Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
APLY vs VYM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, APLY returned +18.2% to VYM's +18.0%, and VYM charges 0.04% to APLY's 1.04%.
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Net assets: $112m on Oct 27, 2026 for YieldMax AAPL Option Income Strategy ETF, and $78.9bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF.
Pair scorecard
VYM costs 1.00 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.2 points.
| Measure | APLY | VYM |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +18.2% | +18.0% |
| Price change, 1 year | fell 14.2% | rose 15.2% |
| Latest payout, annualized | 20.9% | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Benchmark: Apple (AAPL) | FTSE High Dividend Yield Index |
| Against its benchmark, same days | behind by 10.1 pts | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 1.04% | 0.04% |
| Net assets, APLY as of Oct 27, 2026 and VYM as of Sep 30, 2026 | $112m | $78.9bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 90% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 26.2% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 182 weekly returnsVYM returned slightly more: +66.6% to +61.3%. VYM swung less: 12.1% to 21.0%. VYM fell less at its worst: −12.1% to −24.1%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | APLY | VYM | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +61.3% | +66.6% | VYM (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +14.6% | +15.7% | VYM (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −41.2% | +51.2% | VYM | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 21.0% | 12.1% | VYM | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 15.5% | 8.2% | VYM | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −24.1% | −12.1% | VYM | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.54 | 0.89 | VYM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.73 | 1.32 | VYM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.61 | 1.30 | VYM | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 182 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, APLY and VYM hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
APLY and VYM on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price.
APLY and VYM do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. APLY is measured against Apple (AAPL) and VYM follows FTSE High Dividend Yield Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 28, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
- Cost. APLY charges 1.04% of assets a year and VYM 0.04%, a gap of 1.00 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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APLY
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, APLY paid 28.6% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 14.2%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +18.2%. Apple (AAPL) returned +28.3% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 10.1 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 20.9%, paid weekly.
VYM
VYM tracks an index of US high dividend. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.0% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.04% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 90% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 595 positions, with the top ten at 26.2%.
Questions people ask
- Are APLY and VYM in the same category?
- APLY is an option-income ETF and VYM is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, APLY or VYM?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, APLY returned +18.2% and VYM +18.0%.
- Which is cheaper, APLY or VYM?
- VYM is cheaper, by 1.00 percentage points a year. That is about $100 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, APLY against VYM, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/aply-vs-vym
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). APLY against VYM. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/aply-vs-vym
[APLY against VYM (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/aply-vs-vym)
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