Why These Funds Offer High Income Without High Anxiety The four ETFs below earn their yield from real cash flows, and not from financial wizardry or crazy math. On the plus side, they own a large number of companies that do well with generating steady income, such as REITs, energy infrastructure, banks, utilities, banks, and other dividend heavyweights. The big takeaway here is that diversification matters, and it's how you balance out risk with profit potential.