Wall Street in Correction: Tap High-Income ETFs

The S&P 500 has entered correction territory on March 13, 2025 as all three major market indices declined in Thursday's session. The Nasdaq Composite had already entered this territory previously. Correction zone typically refers to a decline of 10% or more from a recent high (read: 4 Reasons to Buy the Dip in Nasdaq ETFs).

On March 13, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 200% tariff on alcoholic beverages from European Union nations after the EU reinstated levies on American whiskey. With Trump standing firm on tariffs despite a three-week market upheaval, investors are likely placing significant emphasis on the trade war at the moment.

Against this backdrop, we highlight below a few winning high-income exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that could offer some protection to your portfolio. Investors may be interested in securities that have the potential to offer decent capital appreciation as well as higher current income. Also, these securities provide investors with avenues to make up for capital losses if that happens at all. 

ETFs in Focus

Global X SuperDividend ETF SDIV

The underlying Solactive Global SuperDividend Index tracks the performance of 100 equally weighted companies that rank among the highest dividend-yielding equity securities in the world. The index provider applies certain dividend stability filters. The 120-stock ETF charges 58 bps in fees and yields 11.04% annually.

The fund has 32% exposure to the United States, followed by Hong Kong (14.5%), Britain (7.1%) and China (4.5%). Due to its extensive foreign exposure, the ETF SDIV has gained 0.6% this year compared with 5.7% losses seen in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY.

iShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF DVYE

The underlying Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend Index measures the performance of the companies in emerging market countries that have provided relatively high dividend yields on a consistent basis over time. The fund yields 11.16% annually and has gained about 6% this year. The fund charges 49 bps in fees.

SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF BIL

Short-term Treasury ETFs generally track a collection of short-term Treasury securities, focusing on bonds with shorter durations. These ETFs typically hold Treasuries that mature within a few months to a few years. During periods of high or rising inflation, they provide a balance of attractive yields and lower risk compared to long-term Treasury ETFs. The ETF BIL yields 4.86% annually and charges 14 bps in fees. BIL is up 0.1% so far this year (read: Why Are Investors Flocking to Money Market Funds?).

SPDR Bloomberg Short Term High Yield Bond ETF SJNK

The underlying Bloomberg US High Yield 350mn Cash Pay 0-5 Yr 2% Capped Index includes publicly issued U.S. dollar denominated, non-investment-grade, fixed rate, taxable corporate bonds that have a remaining maturity of less than 5 years regardless of optionality, are rated high-yield and have $350 million or more of issuance. The fund yields 7.44% annually and has lost only 0.9% this year. The fund charges 40 bps in fees.

Alerian MLP ETF AMLP

MLP ETFs have been performing greatly this year.Many of the MLPs have hit multiyear highs. The underlying Alerian MLP Infrastructure Index is capped, float-adjusted, capitalization-weighted composite of energy infrastructure Master Limited Partnerships that earn the majority of their cash flow from the transportation, storage, and processing of energy commodities. The ETF charges 85 bps in fees and yields 7.47% annually. The fund has gained 3.5% so far this year (as of March 13, 2025).

JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF JEPI

JEPI is a defensive equity portfolio that deploys a bottom-up fundamental research process with stock selection based on our proprietary risk-adjusted stock rankings. Disciplined options overlay implements written out-of-the-money (OTM) S&P 500 Index call options that seek to generate distributable monthly income. JEPI charges 35 bps in fees and yields 7.53% annually. JEPI has lost 2.3% in the year-to-date frame (read: High-Yield ETFs Face Off: JEPI Versus HIPS).

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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