Understanding the Angel Oak Income ETF (CARY)

The Angel Oak Income ETF (CARY) is an exchange-traded fund designed to provide income to investors. As of October 9, 2026, the ETF is trading at $20.18 per share.

What this ETF is trying to do

CARY focuses on providing regular distributions to its shareholders. While the specific investment strategy details are not listed in the provided data, the fund is categorized as an income-focused ETF.

What the numbers show

When looking at this ETF, it is important to distinguish between price return (how much the share price changed) and total return (the share price change plus the money paid out in distributions).

• Year-to-Date (YTD): The price return is -3.12%, meaning the share price has dropped since the start of the year. However, the YTD total return is 0.84%, which shows that distributions helped offset some of that price drop.

• One-Year Performance: The one-year price return was -3.49%, while the one-year total return was 2.26%.

• Three-Year Performance: Over the last three years, the price return was 0.52%, but the total return was significantly higher at 20.18%.

An estimated price from roughly one year ago was $20.91.

Income and distribution explanation

CARY provides regular cash payments to investors. The distribution yield is approximately 5.97%. This number describes the cash distributions relative to the current ETF price.

The fund typically pays out monthly, with 12 payments recorded over the last year. Most of these distributions have been paid out on Fridays. It is important to remember that a high distribution yield does not guarantee that an investor will earn that same percentage as a total return.

NAV erosion explanation

"NAV erosion" refers to a decline in the Net Asset Value (the actual value of the fund's underlying assets). The supplied data is sufficient to evaluate price erosion, but it does not include enough historical NAV-per-share data to confirm or rule out NAV erosion.

However, we can look at the erosion-risk score. CARY has an erosion score of 94, which is labeled as "Stable / sideways." The erosion severity is described as "good," and there is no severe erosion-risk flag present.

Pros

• Total Returns: The total return figures (such as the 20.18% three-year return) are higher than the price-only returns, showing that distributions add value.

• Income Consistency: The fund has a history of monthly distributions.

• Stability Score: The erosion-risk score suggests the price movement has been relatively stable or sideways rather than in a sharp decline.

Cons

• Price Declines: The share price has seen recent declines, with negative price returns for both the year-to-date and one-year periods.

• Yield vs. Price: Investors should note that the share price has fallen even while the fund pays out distributions.

Beginner takeaway

For those researching CARY, the main takeaway is the difference between price and total return. While the share price itself has decreased recently, the distributions provided by the fund have helped create a positive total return over the one-year and three-year periods. Always remember that high yields are not a guarantee of overall profit, especially if the share price is declining.