Which paid more, ACEI or CAIE?

Over the year to Sep 30, 2026, ACEI paid 11.1% of its starting price in cash and CAIE paid 14.0%, so CAIE paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.

Which returned more once distributions are counted, ACEI or CAIE?

With every distribution reinvested, ACEI returned +5.9% and CAIE +11.8% over the year to Sep 30, 2026.

Which is cheaper, ACEI or CAIE?

ACEI charges 0.79% a year and CAIE charges 0.74%, so CAIE is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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ACEI vs CAIE: which paid, and which earned it?

Over the year CAIE paid 14.0% of its price in cash against ACEI’s 11.1%, and returned more with it reinvested. Innovator Equity Autocallable Income Strategy ETF and Calamos Autocallable Income ETF.

11.1%

ACEI cash paid, 1 year

14.0%

CAIE cash paid, 1 year

+5.9%

ACEI total return, 1 year

+11.8%

CAIE total return, 1 year

ACEI · 1 year to Sep 30, 20269.8 pts behind SPY

ACEI

+5.9%

SPY

+15.7%

9.8 pts behind SPY

ACEI over 1 year: paid 11.1%, price −5.7%, total +5.9%, SPY +15.7%, −9.8 pts.

SPY

+15.7%

ACEI

+5.9%

11.1% of it arrived as cash

9.8 pts behind SPY

Total return, distributions reinvested

9.8 pts behind SPY

ACEI over 1 year: paid 11.1%, price −5.7%, total +5.9%, SPY +15.7%, −9.8 pts.

SPY

+15.7%

ACEI

+5.9%

9.8 pts behind SPY

11.1% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. ACEI over 1 year: paid 11.1%, price −5.7%, total +5.9%, SPY +15.7%, −9.8 pts.

CAIE · 1 year to Sep 30, 20263.9 pts behind SPY

CAIE

+11.8%

SPY

+15.7%

3.9 pts behind SPY

CAIE over 1 year: paid 14.0%, price −3.1%, total +11.8%, SPY +15.7%, −3.9 pts.

SPY

+15.7%

CAIE

+11.8%

14.0% of it arrived as cash

3.9 pts behind SPY

Total return, distributions reinvested

3.9 pts behind SPY

CAIE over 1 year: paid 14.0%, price −3.1%, total +11.8%, SPY +15.7%, −3.9 pts.

SPY

+15.7%

CAIE

+11.8%

14.0% as cash

3.9 pts behind SPY

14.0% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, 0 to +15.7%. CAIE over 1 year: paid 14.0%, price −3.1%, total +11.8%, SPY +15.7%, −3.9 pts.

ETFIQ Return Stability Score · CAIE scores higherWas the payout funded by returns, or by your own capital?

ACEI 34.9

CAIE 48.8

4.0, the lowest in this set97.4, the highest

A percentile among the 175 income ETFs writing on an index or proxy. It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation. All income ETFs ranked by it → How it is computed →

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, ACEI and CAIE hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Apr 30, 2026.

50%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first

Holding ACEI CAIE

Only in ACEI

TREASURY BILL 100.00%

Only in CAIE

Calamos Tax-Aware Collateral ETF 100.00%

Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed.

Performance, window by window

	Total return		Cash paid		Against the benchmark
Window	ACEI	CAIE	ACEI	CAIE	ACEI	CAIE
3 months	+5.4%	+0.9%	3.3%	2.3%	+2.8 pts	−1.6 pts
6 months	+5.6%	+13.2%	6.5%	6.3%	−11.4 pts	−3.8 pts
1 year	+5.9%	+11.8%	11.1%	14.0%	−9.8 pts	−3.9 pts
Since launch ACEI Sep 2025 · CAIE Jun 2025	+6.0%	+26.1%	11.1%	18.1%	−11.2 pts	−1.2 pts

ACEI and CAIE over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →

On the same fields

ACEI

Innovator Equity Autocallable Income Strategy ETF · Autocallable on SPY, paying monthly

CAIE

Calamos Autocallable Income ETF · Autocallable on SPY, paying monthly

Issuer Innovator Calamos

Strategy autocallable autocallable

Benchmark S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy

Pays monthly monthly

Payout rate, annualized 13.0% 14.1%

Expense ratio 0.79% 0.74%

Cash paid, 1 year 11.1% 14.0%

Price change, 1 year −5.7% −3.1%

Total return, 1 year +5.9% +11.8%

Benchmark return, 1 year +15.7% +15.7%

Ahead or behind −9.8 pts −3.9 pts

Return of capital, latest estimate not published not published

Age 370 days 462 days

Net assets $50m $872m

ACEI and CAIE on the same fields, as of Sep 30, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

ACEI in plain words

Over the year to Sep 30, 2026, ACEI paid 11.1% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 5.7%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +5.9%. S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy returned +15.7% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 9.8 pts. At its price on Sep 30, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 13.0%, paid monthly.

CAIE in plain words

Over the year to Sep 30, 2026, CAIE paid 14.0% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 3.1%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +11.8%. S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy returned +15.7% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 3.9 pts. At its price on Sep 30, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 14.1%, paid monthly.

Questions people ask

Which paid more, ACEI or CAIE?: Over the year to Sep 30, 2026, ACEI paid 11.1% of its starting price in cash and CAIE paid 14.0%, so CAIE paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
Which returned more once distributions are counted, ACEI or CAIE?: With every distribution reinvested, ACEI returned +5.9% and CAIE +11.8% over the year to Sep 30, 2026.
Which is cheaper, ACEI or CAIE?: ACEI charges 0.79% a year and CAIE charges 0.74%, so CAIE is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

ACEI vs ACII ACEI vs ACQQ ACEI vs ACRT ACEI vs ACSP CAIE vs MRA CAIE vs MSR CAIE vs OCTH CAIE vs OCTJ

S&P 500 (SPY) →ACEI on its own →CAIE on its own →How every figure is computed →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

ACEI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗ACEI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗Innovator page for ACEI ↗CAIE filings on SEC EDGAR ↗CAIE prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗Calamos website ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page

ETFIQ, ACEI against CAIE, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/acei-vs-caie

Open data

Free to use with attribution. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology.