.2% | 5.93% | 70 | +18.4% | $1.3B |
| IQQQ | ProShares Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF | -35.8% | 5.81% | 68 | +22.5% | $407M |
| LQDW | iShares Investment Grade Corporate Bond BuyWrite Strategy ETF | -35.7% | 10.33% | 37 | +3.7% | $318M |
| DVDN | Kingsbarn Dividend Opportunity ETF | -34.8% | 13.11% | 38 | -20.0% | $3M |
| TSLP | Kurv Yield Premium Strategy Tesla ETF | -29.4% | 26.96% | 43 | -10.5% | $16M |
| PFLD | AAM Low Duration Preferred and Income Securities ETF | -29.2% | 5.53% | 77 | +4.5% | $410M |
| HYGW | iShares High Yield Corporate Bond BuyWrite Strategy ETF | -28.8% | 7.99% | 47 | +6.4% | $112M |
| BCI | abrdn Bloomberg All Commodity Strategy K-1 Free ETF | -27.9% | 13.12% | 46 | +38.3% | $2.9B |
| XSHD | Invesco S&P SmallCap High Dividend Low Volatility ETF | -26.7% | 4.05% | 60 | +12.4% | $93M |
| KLIP | KraneShares China Internet and Covered Call Strategy ETF | -25.9% | 24.62% | 25 | -7.3% | $101M |
| EMBX | VanEck Emerging Markets Bond ETF | -25.3% | 6.06% | 81 | +10.0% | $266M |
| XDTE | Roundhill S&P 500 0DTE Covered Call | -25.2% | 26.87% | 77 | +19.5% | $344M |
| GYLD | Arrow Dow Jones Global Yield ETF | -25.1% | 6.98% | 55 | +17.0% | $37M |
| CRDT | Simplify Opportunistic Income ETF | -25.0% | 5.04% | 79 | +5.4% | $37M |
| CAAA | First Trust AAA CMBS ETF | -24.8% | 4.15% | 78 | +4.2% | $35M |
| YMAG | YieldMax Magnificent 7 Fund of Option Income ETFs | -24.4% | 51.09% | 73 | +12.2% | $291M |
| FEP | First Trust Europe AlphaDEX® Fund | -24.2% | 5.31% | 54 | +22.5% | $529M |
| AMZP | Kurv Yield Premium Strategy Amazon ETF | -22.6% | 15.59% | 68 | +10.7% | $20M |
| WDTE | Defiance S&P 500 Target 30 Weekly Distribution ETF | -21.4% | 29.98% | 74 | +18.9% | $66M |
| ABXB | Abacus Flexible Bond Leaders ETF | -20.4% | 5.43% | 46 | +2.3% | $2M |
| MSFY | Kurv Yield Premium Strategy Microsoft ETF | -20.0% | 11.86% | 46 | -10.7% | $12M |
| THTA | SoFi Enhanced Yield ETF | -19.6% | 9.79% | 74 | +15.8% | $56M |
| ICLO | Invesco Aaa Clo Floating Rate Note ETF | -19.6% | 4.82% | 68 | +5.0% | $537M |
| WABF | Western Asset Bond ETF | -19.1% | 5.87% | 75 | +2.3% | $16M |
| PFRL | PGIM Floating Rate Income ETF | -18.6% | 5.69% | 73 | +5.3% | $125M |
| IAGG | iShares Core International Aggregate Bond ETF | -18.3% | 4.53% | 83 | +2.1% | $11.4B |
| RTAI | Rareview Tax Advantaged Income ETF | -18.1% | 4.64% | 56 | +8.3% | $18M |
| AIPI | REX SHARES AI Equity Premium Income ETF | -17.9% | 34.50% | 83 | +22.4% | $429M |
| TRPA | Hartford AAA CLO ETF | -17.3% | 4.66% | 84 | +5.3% | $111M |
| CDX | Simplify High Yield ETF | -16.7% | 7.50% | 79 | -2.1% | $374M |
| XEMD | JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets 1-10 Years Bond ETF | -16.5% | 6.43% | 88 | +8.4% | $882M |
| SCIO | First Trust Structured Credit Income Opportunities ETF | -16.3% | 5.53% | 87 | +5.7% | $524M |
| BSJR | Invesco BulletShares 2027 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | -16.1% | 5.27% | 89 | +4.1% | $866M |
| JBBB | Janus Henderson B-BBB CLO ETF | -15.9% | 5.76% | 84 | +4.0% | $1.4B |
| AAPY | Kurv Yield Premium Strategy Apple ETF | -15.8% | 11.74% | 75 | +23.6% | $6M |
| EVLN | Eaton Vance Floating-Rate ETF | -15.8% | 6.48% | 82 | +3.9% | $1.4B |
| LBO | WHITEWOLF Publicly Listed Private Equity ETF | -15.7% | 4.87% | 70 | -6.4% | $8M |
| FLDR | Fidelity Low Duration Bond Factor ETF | -15.6% | 4.12% | 80 | +4.0% | $2.0B |
| VEMY | Virtus Stone Harbor Emerging Markets High Yield Bond ETF | -15.4% | 4.82% | 76 | +11.7% | $50M |
| IGBH | iShares Interest Rate Hedged Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF | -15.3% | 4.87% | 77 | +5.8% | $222M |
| INCE | Franklin Income Equity Focus ETF | -15.2% | 5.16% | 84 | +23.7% | $280M |
| FLRN | State Street SPDR Bloomberg Investment Grade Floating Rate ETF | -15.0% | 4.21% | 79 | +4.0% | $3.1B |
| QDTE | Roundhill Innovation-100 0DTE Covered Call Strategy ETF | -14.7% | 36.26% | 79 | +25.5% | $966M |
| IWMW | iShares Russell 2000 BuyWrite ETF | -14.3% | 16.55% | 84 | +24.8% | $61M |
| VRIG | Invesco Variable Rate Investment Grade ETF | -14.2% | 4.41% | 81 | +4.7% | $1.8B |
| FLOT | iShares Floating Rate Bond ETF | -14.0% | 4.18% | 79 | +4.1% | $10.4B |
| PFF | iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF | -13.9% | 5.54% | 79 | +3.5% | $13.3B |
| JAAA | Janus Henderson AAA CLO ETF | -13.9% | 4.72% | 84 | +4.9% | $30.1B |
| DFGX | Dimensional International Core Fixed Income ETF | -13.6% | 4.01% | 51 | +1.9% | $1.7B |
| CLOA | iShares AAA CLO Active ETF | -13.6% | 4.77% | 86 | +4.7% | $2.3B |
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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