My fund pays the same amount every month - where does it come from?

Many funds set a fixed payout and keep it whether or not the holdings earned that much. The fund tells you, in a notice each month, what the money was made of.

The papers call the policy a "managed distribution" and the monthly note a "Section 19(a) notice".

The fixed amount

The fund's board sets a payout per share - a fixed number of cents each month or quarter, or a percentage of the value of the holdings each year. The amount is kept steady even in months when the fund earned less. That steadiness is the point for many holders; the price of it is that the source of the money changes from month to month.

The monthly note

Each time it pays, the fund must estimate how much of the payout was income, how much came from gains on holdings it sold, and how much was simply your own money handed back. The estimate comes with the payment and is confirmed once a year in the yearly report. Our fund pages show the yearly split for three years.

When the amount changes

A cut is announced weeks ahead in a short filing and often moves the share price at once; a raise is announced the same way. The fund's page here lists those announcements with their dates, and an alert can tell you the day one is filed.

Payout notices filed in the last year

Only the funds that file their payout notices with the regulator appear here; most funds publish them on their own websites, which we do not read. Each line links to the announcement page. Checked Sept 18, 2026.

Check your own fund

Email me when this happens at a fund I own