For August, the Income Bucket generated a 13.95% annualized yield. A bit of a return to normal.
I use the phrase "back to normal" somewhat carefully, because there isn't much that's normal about generating nearly 14% annualized income.
And importantly, the objective isn't to chase the highest possible yield.
The goal is to build diversified sources of cash flow across different investments, managers, markets, and structures. August was another month where that process continued.
Private Real Estate
Private real estate remains one of the foundational pieces of the Income Bucket.
Current holdings include:
- BREIT — Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust
- GCREIT — Nuveen Global Cities REIT
These investments provide exposure to institutional-quality real estate across different property types and geographic markets.
Their role is fairly straightforward: generate income from underlying real assets while providing a source of return that doesn't depend entirely on the daily movements of public markets.
Private real estate isn't the highest-yielding part of the portfolio, and it doesn't need to be.
Within a portfolio containing higher-yielding structured investments and private credit, I like having part of the income stream tied to rents, leases, and physical assets.
Private Credit
Private credit continues to be one of the areas where the Income Bucket has evolved the most during 2026.
Current holdings include:
- BCRED — Blackstone Private Credit Fund
- OCIC — Blue Owl Credit Income Company
- CTAC — Carlyle Tactical Private Credit Fund
- CAPIX — Calamos Aksia Alternative Credit and Income Fund
- NABFX — Neuberger Asset-Based Credit Fund
- OWLCX — Blue Owl Alternative Credit Fund
- NAIFX — Nomura Alternative Income Fund
Earlier in the year, I wrote about adding several new private credit strategies. We're now getting to see those investments settle into the portfolio and begin doing the jobs they were selected to do.
More importantly, we've diversified what "private credit" means inside the portfolio.
Some of these strategies focus heavily on traditional senior secured corporate lending. Others provide exposure to asset-based finance, specialty lending, consumer credit, real estate credit, and other areas of the private markets.
That's an important evolution.
Owning seven private credit funds wouldn't accomplish much if all seven were making essentially the same loans. The objective is to diversify not only among managers, but among the actual sources of income and credit risk underneath them.
August continued to reinforce that approach.
ETFs
The ETF sleeve remains the liquid component of the Income Bucket.
Current holdings include:
- PCMM
- QQQI
- CAIE
- CAIQ
Each generates income differently.
QQQI uses an options-based approach. PCMM provides exposure to private credit through CLO structures. CAIE and CAIQ use portfolios of structured investments designed to generate income from equity markets.
That gives the ETF sleeve a different role than either private real estate or private credit.
These investments provide daily liquidity while still contributing meaningful income, which gives us flexibility when capital needs to be moved or new opportunities emerge elsewhere in the portfolio.
I think that liquidity is particularly important when the rest of the Income Bucket contains investments intentionally designed to be held for longer periods.
Structured Income Notes
Structured income notes remain the most actively managed portion of the Income Bucket.
These investments are constantly moving through their individual life cycles. Coupons are paid, observation dates arrive, notes are called, positions mature, and proceeds are redeployed into new opportunities.
In August there were 4 notes called and 1 that matured. We were able to replace with very similar structures and yields.
Closing Thoughts
August was, in many ways, a return to normal for the Income Bucket.
The portfolio generated a 13.95% annualized yield, with income continuing to come from private real estate, private credit, ETFs, and structured income notes.
But underneath a relatively normal monthly number, the portfolio continues to evolve.
The private credit sleeve is broader than it was at the beginning of the year. The ETF sleeve continues to provide liquidity. Structured notes continue moving through their call and maturity cycles. And private real estate remains a relatively steady foundation underneath the portfolio.
That's ultimately what I'm trying to build.
Not the highest yield in any individual month, but multiple sources of meaningful income that can work together across different market environments.
1. https://www.breit.com/performance/
2. https://www.nuveen.com/gcreit/performance
3. https://www.bcred.com/performance
4. https://www.carlyle.com/ctac
6. https://www.acprivatemarkets.com/funds/capix/
7. https://www.nb.com/products/interval-funds/asset-based-credit-fund?nbmi=4189
8. https://wealth.blueowl.com/solutions-product-owlcx
9. /https://funds.nomuracapitalmanagement.com/
10. https://bondbloxxetf.com/bondbloxx-private-credit-clo-etf/
11. https://neosfunds.com/qqqi/
12. https://www.calamos.com/funds/etf/calamos-autocallable-income-caie/
13. https://www.calamos.com/funds/etf/calamos-nasdaq-autocallable-income-caiq/
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