- By the record: since December 16, 2021 the fund has made 57 payments; $3.32 per share arrived over the last twelve months, in 12 checks, versus $3.62 in the preceding year, down 8% — roughly 22% of the recent ~$15.42 share price. The single largest payment, $0.307, dates to December 2024.
- Pays: monthly — $0.2688 per share for July-September 2026, declared quarterly three months at a time.
- Paying since: 2021 — a 12-year term trust scheduled to dissolve around September 2033 (the board can extend up to 18 months, or offer to buy back all shares at NAV and convert to perpetual).
- The policy: a managed distribution under SEC exemptive order — 20% annualized of the trust's rolling 12-month average daily NAV, recalculated each quarter. Each reset simply re-measures the shrinking base — recent ones ticked down mechanically.
- What's in the check: about 93% return of capital in 2025; the most recent 19a-1 notice put the April-June 2026 payments at 87% ROC. No balanced ESG portfolio earns 20% a year, so each check contains scheduled principal — the erosion is the itinerary, not an accident.
- What it is: a go-anywhere BlackRock allocation trust (stocks, bonds, private investments; at least 80% of assets screened on ESG criteria) with a 1.25% management fee (~1.41% total) and essentially no borrowed leverage.
A discount-management program is active: if the average discount exceeds 10% over January-September 2026, the trust will tender for a portion of shares (the 2024 program triggered a 2.5% tender at 98% of NAV). An activist-driven proxy contest ran through 2025-26 — a governance risk on top of the structural ones.
ECAT pays monthly. The points below slope with the NAV they're carved from — five years of a fixed fraction applied to a spending base.
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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: $3.32 per share across 12 payments — down 8% from $3.62 in the 12 months before. What a change like that does to your income →
- Current pace: recent payments annualize to $3.28 — 1% below the trailing figure. When those two disagree, the trailing yield is quoting the past. Live cut & raise board →
- Share price, same 12 months: down 8% (dividends excluded) — income and principal are one story. Erosion Index →
- Record: 57 payments over 5 years; the largest single payment was $0.307 (Dec 2024).
- Payment drops ≥20% below trend, last 24 months: none. Get one short email if that changes →
- Payment steadiness: the last 12 checks wobble ±2% around their median. Compare that against any fund →
Every figure above is computed from ECAT'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 ECAT'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.
ECAT pays out 20% of its own value every year — roughly three times what a balanced portfolio earns — so most of each check is your capital returning, and the NAV declines on schedule. BlackRock documents this openly — the trust exists to convert itself into monthly cash and dissolve, ESG screens attached. Entry price versus NAV is the entire investment case, before and after everything else.
Its twin BCAT runs the identical policy; ADX is the 8% version and CLM the 21% version with rights offerings. Heavy ROC reshapes your tax basis every year — the Cost Basis Calculator models exactly how.
| 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 ECAT's Next Ex-Dividend Date?
ECAT 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 ECAT's actual payment rhythm. Remember: you must own shares before the ex-dividend date to receive that payout.
A Trust on a Timer
ECAT arrived in 2021 carrying an expiration date — a twelve-year term structure — and hasn't missed a monthly payment on the way to it. The gentle downslope above isn't weakness — it's a constant percentage applied to a base the policy deliberately spends.
Why a Balanced Fund Pays Twenty
A balanced portfolio might earn 6-9% a year over time; this trust pays 20%. BlackRock's own 19(a) notices label ~90% of recent checks return of capital — the paperwork saying 'this is your money back' in plain type. Buying below NAV means the wind-down returns dollars you bought for ninety cents; buying above it runs the same machine against you.
Reading the Chart Honestly
The quoted yield is noise here; NAV's direction and your entry discount do all the work. NAV total return is the honest metric; the compare tool lines ECAT against BCAT or anything gentler. Next expected date on the live calendar.
What separates ECAT from generic high-yield funds is that its endgame is printed on the tin. The ESG-screened portfolio underneath earns what balanced portfolios earn; the 20% policy rate is a withdrawal schedule, not a boast. Holders who bought at double-digit discounts in 2022-23 locked in the wind-down math at a bargain. Buyers at today's narrower discount are playing a tighter version of the same arbitrage.
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