Modelling a capital distribution (CAPD)

You can model a capital distribution as a corporate action of type CapitalDistributionEvent in LUSID. See all supported corporate actions.

Note the following:

CapitalDistributionEvent is valid for instruments of type Equity and SimpleInstrument.
A capital distribution returns capital to holders rather than paying out profit. Loading works the same way as CashDividendEvent, but the recommended economic impact is different: the book cost of the holding is reduced rather than the payment recognised as income.
The entitlement date is the exDate specified when you load CapitalDistributionEvent, not recordDate.
The distribution amount is calculated from the total number of instrument units held on the entitlement date, settled and unsettled.
The transaction date of the automatically-generated output transaction is exDate, and the settlement date is paymentDate.

Loading `CapitalDistributionEvent`

You must load CapitalDistributionEvent into a corporate action source registered with one or more portfolios. The event then impacts every registered portfolio with a holding in the underlying instrument. See how to do this.

For more information on fields, see the CapitalDistributionEvent schema. Where set, the following date validation rules apply:
announcementDate ≤ exDate ≤ recordDate ≤ paymentDate

Note: You can set paymentDate at event level, at election level, or both. The election-level date takes precedence. At least one must resolve, or LUSID rejects the event.

You must choose one of the following participation types:

Participation type	Election(s)	Election choices	Further action required?
`Mandatory`	Exactly one `CashElection` keyed by currency	Set the following on the single election: ✅ Is chosen ✅ Is declared ✅ Is default	❌ No. The single election always occurs automatically.
`MandatoryWithChoices`	At least one `CashElection`, each keyed by (the different) currency	The above options must be set but can be in any combination on any election.	❓Optional. The Is Chosen election occurs unless you instruct to receive a different currency per portfolio (see below).

Participation type

Election(s)

Election choices

Further action required?

Mandatory

Exactly one CashElection keyed by currency

Set the following on the single election:

✅ Is chosen
✅ Is declared
✅ Is default

❌ No. The single election always occurs automatically.

MandatoryWithChoices

At least one CashElection, each keyed by (the different) currency

The above options must be set but can be in any combination on any election.

❓Optional. The Is Chosen election occurs unless you instruct to receive a different currency per portfolio (see below).

Note there is no silent lapse outcome; a holder who takes no action always receives the chosen election currency rather than forfeiting the distribution.

Issuers specify multi-currency offers in different ways. See how to handle multiple cash elections.

Instructing to receive a different currency per portfolio

If you load CapitalDistributionEvent as MandatoryWithChoices, you can instruct to receive the distribution in a different currency. If you do not, you receive the chosen election currency.

To do this, load an event instruction into a portfolio. Note this is not an event, and you do not load it into a corporate action source, which means you can instruct differently in different portfolios. See how to do this.

Configuring the economic impact

You must create a DistributionIncome transaction type to handle the automatically-generated output transaction. This is not provided for you. See our recommendation.

You can give a transaction type any economic impact you like. Our recommendation:

Reduces the book cost of the underlying holding by the distribution amount, leaving the number of units unchanged. This is what makes a capital distribution different from a cash dividend, where the cost of the holding is untouched.
Because the cost of the holding falls, ProfitAndLoss/Unrealised/* metrics change, and a subsequent disposal realises a correspondingly larger gain.

Reference examples

Single-currency distribution

A EUR distribution of 0.1594 per share is announced, with no elective currencies. The single election is declared, chosen and default.

[
  {
    "instrumentEventId": "CapitalDistribution-2026-03-25",
    "instrumentIdentifiers": {
      "Instrument/default/Isin": "IE0000669501"
    },
    "description": "Capital distribution of 0.1594 EUR per share",
    "participationType": "Mandatory",
    "instrumentEvent": {
      "instrumentEventType": "CapitalDistributionEvent",
      "announcementDate": "2026-02-24T00:00:00.0000000+00:00",
      "exDate": "2026-03-25T00:00:00.0000000+00:00",
      "recordDate": "2026-03-26T00:00:00.0000000+00:00",
      "paymentDate": "2026-05-17T00:00:00.0000000+00:00",
      "cashElections": [
        {
          "electionKey": "Euro",
          "dividendCurrency": "EUR",
          "dividendRate": 0.1594,
          "isDeclared": true,
          "isChosen": true,
          "isDefault": true
        }
      ]
    }
  }
]

Multi-currency distribution

The same distribution is announced with a GBP alternative. EUR is the declared currency; the GBP election is chosen at an EURGBP exchange rate of 0.865618, unless overridden per portfolio by an event instruction.

[
  {
    "instrumentEventId": "CapitalDistribution-2026-03-25",
    "instrumentIdentifiers": {
      "Instrument/default/Isin": "IE0000669501"
    },
    "description": "Capital distribution of 0.1594 EUR per share, paid in GBP by default",
    "participationType": "MandatoryWithChoices",
    "instrumentEvent": {
      "instrumentEventType": "CapitalDistributionEvent",
      "announcementDate": "2026-02-24T00:00:00.0000000+00:00",
      "exDate": "2026-03-25T00:00:00.0000000+00:00",
      "recordDate": "2026-03-26T00:00:00.0000000+00:00",
      "paymentDate": "2026-05-17T00:00:00.0000000+00:00",
      "cashElections": [
        {
          "electionKey": "Euro",
          "dividendCurrency": "EUR",
          "dividendRate": 0.1594,
          "isDeclared": true,
          "isDefault": true,
          "isChosen": false
        },
        {
          "electionKey": "GreatBritishPounds",
          "dividendCurrency": "GBP",
          "exchangeRate": 0.865618,
          "isDeclared": false,
          "isDefault": false,
          "isChosen": true
        }
      ]
    }
  }
]

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