- Pays: monthly — 289 distributions on our chart since August 2002; the current checks are $0.122.
- How the amount is set: by formula, not earnings — each year's monthly payout equals 21% of the fund's end-of-October net asset value, divided by twelve. The board held the 21% for both 2026 and 2027 (announced August 17, 2026).
- Cornerstone's own words: the distributions "do not represent yield or investment return" — much of each check is simply the fund handing back capital.
- The splits: two 1:4 reverse splits (December 2008 and December 2014) — the oldest payments on this chart display sixteen times larger than holders received.
- Yield context: trailing payments of $1.46 per share are about 21.8% of the recent ~$6.72 price — arithmetic guaranteed by the policy, not by performance.
CLM's "yield" is unlike anything else we chart: it's a policy output. The fund pays 21% of NAV regardless of what its portfolio earned, which means in most years it distributes far more than it makes and shrinks its own NAV doing so — the two reverse splits are that arithmetic compounding over decades. A high, fixed, guaranteed-looking monthly check and a long-term declining asset base are the same design, working as intended.
Each point is one monthly CLM distribution since August 2002, in post-split terms. The stair-steps are annual policy resets — each January the check re-levels to 21% of the prior October's NAV.
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Each point is one payment; the line ends at the most recent payout. The table below totals them by year.
- Trailing 12 months: $1.46 per share across 12 payments — up 5% from $1.40 in the 12 months before (split-adjusted, in today's share terms). What a change like that does to your income →
- Current pace: recent payments annualize to $1.46 — 0% above the trailing figure. When those two disagree, the trailing yield is quoting the past. Live cut & raise board →
- Share price, same 12 months: down 18% (dividends excluded) — income and principal are one story. Erosion Index →
- Record: 289 payments over 24 years; the largest single payment was $3.91 (Oct 2002), split-adjusted.
- Payment drops ≥20% below trend, last 24 months: none. Get one short email if that changes →
- Payment steadiness: the last 12 checks wobble ±0% around their median. Compare that against any fund →
Every figure above is computed from CLM's actual payment record and share-price history as of the date shown — not copied from a fact sheet. Recomputed regularly; the chart above always shows the live data.
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| Recent Ex-Dividend Dates | Distribution / Share |
|---|
"Next expected" is estimated from CLM's recent payment rhythm — the fund announces exact dates shortly before each payout, and the data feed can lag a few days. You must own shares before the ex-dividend date to receive that payout; the cash typically arrives days later. See every fund's upcoming date on the live dividend calendar.
A real total-return estimate, assuming every payout was reinvested — including what happened to the share price. Before taxes and fees. Past performance does not predict the future.
Most funds' distributions report what happened; CLM's announce a decision. Every year the board takes 21% of October's net asset value, divides by twelve, and that's the monthly check — currently $0.122 — irrespective of earnings. Cornerstone says plainly that the payouts "do not represent yield or investment return." When the portfolio earns less than 21% (most years), the difference is the holder's own capital coming back, and NAV ratchets down — the force behind the 1:4 reverse splits of 2008 and 2014.
Its sibling CRF runs the identical policy; for a managed-distribution CEF with a different engine, see GOF. Before buying any of them, check the premium to NAV — paying $1.20 for $1.00 of assets makes the 21% policy return your own money at a loss. The compare tool shows the long-term price cost.
| Year | Total Distributions / Share | Payments | Change vs Prior Year |
|---|
Data source: Yahoo Finance. Figures are per share; the current year may be partial and figures should be verified against official sources.
Calculated from complete calendar years in the data above. Past results don't guarantee future payments.
When Is CLM's Next Ex-Dividend Date?
CLM pays monthly — a fixed amount, reset every year at 21% of NAV. The exact date of each payout is announced by the fund only shortly beforehand, so no site can promise the next date — but the live schedule box above shows the most recent ex-dividend date and the expected window for the next one, computed from CLM's actual payment rhythm. Remember: you must own shares before the ex-dividend date to receive that payout.
The Fund That Votes on Its Own Yield
CLM is a closed-end fund with a managed distribution plan that makes every other payout on this site look improvised: once a year, its board sets the next year's monthly check at 21% of the end-of-October net asset value — a percentage it has just reaffirmed through 2027. Our chart holds 289 monthly distributions back to August 2002, currently $0.122 apiece, totaling $1.46 per share over the trailing year — about 21.8% of the recent $6.72 share price, exactly as the formula intends.
What the Policy Does to the Fund
A portfolio of global equities rarely earns 21% in a year, so most years the fund pays out more than it makes and the balance comes from principal — Cornerstone's own releases state the distributions are not tied to income or gains and "do not represent yield." Run that arithmetic for two decades and you get this record's fingerprints: a long-declining NAV punctuated by 1:4 reverse splits in 2008 and 2014, annual stair-steps in the payment line as each January resets the check, and — in good markets — genuine increases, like the trailing year's 5% rise, when a strong October NAV feeds the formula.
The Two Numbers to Check Before Buying
First, the premium: CLM's shares have a history of trading above net asset value, and every dollar of premium paid is a dollar the 21% policy will hand back at par. Second, the direction of NAV, which decides whether next year's check steps up or down. The By-the-Numbers block above tracks the payment side from the live record; the Erosion Index and the compare tool — especially against CRF, which runs the same policy — show the rest of the story.
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