The fixed-income picture is pretty gruesome when it comes to yield, which isn't doing people's portfolios—particularly retirement portfolios—any favors. But there are plenty of yield alternatives beyond fixed income that can buoy investor portfolios and spirits. And some of them aren't the usual suspects.

Global real estate. Tech stocks. Master-limited partnerships. Emerging markets. And of course, traditional high-dividend paying stocks. These were the top picks for dividend yield from a panel of money managers today at the IndexUniverse Inside ETFs conference in Hollywood, Fla.

But first, the panel succinctly summarized the grim facts facing investors seeking yield through the U.S. fixed-income market. Jeremy Held, research director at ETF provider ALPS, noted that inflation seems benign because the consumer price index is at its lowest level in a half-century or so. But he warned that some fixed-income instruments simply aren't keeping pace with inflation.

"The actual real yield is below zero," he said. "We haven't had a sustained negative real rate of return environment like this since the 1940s. And during the decade of the '40s, investors lost half of their purchasing power."

We're not there yet, he explained, but he thinks the future is worrisome considering that so many central banks around the world are printing money to boost economic growth—money that's looking for places to go and driving up asset prices and fueling inflation.

The Solution? Equities.

"For the first time in generations, investors are looking to equities not for growth, diversification or total return, but for income," said Held, who then provided three equity income asset classes he feels offer the best total return potential and attractive income yield relative to fixed income.

First, there is global real estate. "It's probably the most under-invested asset class on the planet," Held said. He noted that more than 60 percent of all property stocks are overseas, yet more than 90 percent of ETF real estate assets are in domestic-only REIT funds.

"Global real estate offers higher yield than domestic real estate while offering growth and diversification," Held said. "It's a way to generate income and total returns."

Held's second income-producing idea centers on high-yield dividend stocks. "You can get high-dividend stocks paying yields of 4 percent," he said. "Sixty percent of the S&P 500 yields more than 10-year Treasuries."

Thirdly, Held gave a nod to MLPs, which are publicly traded partnerships generally associated with energy infrastruture such as pipelines. "MLPs are one of the most important asset classes to emerge during the past five years," Held said. "They provide yields of around 6 percent and offer diversification from stocks and bonds, as well as inflation protection."

Emerging Dividends

Jeremy Schwartz, research director at fund company Wisdom Tree, said he's finding great yield opportunities in emerging markets. "There is $1 trillion in global dividends paid, and the U.S. is only 30 percent of that," he said.

Schwartz said emerging market dividends on average are both cheaper to buy and more generous with their payouts. He noted that U.S. large-cap stocks are sporting average yields of about 3 percent versus 4 percent for developed international markets and 4 percent to 5 percent—and sometimes more—in emerging markets.

"Emerging markets have faster-growing profits, GDP and dividends," Schwartz said. But he notes that international markets can be more volatile from a dividend paying perspective because unlike in the U.S., where companies are reluctant to cut dividends, many emerging market companies have few qualms with cutting dividends if they have a bad quarter or two.

"You have to be careful when screening for dividends in overseas markets," Schwartz said.

Think Tech

Steve Cucchiaro, chief investment officer at Windhaven Investment Management in Boston, said the tech sector will be a place for rising dividend payouts. He cited investor pressure on Apple to return cash to shareholders, as well as other large-cap tech companies that increasingly are boosting their dividend income payouts.

And like Jeremy Held, Cucchiaro is also a fan of global real estate. He said his firm began to overweight the sector in early 2012. He explained that global real estate as a whole took it on the chin in 2008 and 2011, which significantly boosted yields.

He posits that as long as the global economy doesn't go into recession, companies in this sector will keep generating positive earnings and dividend yield.

"These companies can benefit from the cost of capital going down because real estate companies by nature have a lot of leverage," Cucchiaro said. "So when the cost of capital deceases, their valuations should increase. The central banks are keeping interest rates low, so global real estate should still have upside."