Public snapshot
CSQ Income Quality Score
Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund (CSQ) has an Income Quality Score of 90/100, classified as a Friend with high confidence, based on a 10-year income and total-return history.
Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund (CSQ) is a closed-end fund and is part of the IQ Score universe.
This is the public July 2026 snapshot. Public snapshots are delayed and frozen: once released, a month's scores do not change, and current data is reserved for members. The July 2026 snapshot is published as the public launch snapshot.
Get a free monthly email as new public IQ Score snapshots are released — new Friends, downgrades and distribution changes across the income universe.
IQ Score History
Reconstructed monthly scores are computed from current data and methodology. Published snapshots are the frozen monthly releases, marked on the line. Where the methodology changed, the line is broken rather than joined across the change.
Signals & Drivers
IQ signal scores
Each signal is normalised to 0–100 and combined by weight into the overall IQ Score.
What is working
- Economic return covers long-term payout
- Working capital preserved over time
- No material annual distribution decline across 10 full years of data
- Stable NAV over available history
Distribution Safety
High confidence (10-year history)
- 20040.6Held
- 20051.035Raised
- 20061.17Raised
- 20071.2198Raised
- 20081.1475Lower total
- 20090.7825Lower total
- 20100.63Lower total
- 20110.63Held
- 20120.84Raised
- 20130.84Held
- 20140.965Raised
- 20150.99Raised
- 20160.99Held
- 20170.99Held
- 20180.9905Held
- 20190.9714Lower total
- 20201.11Raised
- 20211.23Raised
- 20221.23Held
- 20231.23Held
- 20241.23Held
- 20251.25Raised
- 20260.613Partial year
Distributions per year, from the frozen distribution-stability signal. “Lower total” means the calendar-year sum was smaller than the prior year (often a special-distribution rolloff or timing shift), but did not decline more than the engine's 10% material-decline threshold — see Years Cut above for years that did.
Browse the full Income Quality Score research across CEFs, BDCs, REITs and income ETFs.
IQ Score is a long-duration quality and distribution-safety classification for income assets. It is research based on historical data, not personal investment advice, and it does not tell you what to buy or sell. Figures reflect a delayed public snapshot and may differ from current data.