3 High-Yield Dividend ETFs That Will Perform the Best in 2026

Income investing has taken on renewed urgency as we move deeper into 2026. High-yield dividend ETFs like the FT Vest S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Target Income ETF (BATS:KNG), Amplify CWP Enhanced Dividend Income ETF (NYSEARCA:DIVO), and Invesco High Yield Equity Dividend Achievers ETF (NASDAQ:PEY) can perform better than expected as interest rates come down.

Investors with long-term plans are looking at higher-yielding assets because these are the ones that are positioned to perform the best when interest rates decline. The market tends to get hungry for yield when inflation is high, and Treasuries no longer yield a healthy amount. Right now, inflation is barely tolerable, and Treasury yields are holding up. However, prolonged rate cuts will lead to a thirst for more yield, and Wall Street will have nowhere but the market to turn to in order to quench that thirst.

Here are three ETFs to look into if you want to buy ahead of the herd.

FT Vest S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Target Income ETF (KNG)

The FT Vest S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Target Income ETF is an income machine that uses elite dividend stocks plus a covered call overlay to squeeze out an exceptionally high yield. It tracks the Cboe S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Target Income Index, which produces an annual dividend yield significantly higher than the S&P 500.

The “Dividend Aristocrats” component is what gives KNG its quality backbone. These are S&P 500 companies that have increased their dividends every year for at least 25 consecutive years. You’ll find names like Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW), S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI), Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB), and CH Robinson (NASDAQ:CHRW).

The catch is that you don’t capture as much upside, and you get more of the downside risk. Capital appreciation is very muted, with the ETF up just 7.66% over the past five years. That said, it makes up for a very strong income vehicle since very few ETFs give you a high monthly yield with baked-in resilience comparable to the S&P 500.

KNG has an 8% dividend yield and an expense ratio of 0.75%. Dividends are distributed monthly.

Amplify CWP Enhanced Dividend Income ETF (DIVO)

The Amplify CWP Enhanced Dividend Income ETF is an actively managed ETF that blends a curated portfolio of blue-chip, dividend-growing stocks with a tactical covered call strategy. DIVO is special since, while it uses covered calls to derive more income, it does so sensibly.

Unlike other covered call ETFs, DIVO does not go all-in on the income component. Instead, it holds a concentrated portfolio and then uses the covered call strategy on just a portion of its portfolio. This lets the rest of the portfolio capture upside while the income portion does its job and generates dividends.

This strategy has ended up working very well over the past few years. DIVO is now one of the most popular ETFs, with a dividend yield of 6.13% and an expense ratio of 0.56%.

Invesco High Yield Equity Dividend Achievers ETF (PEY)

If covered call ETFs turn you off, you’re still in luck. The Invesco High Yield Equity Dividend Achievers ETF manages to get you a 4.43% dividend yield that it distributes monthly. PEY has been one of the most consistent names since 2010.

It tracks the Nasdaq U.S. Dividend Achievers 50 Index, which handpicks 50 U.S. companies that have raised their dividends for at least 10 consecutive years and weights them by yield. That’s why it has managed to deliver both a high yield and upside.

If you want to minimize tech in your portfolio, this is also a great way to do so. Many dividend ETFs are significantly exposed to the tech sector, but this leads to overlapping exposure if you already have growth stocks in your portfolio. PEY has just 2.79% tech exposure. The lack of tech holdings has made it very resilient during selloffs.

The expense ratio is 0.54%.