Investors faced with a lack of income options elsewhere are relying on dividend checks, and activist money managers want to see those checks grow.

If you're a private wealth advisor, please join Advisors4Advisors (A4A) to get its full benefits.

Register now, and we will donate $20 of our $60 membership fee to Bubbles The Clown’s financial literacy program, and you can post an icon on your website saying you support Bubbles' 501(c)3 charitable organization.

Plus, get other membership benefits, including:

Analysis daily of issues affecting advisors Aggregation of news from dozens of sites targeting wealth managers Reviews by advisors of practice management applications 30 independent experts blogging on advisor business issues 24/7 access to webinars with 50 hours of CFP® CE and 100 hours of IMCA CE Register Now

Large U.S. corporations are sitting on $2.7 trillion in cash and equivalents.

But while they're paying out 27% of their current cash flow to shareholders, billion-dollar fund managers want to see that yield climb toward the historical average: 41% or even higher.

"Relatively higher yields are attractive to income investors who currently have few alternatives," sums up Howard Silverblatt, who tracks this stat for Standard & Poor's.

Interestingly enough, if you bring in small companies, cash flow yields edge up, but are still depressed by historical standards. For the entire universe of U.S. stocks -- and not just the S&P 500 -- the current cash yield expands to 30% versus a long-term average of 52%, Silverblatt says.

Of course, what makes dividends especially attractive is the favorable tax treatment.

Silverblatt is worried about a revived debate around raising the dividend tax rate to heat up going into 2012.