If I am not mistaking, with ETFs dividend can be reinvested (as I explained) or paid in cash.
Extract from investopedia:
Dividends Paid in Cash
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF pays out dividends in cash. According to the fund’s prospectus, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF puts all dividends it receives from its underlying stock holdings into a non-interest-bearing account until it comes time to make a payout.2At the end of the fiscal quarter, when dividends are due to be paid, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF pulls the dividends from the non-interest-bearing account and distributes them proportionally to the investors.
Some other ETFs may temporarily reinvest the dividends from the underlying stocks into the holdings of the fund until it comes time to make a cash dividend payment. Naturally, this creates a small amount of leverage in the fund, which can slightly improve its performance during bull markets and slightly harm its performance during bear markets.
Dividends Reinvested
ETF managers also may have the option of reinvesting their investors’ dividends into the ETF rather than distributing them as cash. The payout to the shareholders can also be accomplished through reinvestment in the ETF’s underlying index on their behalf. Essentially it comes out to the same: If an ETF shareholder receives a 2% dividend reinvestment from an ETF, he may turn and sell those shares if he’d rather have the cash.
Sometimes these reinvestments can be seen as a benefit, as it does not cost the investor a trade fee to purchase the additional shares through the dividend reinvestment. However, each shareholder’s annual dividends are taxable in the year they are received, even if they are received via dividend reinvestment.
See the full article here: How Dividend-Paying ETFs Work
