JEPI dividend history, schedule and yield (2026)

JEPI at a glance

Dividend yield

8.0%

Paid last 12 months

$4.56 / share

Pays dividends

monthly

Expense ratio

0.35%

Fund size

$45.2 billion

Average per year since 2020

+11.1%

Yield, expense ratio, fund size and total return from the TopDividendETFsPRO database, updated November 9, 2026. Per-share payments from StockAnalysis (S&P Global Market Intelligence data), through the November 2026 payment.

The JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF launched on May 20, 2020, and it's the fund that kicked off the whole "option income ETF" wave. It's now one of the biggest income ETFs in the world, and for good reason: it takes a basket of S&P 500 stocks and turns it into a monthly paycheck.

A lot of people find $JEPI because they own its younger Nasdaq sibling. If that's you, I already covered JEPQ's dividend history and schedule. $JEPI is the calmer version, and its numbers tell a different story.

JEPI dividend schedule for 2026

Here's every $JEPI payment so far this year. You need to own shares before the ex-dividend date to get paid, and the cash hits your account on the pay date:

Same quirk as $JEPQ: the "January" dividend goes ex-dividend on the last trading day of December. Count by ex-date and December has two payments while January has none. Count by the day the cash lands and you get exactly one every month.

When is the next JEPI dividend?

$JEPI runs like clockwork. It goes ex-dividend on the first business day of the month and pays two to four business days later. The November payment was $0.34683 per share, ex-dividend Monday, November 2 and paid Wednesday, November 4, 2026. That's up about 1.6% from October's $0.34134, which was the smallest check of the year.

December 1, 2026 is a Tuesday, so the next ex-date should be Tuesday, December 1, 2026, with the cash around December 3. Then expect one more ex-date in the final trading days of December for the January check. Nobody knows the December amount yet. J.P. Morgan only announces it right before the ex-date, because it depends on what the options actually earned.

JEPI dividend history: why the payout fell after 2022

Here's what $JEPI paid per share each calendar year, counted by ex-dividend date:

This table is the most important thing on the page, so let me be blunt about it. 2022 was a brutal year for stocks, volatility was sky high, and option premiums were huge. $JEPI paid $6.36 a share. When markets calmed down in 2023 and 2024, the payout dropped by about a third.

That's not the fund breaking. That's the fund working exactly as designed. The income comes from selling options, and options pay more when people are scared. If you bought $JEPI in 2022 expecting a 10%+ yield forever, you got a lesson in how this strategy works.

The last three years have been far more stable: $4.62, $4.22, $4.72, and about $4.56 over the last 12 months. That's the range I'd plan around. Not the 2022 number.

And this is not dividend growth. Funds like $SCHD and $VIG raise their payouts because the companies inside raise theirs. $JEPI's check moves with the option market. Two completely different engines.

Why JEPI's dividend changes every month

To understand the check, you need to know where the money comes from. $JEPI has two parts:

• A defensive stock portfolio from the S&P 500. The managers pick a diversified basket of large companies, leaning toward lower volatility and value. It does not look like $VOO. It's lighter on the mega cap tech names and heavier on steadier businesses.
• Equity-linked notes (ELNs), up to 20% of the fund. The notes sell out-of-the-money call options on the S&P 500 index and pass the option premium back to the fund. That premium is most of your monthly check, with the stocks' own dividends adding a smaller slice.

When volatility jumps, calls get expensive and $JEPI collects more. When markets drift higher quietly, premiums shrink and so does the payout. That's why you can see $0.34 in October and $0.45 in May of the same year.

This is the part most people miss: you're trading upside for income. In a big bull market, $JEPI will lag the S&P 500, sometimes by a lot. The other side of that coin is that it tends to hold up better when the market falls. If you want a smoother ride and a monthly check, that's a fair trade. If you want maximum growth, it isn't.

The good news: the TopDividendETFsPRO database shows price decay: none for $JEPI, and a total return of +98% since launch with dividends reinvested. Compare that to older covered call funds like $XYLD that sell calls on the whole index and have seen the share price slide over time.

Are JEPI dividends qualified?

Mostly no. The option premium that flows through the ELNs is generally taxed as ordinary income, at the same rate as your paycheck. A portion from the stocks' own dividends can be qualified, but it's the minority of the payout. The exact split changes every year, so check Box 1a versus 1b on your 1099-DIV.

That's why a lot of income investors hold $JEPI in an IRA or Roth, and keep qualified payers like $SCHD or $DGRO in taxable accounts. (I broke down why DGRO's dividends are qualified if you want the contrast.)

One more thing. Funds like $SPYI and $QQQI sell index options directly, which can get 60/40 tax treatment under Section 1256 and sometimes return of capital. That's a real after-tax difference in a taxable account. In an IRA, it doesn't matter.

How much does $10,000 in JEPI pay per month?

At today's yield of 8.0%, here's what $10,000 in $JEPI would pay if the yield held for a year:

If your goal is $1,000 a month from $JEPI alone, you'd need roughly $150,000 invested at today's yield. Some months you'd get a bit more, some a bit less.

Here's how I think about it. If you're living off the income, $JEPI is one of the most battle-tested monthly payers out there. If you're still building, reinvest every check. Each one buys more shares that pay you next month. With dividends reinvested, $10,000 at launch would be worth around $19,800 today.

JEPI vs JEPQ, SPYI, GPIX and SCHD

Most people looking at $JEPI are cross-shopping the same handful of funds. Same $10,000 in each:

A few things stand out. $JEPQ pays more because Nasdaq options are pricier, but it swings more too. $SPYI pays more and has the tax edge I mentioned, at almost double the fee; my SPYI review covers how it works. $GPIX is the cheapest of the group, but its track record is short and was built in a great market. And $SCHD is a totally different animal: lower income today, but a payout that grows.

Want to see how these actually compared over the same time period? My sister site ETFTotalReturns.com has JEPI vs JEPQ total returns side by side, and MonthlyETFs.com tracks every monthly payer.

My take: who JEPI is for

I've been building dividend income for more than ten years, and $JEPI is one of the funds that made monthly option income mainstream. It's not exciting. That's kind of the point.

• If you're living off your portfolio: $JEPI is a solid core monthly payer with a defensive tilt and no price decay so far. Plan around $4 to $5 a share per year, not the 2022 number.
• If you're early and building: reinvest, and know that a plain S&P 500 fund will very likely beat it in a long bull market. Many people pair a growth core like $VOO or $SCHD with a slice of $JEPI for cash flow.
• If it's in a taxable account: most of the income is taxed as ordinary income. An IRA is usually the better home.

What I'd avoid is chasing whichever option fund has the biggest yield this month. A yield is only half the story. I look at the 12-month payout, the total return and price decay together, and that's exactly why I built TopDividendETFsPRO.

Sources

• StockAnalysis: JEPI dividend history (ex-dates, pay dates and amounts, S&P Global Market Intelligence data, checked November 10, 2026)
• J.P. Morgan Asset Management: JEPI fund page (strategy, ELN structure, launch date, expense ratio)
• StockAnalysis: JEPI overview (price, holdings, fund facts)
• Live yield, total return, fund size, price decay and expense ratios: TopDividendETFsPRO.com database

This article is for education only and is not financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Do your own research and read the fund's prospectus before investing, and talk to a tax professional about your own situation. Yields, payments and returns change, and past performance does not guarantee future results. Dividend payments as of November 10, 2026; live numbers update daily.