Even with UK shares near a record high, finding a generous income opportunity doesn’t require scouring the small-cap universe for obscure names. Right now, there are still plenty of FTSE 100 businesses offering attractive yields of 5% or more to patient income investors.

For example:

Of course, as experienced investors know, a high yield alone doesn’t define a winning investment. Don’t forget that a fat payout’s worthless if it can’t be sustained.

So with that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the highest yielder in this group.

What does Aberdeen actually do?

Let’s start with a quick introduction. Aberdeen Group is one of the UK’s largest investment management companies, operating through three divisions:

• Investments – manages institutional and retail portfolios across equities, fixed income, and real assets.
• Adviser – a financial planning platform serving independent financial advisers.
• Interactive Investor – the UK’s second-largest direct-to-consumer investment platform.

Combined, these provide a fairly diversified revenue stream. That’s definitely a good sign for investors seeking a stable income. And it certainly helps explain how Aberdeen has sucessfully maintained its dividend at 14.6p every year since the pandemic.

Digging a bit deeper at the latest results, the payout ratio sits at around 68% of earnings and just 47% of operating cash flow. That does signal a substantial sum is being returned to shareholders. But at the same time, the business isn’t stretching itself to maintain dividends either.

What’s more, with management also expecting to deliver £300m in both underlying operating profits and net capital generation, this track record appears set to continue into 2027. But could the dividend soon start to grow?

What’s on the horizon?

The bull case rests on the extraordinary momentum at Interactive Investor. In the first quarter of 2026, the platform posted its highest ever quarterly net inflows of £3bn – an 88% increase year-on-year. Customer numbers also hit 513,000, up 14% year-on-year, and Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) customers surged 32%.

In turn, trading volumes are also climbing sharply, which directly boosts fee income for the division. But while the Interactive Investor arm’s seemingly thriving, the same can’t be said for other parts of the business.

Net outflows from Institutional and Retail Wealth reached £5.4bn in the first quarter alone, and the Adviser platform also continues to bleed assets, albeit slowly.

Aberdeen’s core fund management business has been losing clients for years, and that trend has yet to convincingly reverse despite management’s optimism about its pipeline. If outflows in the Investments arm accelerate, earnings could come under pressure and bring the dividend’s sustainability back into question.

That’s why the yield’s so high today.

What’s the verdict?

For investors buying UK shares in the pursuit of passive income, these five stocks present an intriguing opportunity. But as demonstrated with Aberdeen, none are risk-free and require careful consideration before allocating any capital.

Personally, I think they all deserve a closer look. Yet there’s another FTSE 100 income stock that looks even more promising in my eyes…

What income stock do we like better than aberdeen group right now?

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Zaven Boyrazian does not hold any positions in the companies mentioned.