- Pays: monthly — the calm cadence in Defiance's daily-options lineup.
- First paid: April 2024 — every payment since is charted below.
- What it is: S&P 500 exposure plus daily credit call spreads, run to a 20% annual income target while keeping some upside participation.
- Fee: 0.92% gross expense ratio (issuer fund page).
- The comparison that matters: XPAY pays a similar rate from principal by design; SPYT tries to earn it from option premium first.
Target income means the managers sell only as much daily premium as a 20% rate requires — a throttled version of the WDTE engine. The target is not a guarantee, and at these rates share-price erosion remains the number to watch alongside the checks.
SPYT pays monthly. Each point below is one distribution since the fund began paying in April 2024.
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Each point is one payment; the line ends at the most recent payout. The table below totals them by year.
| Recent Ex-Dividend Dates | Distribution / Share |
|---|
"Next expected" is estimated from SPYT'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.
Defiance sells daily S&P 500 option spreads two ways: flat-out (WDTE, ~30% target, weekly checks) and throttled — SPYT, 20% target, monthly checks, more upside kept. Same engine, different redline. The gap between the two records is a live experiment in how hard this strategy can be pushed.
Cross-shop the whole 20%-payout tier: earned-premium SPYT, principal-by-design XPAY, and the steadier covered-call classic XYLD — any pair overlays on the compare tool.
| 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 SPYT's Next Ex-Dividend Date?
SPYT 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 SPYT's actual payment rhythm. Remember: you must own shares before the ex-dividend date to receive that payout.
SPYT's Record So Far
SPYT — the Defiance S&P 500 Income Target ETF — launched in March 2024 and has paid monthly since April 2024. The chart above shows every declared distribution.
The Middle Setting
The 20%-payout tier has become the proving ground for income engineering: managed distributions (XPAY), throttled daily spreads (SPYT), and classic monthly covered calls (XYLD) all now compete at similar headline rates with entirely different machinery. SPYT's bet is that daily 0DTE premium, harvested in moderation, can fund the rate with less erosion than selling monthly calls outright.
Reading the Chart Honestly
Watch whether the monthly per-share payments hold steady while the share price holds its ground — that pair, not the headline rate, is the sustainability test. The Erosion Index and compare tool keep both halves in view.
Compare It Against Anything
Same chart, two tickers, one honest overlay — payouts and price erosion side by side.
Compare Any Two Funds