LESSON 5.2 · CORE

Accumulation vs income units

The same fund, two share classes, two very different dashboards.

FUNDS, ETFS AND TRACKERS3 MIN READ

Many funds come in two versions, or share classes, holding exactly the same investments. Income units pay out the dividends the fund collects as a cash distribution, usually every quarter or every six months. Accumulation units keep that income inside the fund and reinvest it, so there's no payment and the unit price rises a little more instead. The name usually says which: Inc or Dist, or Acc.

On your dashboard they look very different. The app books each distribution from an income class into your Dividend Income. An accumulation class has no payments to book, so it shows nothing there and has no yield on cost, even though the income is still being earned and is sitting in the price. Outside an ISA or pension, that reinvested income is generally still taxable as if you'd received it.

Income units · distributions paid out as cashAccumulation units · income kept in, price rises instead

Same fund, same holdings. One shows up in Dividend Income; the other never does.

See which holdings pay into Dividend Income →

Educational content only. It is not personal financial advice.