Which paid more, RYLD or SPYI?

Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, RYLD paid 12.4% of its starting price in cash and SPYI paid 12.2%, so RYLD paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.

Which returned more once distributions are counted, RYLD or SPYI?

With every distribution reinvested, RYLD returned +21.0% and SPYI returned +17.5% over the year to Sep 4, 2026, so RYLD returned more.

Which is cheaper, RYLD or SPYI?

RYLD charges 0.60% a year and SPYI charges 0.68%, so RYLD 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.

RYLD vs SPYI

Name: ETFIQ comparison of RYLD and SPYI
Creator: ETFIQ

Global X Russell 2000 Covered Call ETF and NEOS S&P 500(R) High Income ETF, side by side on the income desk.

Open the live comparison on ETFIQ

RYLD and SPYI on the income desk fields, as of Sep 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	RYLD Global X Russell 2000 Covered Call ETF	SPYI NEOS S&P 500(R) High Income ETF
Issuer	Global X	NEOS
Strategy	covered call	covered call
Benchmark	Russell 2000 (IWM)	S&P 500 (SPY)
Pays	monthly	monthly
Payout rate, annualised	12.2%	12.1%
Expense ratio	0.60%	0.68%
Cash paid, 1 year	12.4%	12.2%
Price change, 1 year	+7.3%	+4.2%
Total return, 1 year	+21.0%	+17.5%
Benchmark return, 1 year	+26.4%	+20.0%
Ahead or behind	−5.4 pts	−2.5 pts
Return of capital, latest estimate	100%	93%
Age	2692 days	1466 days

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).

SPYI in plain words

Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, SPYI paid 12.2% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 4.2%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +17.5%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +20.0% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 2.5 pts. At its price on Sep 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualises to 12.1%, paid monthly. NEOS estimates that 93% of the distribution paid Jun 18, 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, RYLD or SPYI?: Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, RYLD paid 12.4% of its starting price in cash and SPYI paid 12.2%, so RYLD paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
Which returned more once distributions are counted, RYLD or SPYI?: With every distribution reinvested, RYLD returned +21.0% and SPYI returned +17.5% over the year to Sep 4, 2026, so RYLD returned more.
Which is cheaper, RYLD or SPYI?: RYLD charges 0.60% a year and SPYI charges 0.68%, so RYLD is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

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