- Pays: monthly — $0.1176 per share for every month of 2026, declared through December.
- The policy: a managed distribution equal to 21% of the fund's NAV on the last business day of October, divided into twelve monthly payments and reset each January. The 2026 rate came from October 2025's NAV; the board has already reaffirmed 21% for 2027.
- The 2026 reset: $0.1168 (2025) → $0.1176 (2026) — a slight increase, because October 2025's NAV was a touch higher than October 2024's.
- What's in the check: the July 2026 notice estimated about 79% return of capital ($0.0929 of $0.1176); fiscal 2025 was ~56% ROC. Distributions aren't tied to what the fund earned.
- Rights offerings: 1-for-3 offerings in 2022 and May 2025 ($229.5M raised), and a new 1-for-3 offering registered August 14, 2026 — dates not yet set.
CRF holds a portfolio of other closed-end funds and ETFs plus large-cap stocks, uses no leverage of its own, and charges about 1.13-1.18% in expenses. The shares have traded at a persistent premium to NAV (persistently in recent years per the sponsor); the sponsor's own filings warn distributions can exceed earnings and erode NAV, and that a rights offering may shrink the premium.
CRF pays monthly. Each point below is one distribution since 1987 — the amount steps once a year, in January, because the policy resets 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: $1.41 per share across 12 payments — up 6% from $1.33 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 $1.42 — 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: 351 payments over 39 years; the largest single payment was $4.47 (Dec 1993), 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 CRF'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 CRF'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.
Cornerstone's funds pay a fixed percentage of net asset value rather than a fixed dollar amount, so the monthly check rises and falls with the fund's own value each January. Pay 21% a year from a portfolio that earns far less, and the NAV must shrink — which is why the sponsor periodically sells new shares through rights offerings at a premium to NAV, replenishing the base. The structure works as long as buyers keep paying the premium; the August 2026 filing for another offering is that machine running again.
The sister fund CLM runs the identical policy; XPAY is the ETF-world version of a payout set by percentage. Track the return-of-capital effect on your basis with the Cost Basis Calculator.
| 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 CRF's Next Ex-Dividend Date?
CRF pays monthly. 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 CRF's actual payment rhythm. Remember: you must own shares before the ex-dividend date to receive that payout.
The January Staircase
Cornerstone Total Return has paid monthly since 1987 — one of the longest monthly records anywhere, and the chart's signature is the once-a-year step each January when the distribution resets to 21% of the prior October's NAV. The 2026 rate is $0.1176; the sponsor's own August 2026 illustration implies a 2027 rate near $0.1068 if NAV stays at mid-2026 levels — a reminder that the check follows the fund's value, in both directions.
How the Machine Sustains Itself
No diversified portfolio of funds and stocks earns 21% a year, so the policy is explicitly a distribution of capital as well as income — the 19(a) notices say so every month. The NAV would simply decline toward zero except for the rights offerings, which sell new shares above NAV to investors who value the payout, rebuilding the base. It's a durable design for as long as the premium persists; it's a different investment from an income fund that pays only what it earns.
Reading the Chart Honestly
Treat the monthly amount as a withdrawal rate, not a yield, and judge CRF on total return on NAV plus the premium you pay. For a percentage-of-NAV payout without rights offerings, see BCAT and ADX; for the ETF version, XPAY. Next expected date on the live calendar.
Heavy Return-of-Capital Fund? Track Your Real Cost Basis
Distributions classified as return of capital lower your cost basis and change your tax bill when you sell. Our free calculator does the lot-by-lot math.
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