How does SVOL make money?

By holding a short position in VIX futures at roughly -0.2x to -0.3x exposure. VIX futures usually trade above the eventual realized level of volatility (the volatility risk premium), so a systematic short harvests that gap month after month — and the fund holds option hedges for the months when fear wins.

Is SVOL another XIV waiting to blow up?

It's built explicitly not to be. XIV ran -1x exposure with no hedge and died in a single evening in 2018 when the VIX doubled. SVOL runs roughly a quarter of that exposure with spike hedges attached — designed so the same event is a drawdown, not a termination. The premium it harvests is the same one; the dosage is the difference.

How often does SVOL pay dividends?

Monthly, and it has paid since September 2021 — a record that includes the 2022 bear market and several volatility spikes.

What is SVOL's expense ratio?

0.66%, per the issuer's fund page.

SVOL Dividend History & Next Ex-Dividend Date

Q: When is SVOL's next ex-dividend date?

SVOL pays monthly, so the next ex-dividend date typically falls about a month after the previous one. Exact dates are announced by the fund shortly before each payout. This page computes the expected window from SVOL's live payment data and shows the most recent ex-dividend dates and amounts. You must own shares before the ex-dividend date to receive that payout.

← All dividend history charts

SVOL Distribution — Quick Facts

Pays: monthly.
First paid: September 2021 — every payment since is charted below.
What it is: a short position in VIX futures at roughly -0.2x to -0.3x — deliberately small — harvesting the volatility risk premium, with option hedges held against volatility spikes.
Fee: 0.66% expense ratio (issuer fund page).
The lineage: the strategy that blew up XIV in 2018, rebuilt at one-quarter the size with insurance attached.

Shorting volatility earns a real, persistent premium — the market chronically overpays for crash protection — and occasionally hands the seller a catastrophic bill. SVOL's whole design is dosage: -0.2x to -0.3x exposure plus hedges, so a 2018-style VIX spike bruises instead of erases. The record above includes real spikes; read it.

Every Distribution Payment, Over Time

SVOL pays monthly. Each point below is one distribution since the fund began paying in September 2021.

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SVOL Payment Schedule & Next Ex-Dividend Date

Recent Ex-Dividend Dates	Distribution / Share

"Next expected" is estimated from SVOL'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.

Selling Insurance on the Whole Market

Every option-income fund on this site sells insurance on something — a stock's rally, an index's calm. SVOL sells the purest form: it shorts VIX futures, collecting the premium the world pays to hedge fear itself. Most months that's the most reliable premium in finance; in a true panic it's the most dangerous, which is why SVOL runs at a fraction of full exposure with hedges on.

Its record — through 2022's bear market and multiple VIX spikes — is the category's best stress documentation. See how the payouts held on the payout statistics board, and overlay it against equity-income funds on the compare tool.

Year-by-Year Table

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.

When Is SVOL's Next Ex-Dividend Date?

SVOL 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 SVOL's actual payment rhythm. Remember: you must own shares before the ex-dividend date to receive that payout.

SVOL's Record So Far

SVOL — the Simplify Volatility Premium ETF — launched in May 2021 and has paid monthly since September 2021. The chart above shows every declared distribution, spanning several genuine volatility events.

The Premium Everyone Pays and Few Collect

Portfolio insurance is systematically overpriced — investors pay up for VIX hedges the way homeowners overpay for coverage, and the sellers pocket the difference. SVOL institutionalizes the selling side at deliberately timid size. The result is an income stream uncorrelated with dividend cuts or option-premium cycles: its risk isn't a company's earnings, it's the speed of the next panic.

Reading the Chart Honestly

Judge SVOL by its behavior in the worst weeks on the chart, not the best — the months around VIX spikes are the whole story compressed. And treat position sizing the way the fund itself does: useful as a diversifier, dangerous as a core holding. Overlay it on the compare tool to see how differently it moves from everything else here.

Compare It Against Anything

Same chart, two tickers, one honest overlay — payouts and price erosion side by side.

Compare Any Two Funds

Educational content only — not financial advice. Payout history is provided by a third-party data source and may contain errors, omissions, or delays; verify against official sources before relying on it. Past distributions do not guarantee future payments. This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.