If you’re a dividend stock investor, things are finally looking better for you in 2026.
After three straight years of underperformance in a market dominated by large-cap tech, dividend stocks have finally swung back into favor. One exchange-traded fund (ETF), the WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend ETF, is outperforming the S&P 500 by about 5% year to date on the heels of leadership from value and defensive stocks.
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But dividend yields are still pretty thin. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF is only yielding about 1.1%. If you focus more on high yield stocks, you can capture something in the 3% to 4% range. To find something higher than that, you have to consider more niche and unique strategies.
Income investors have been looking into various strategies for high yields. Here are four ETFs that have drawn positive net inflows over the past three months and the past year, but have yet to really capture the market’s attention.
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The JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF(NYSEMKT: JEPI) was one of the biggest success stories of the 2022 bear market. As yields began soaring and fixed income was delivering double-digit losses, covered-call strategies emerged as an alternative to bonds. With yields pushing 10% or higher, they soon drew billions of dollars of investor money.
This fund’s returns have cooled off over the past couple of years during the AI boom, but investor interest hasn’t waned. It’s up to more than $43 billion in assets and has taken in net new money of $2.3 billion in 2026 alone. It has a current yield of 7.6%.
The JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF is built on a portfolio of low-volatility stocks, so it’s made for an environment like the one we’re seeing now. It worked well in 2022, and it could work again in 2026.
The JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF(NASDAQ: JEPQ) is essentially the Nasdaq 100 version of the fund above. It was just launched in 2022, but it caught the popularity wave of its sister fund and then captured further buying interest due to the bull market in tech stocks. It offers a current yield of 11.4%.
That higher yield is a product of the higher volatility that comes from the Nasdaq 100 stocks compared to a portfolio of low-volatility stocks. If the major U.S. indexes continue meandering sideways, as they have in 2026, it could be the kind of environment where we see the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF actually outperform the Invesco QQQ ETF.
The Global X SuperDividend ETF(NYSEMKT: SDIV) is about as pure of a high-yield equity play as you’ll find. Its strategy is simple: Include the 100 highest-yielding equity securities in the world (subject to minimum liquidity and tradable potential). Outside of that, it places almost no restrictions on what can make the cut.
What you end up with is a portfolio that’s heavy in financials (32%), real estate investment trusts (20%), and energy (18%). It’s also very diversified globally. The U.S., developed markets, and emerging markets all have nearly equal allocations of one-third each. It has a current yield of 7.3%.
Over the past year, investors have loved this fund. It has experienced 14 consecutive months of net inflows, including $60 million so far in March 2026. If that number holds, it would be the biggest monthly net inflow in 12 years.
The VanEck BDC Income ETF(NYSEMKT: BIZD) is a fund that investors keep dipping their toes into, but it should come with a big warning. This fund invests in business development companies (BDCs), and that means heavy exposure to private credit.
Its three biggest holdings are Ares Capital, Blue Owl Capital, and the Blackstone Secured Lending Fund. Blue Owl, in particular, has been in the news a lot lately for freezing investor capital and halting redemption requests. There can be plenty of potential with this segment of the market, but private credit can be illiquid and risky, as many investors are finding out right now.
The VanEck BDC Income ETF has an attractive yield of 9.6%, but be careful about getting too aggressive with the yield hunting here.
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David Dierking has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Ares Capital and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
