Which paid more, QYLD or YMAX?

Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, QYLD paid 12.7% of its starting price in cash and YMAX paid 40.0%, so YMAX paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.

Which returned more once distributions are counted, QYLD or YMAX?

With every distribution reinvested, QYLD returned +23.5% and YMAX returned +3.5% over the year to Sep 4, 2026, so QYLD returned more.

Which is cheaper, QYLD or YMAX?

QYLD charges 0.60% a year and YMAX charges 1.33%, so QYLD is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Sep 4, 2026. Every figure is the income desk's own, on published data.

QYLD vs YMAX

Name: ETFIQ comparison of QYLD and YMAX
Creator: ETFIQ

Global X NASDAQ 100 Covered Call ETF and YieldMax(R) Universe Fund of Option Income ETFs, side by side on the income desk.

Open the live comparison on ETFIQ

QYLD and YMAX on the income desk fields, as of Sep 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	QYLD Global X NASDAQ 100 Covered Call ETF	YMAX YieldMax(R) Universe Fund of Option Income ETFs
Issuer	Global X	YieldMax
Strategy	covered call	synthetic covered call
Benchmark	Nasdaq-100 (QQQ)	S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy
Pays	monthly	weekly
Payout rate, annualised	11.9%	40.6%
Expense ratio	0.60%	1.33%
Cash paid, 1 year	12.7%	40.0%
Price change, 1 year	+9.5%	−38.7%
Total return, 1 year	+23.5%	+3.5%
Benchmark return, 1 year	+25.6%	+20.0%
Ahead or behind	−2.1 pts	−16.5 pts
Return of capital, latest estimate	100%	43%
Age	4649 days	961 days

QYLD in plain words

Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, QYLD paid 12.7% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 9.5%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +23.5%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) returned +25.6% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 2.1 pts. At its price on Sep 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualises to 11.9%, 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).

YMAX in plain words

Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, YMAX paid 40.0% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 38.7%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +3.5%. S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy returned +20.0% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 16.5 pts. At its price on Sep 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualises to 40.6%, paid weekly. YieldMax estimates that 43% of the distribution paid Sep 3, 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, QYLD or YMAX?: Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, QYLD paid 12.7% of its starting price in cash and YMAX paid 40.0%, so YMAX paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
Which returned more once distributions are counted, QYLD or YMAX?: With every distribution reinvested, QYLD returned +23.5% and YMAX returned +3.5% over the year to Sep 4, 2026, so QYLD returned more.
Which is cheaper, QYLD or YMAX?: QYLD charges 0.60% a year and YMAX charges 1.33%, so QYLD is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

Cite this page. ETFIQ, QYLD against YMAX, data as of Sep 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/QYLD-YMAX.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