The 8 Best Income Funds for a Scared Market

If 2017 was the year without fear, 2018 feels like the year of ... well, fear. And that means investors should have income funds and other dividend strategies at the top of their minds right now.

The CBOE Volatility Index - aka "the VIX," aka "the fear index" - exploded earlier this year from less than 10 to more than 37. That occurred about a month into 2018 as the stock market fell to multimonth lows. The VIX spiked again in March and has remained elevated - at least compared to last year - since then. The market itself, meanwhile, is barely clinging on to fractional gains.

This has been a frustrating year for investors in search for direction. But those who have put income strategies to work likely have stomached the process with a little more ease. Don Wilson, CIO of Atlanta-based investment company Brightworth, says flat and down markets are a good time to put lower-risk, higher-quality income strategies to work. "In down markets, conservative, boring, higher quality and lower-yielding bonds usually hold up much better than higher yielding and lower quality investments," he says.

Certain income funds not only provide dividends to help