Each week, we calculate the equal-weighted average YTD total return for hundreds of income-focused active ETFs across six categories. We include funds with at least $10 million in AUM and exclude leveraged and inverse funds. That shows which income categories are beating or trailing the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which generated a YTD total return of 13.43% through August 7, 2026.
Income-based Active ETF Scorecard
Dow Jones Industrial Average generated 13.43% YTD total return through August 7, 2026. Here’s how each income category’s top active ETF performed.
Top Income-based Active ETFs
As of August 7, 2026
Active High Dividend (YTD Total Return: +19.51%)
Active High Dividend widened its lead last week, rising to 19.51% from 19.13% last week, as shareholder-yield strategies with small-cap and value tilts kept outperforming. Income here still rewards cyclical exposure and buyback-driven payouts over mega-cap tech weight.
Cambria Micro and SmallCap Shareholder Yield ETF (MYLD), up 27.08% YTD, yielding 2.0%, kept the category lead. Cambria Shareholder Yield ETF (SYLD), up 22.61% YTD, yielding 3.4%, and Eventide High Dividend ETF (ELCV), up 19.91% YTD, yielding 3.8%, held the next two spots. John Hancock U.S. High Dividend ETF (JHDV), up 19.63% YTD, yielding 3.6%, rounded out the top four. Investors chasing this leadership run can browse the full group on Dividend.com’s high dividend resource page.
Active Foreign Dividend (YTD Total Return: +18.13%)
Active Foreign Dividend cooled to 18.13% from 18.63% last week, even as a weaker dollar kept pulling capital into emerging-markets equities. The category still trails Active High Dividend, and that gap widened last week to more than a point after nearly closing last week.
WisdomTree Emerging Markets Quality Dividend Growth Fund (DGRE), up 26.91% YTD, yielding 1.4%, held the category lead. Abrdn Emerging Markets Dividend Active ETF (AGEM), up 26.44% YTD, yielding 1.9%, and Cambria Emerging Shareholder Yield ETF (EYLD), up 23.75% YTD, yielding 3.0%, held the next two spots. Cambria Foreign Shareholder Yield ETF (FYLD), up 22.46% YTD, yielding 3.5%, rounded out the top four. Those looking beyond U.S. borders for income can dig into the details on Dividend.com’s foreign dividend page.
Active Dividend Growth (YTD Total Return: +13.86%)
Active Dividend Growth climbed to 13.86% from 13.05% last week, extending the rotation into smaller, cyclical dividend payers that has lifted the category for weeks. This space still favors rising payouts over time rather than the highest current yield.
Freedom Day Dividend ETF (MBOX), up 21.87% YTD, yielding 2.0%, kept the category lead. RJ Eagle GCM Dividend Select Income ETF (RJDI), up 19.18% YTD, yielding 1.3%, and Bahl & Gaynor Small Cap Dividend ETF (SCDV), up 18.63% YTD, yielding 0.4%, held the next two spots. Altrius Global Dividend ETF (DIVD), up 17.97% YTD, yielding 2.7%, rounded out the top four. Investors seeking durable dividend growers can dig deeper on the Dividend Aristocrats page on Dividend.com.
Active Alternative Dividend (YTD Total Return: +9.99%)
Active Alternative Dividend slipped to 9.99% from 11.29% last week as a pause in the energy rally cooled the midstream MLP names that carry the category. Income here still flows from real-asset cash flows tied to energy and infrastructure rather than traditional dividends.
InfraCap MLP ETF (AMZA), up 30.45% YTD, yielding 8.3%, held the category lead. Invesco Optimum Yield Diversified Commodity Strategy No K-1 ETF (PDBC), up 30.04% YTD, yielding 3.2%, and Invesco SteelPath MLP & Energy Infrastructure ETF (PIPE), up 26.62% YTD, yielding 4.1%, held the next two spots. USCF Midstream Energy Income Fund (UMI), up 24.88% YTD, yielding 9.6%, rounded out the top four. Real-asset income investors can explore the full group on Dividend.com’s alternatives and REIT resource page.
Active Covered Call (YTD Total Return: +6.54%)
Active Covered Call fell to 6.54% from 7.65% last week even as a handful of single-stock option-income funds posted some of the sharpest gains on the scorecard, a sign of how far the category’s breadth diverges from its headline movers. AMD’s record second-quarter data center revenue and Moderna’s continued volatility kept fueling the funds tied most directly to those two stocks.
YieldMax AMD Option Income Strategy ETF (AMDY), up 90.28% YTD, with a distribution rate near 70.3%, kept the category lead after AMD’s data center revenue more than doubled year over year. YieldMax Target 12 Semiconductor Option Income ETF (SOXY), up 66.09% YTD, with a distribution rate near 12.0%, and YieldMax Semiconductor Portfolio Option Income ETF (CHPY), up 62.73% YTD, with a distribution rate near 40.5%, held the next two spots. YieldMax MRNA Option Income Strategy ETF (MRNY), up 60.78% YTD, with a distribution rate near 70.9%, rounded out the top four. A broader view of options-based income strategies is available in our covered call ETF guide.
Active Preferred Stock Dividend (YTD Total Return: +3.73%)
Active Preferred Stock Dividend staged the week’s sharpest turnaround, more than doubling to 3.73% from 1.82% last week as odds of a September Fed rate hike eased from levels priced in earlier in the week. This category remains the most rate-sensitive on the board.
Cohen & Steers Preferred and Income Opportunities Active ETF (CSPF), up 3.44% YTD, yielding 5.0%, held the category lead. First Trust Institutional Preferred Securities and Income ETF (FPEI), up 2.27% YTD, yielding 5.5%, and Virtus InfraCap U.S. Preferred Stock ETF (PFFA), up 1.91% YTD, yielding 9.7%, held the next two spots. Principal Spectrum Preferred Securities Active ETF (PREF), up 1.85% YTD, yielding 5.3%, rounded out the top four. A closer look at preferred income options is available through Dividend.com’s preferred securities resource.
Things to Watch
The category order held for a fifth straight week, but last week’s clean sweep gave way to a split: High Dividend, Dividend Growth, and Preferred Stock Dividend advanced, while Foreign Dividend, Alternative Dividend, and Covered Call gave back ground. Preferred Stock Dividend’s jump was the week’s biggest mover, but it hinges on rate expectations that could reverse quickly if inflation data revives September hike talk. Covered Call’s average also masks a split between a handful of AI-linked, single-stock option funds up more than 60% YTD and the broader diversified group that makes up most of the category.
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For more updates on income investing and past issues of this scorecard, visit the Dividend.com news section.
Past performance is not indicative of future results. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
