Data as of . Every figure is the income desk's own, on published data.
MSTY vs RYLD
YieldMax(R) MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF and Global X Russell 2000 Covered Call ETF, side by side on the income desk.
Open the live comparison on ETFIQ| MSTY YieldMax(R) MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF | RYLD Global X Russell 2000 Covered Call ETF | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | YieldMax | Global X |
| Strategy | synthetic covered call | covered call |
| Benchmark | MicroStrategy (MSTR) | Russell 2000 (IWM) |
| Pays | weekly | monthly |
| Payout rate, annualised | 68.2% | 12.2% |
| Expense ratio | not published | 0.60% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 35.0% | 12.4% |
| Price change, 1 year | −79.0% | +7.3% |
| Total return, 1 year | −50.8% | +21.0% |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | −56.4% | +26.4% |
| Ahead or behind | +5.7 pts | −5.4 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | 99% | 100% |
| Age | 925 days | 2692 days |
MSTY in plain words
Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, MSTY paid 35.0% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 79.0%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned −50.8%. MicroStrategy (MSTR) returned −56.4% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 5.7 pts. At its price on Sep 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualises to 68.2%, paid weekly. YieldMax estimates that 99% of the distribution paid Sep 4, 2026 was a return of capital (19a-1 notice, estimated, a tax characterisation rather than a measure of erosion).
RYLD in plain words
Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, RYLD paid 12.4% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 7.3%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +21.0%. Russell 2000 (IWM) returned +26.4% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 5.4 pts. At its price on Sep 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualises to 12.2%, paid monthly. Global X estimates that 100% of the distribution paid Aug 27, 2026 was a return of capital (19a-1 notice, estimated, a tax characterisation rather than a measure of erosion).
Questions people ask
- Which paid more, MSTY or RYLD?
- Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, MSTY paid 35.0% of its starting price in cash and RYLD paid 12.4%, so MSTY paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
- Which returned more once distributions are counted, MSTY or RYLD?
- With every distribution reinvested, MSTY returned −50.8% and RYLD returned +21.0% over the year to Sep 4, 2026, so RYLD returned more.
Other comparisons
Cite this page. ETFIQ, MSTY against RYLD, data as of Sep 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/MSTY-RYLD.html Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
ETFIQ is an independent publisher of exchange-traded fund data. It is not a fund issuer, broker-dealer or investment adviser, and it makes no recommendations; every figure here is stated arithmetic on published data. Standards and sources