Kurv's silver fund paid $7.70 in year one and still lagged the metal

The Kurv Silver Enhanced Income ETF CKSLV, which seeks a monthly payout and silver exposure through options, returned 22.9% from the close on September 30, 2025, the day after listing, to the close on Monday, September 28, 2026, with the payouts reinvested. The iShares Silver Trust ASLV, which holds physical silver, rose 29.7% over those same days. The fund's share price fell from $24.92 to $23.89.

At the launch, Kurv said the fund would seek to outperform the price return of physical silver, and to pay monthly income from options on silver funds.

"CKSLV is designed to capture the price appreciation potential while generating tax-efficient income on a non-cashflow asset," Howard Chan, Kurv's founder and chief executive, said when the fund listed.

The trust pays nothing, so its 29.7% rise is a price return. The fund's 22.9%, payouts reinvested, did not beat it.

From the September 30 close to the January 28 close, CKSLV returned 151.2% with payouts reinvested, against 149.2% for ASLV. From the January 28 close to the January 30 close, they fell together. The trust dropped 28.6% and the fund dropped 29.0%.

The fund fell behind in the months after that drop. From the January 30 close to Monday, it fell 31.1% with payouts reinvested. The trust fell 27.2%.

Kurv has named a second comparison, the UBS ETRACS Silver Shares Covered Call ETN, SLVO, a note linked to a covered-call index on silver. On the same days, with payouts reinvested, the fund's 22.9% beat the note's 19.7% by 3.2 percentage points.

What the fund holds

As of September 27, Treasury bills were 90% of the portfolio, and the fund held no shares of the silver funds. The exposure sat in options on ASLV and on the abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF ASIVR, which also holds physical silver.

Its prospectus says the fund can build that exposure with a bought call and a sold put on the same silver fund, and can sell calls without owning the shares. Those sold calls can limit the gain once the silver fund rises above a set price.

What the checks were made of

The twelve payments, one in each month from October 2025 through September 2026, total $7.70 a share. The monthly amount rose from $0.50 to $0.75, then was cut to $0.60 with the June payment, a 20% reduction. The four payments from June through September were $0.60.

As of August 31, Kurv's distribution rate, which takes the latest payout and stretches it across a year, was 25.95%. Its 30-day SEC yield, which measures recent income, was 2.79%.

For the August distribution, Kurv estimated that approximately 91% was a return of capital. The estimate is not the final tax treatment. Return of capital is not taxed as income when it is paid. It lowers the cost used to figure tax when the shares are sold.