Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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Income ETFs

APLY vs RYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, APLY paid 28.6% of its price in cash against RYLD’s 12.1%, and returned more with it reinvested.

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Net assets: $112m on Oct 27, 2026 for YieldMax AAPL Option Income Strategy ETF, and $1.3bn on Oct 12, 2026 for Global X Russell 2000 Covered Call ETF.

At a glance
28.6%
APLY cash paid, 1 year
12.1%
RYLD cash paid, 1 year
+18.2%
APLY total return, 1 year
+12.1%
RYLD total return, 1 year
APLY · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 10.1 pts behind AAPL
APLY
+18.2%
AAPL
+28.3%

10.1 pts behind AAPL

APLY over 1 year: paid 28.6%, price −14.2%, total +18.2%, AAPL +28.3%, −10.1 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

AAPL

+28.3%

APLY

+18.2%

28.6% of it arrived as cash

10.1 pts behind AAPL

Total return, distributions reinvested

10.1 pts behind AAPL

APLY over 1 year: paid 28.6%, price −14.2%, total +18.2%, AAPL +28.3%, −10.1 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

AAPL

+28.3%

APLY

+18.2%

28.6% cash

10.1 pts behind AAPL

28.6% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. APLY over 1 year: paid 28.6%, price −14.2%, total +18.2%, AAPL +28.3%, −10.1 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

Data to Oct 28, 2026.
RYLD · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 2 pts behind IWM
RYLD
+12.1%
IWM
+14.1%

2 pts behind IWM

RYLD over 1 year: paid 12.1%, price −0.6%, total +12.1%, IWM +14.1%, −2.0 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

IWM

+14.1%

RYLD

+12.1%

12.1% of it arrived as cash

2 pts behind IWM

Total return, distributions reinvested

2 pts behind IWM

RYLD over 1 year: paid 12.1%, price −0.6%, total +12.1%, IWM +14.1%, −2.0 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

IWM

+14.1%

RYLD

+12.1%

2 pts behind IWM

12.1% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, with zero at the line. RYLD over 1 year: paid 12.1%, price −0.6%, total +12.1%, IWM +14.1%, −2.0 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

Data to Oct 28, 2026.

Pair scorecard

RYLD costs 0.44 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 6.1 points; RYLD is 10.8 times larger.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

APLY vs RYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
MeasureAPLYRYLD
Paid and earned
Total return, 1 year+18.2%+12.1%
Price change, 1 yearfell 14.2%fell 0.6%
Return of capital, issuer estimate100% of the Sep 24, 2026 payment
Against its benchmark
BenchmarkApple (AAPL)Russell 2000, measured through IWM
Against its benchmark, same daysbehind by 10.1 ptsbehind by 2.0 pts
Cost and size
Expense ratio1.04%0.60%
Net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026$120m$1.3bn
Holdings
Holdings in common0%
ETFIQ Distribution Coverage Score · APLY scores higher How much of what it paid out did its total return cover?

APLY among the 74 income ETFs writing on a single company

IQ Income Score84.5APLY57.6RYLD

How much of its payouts the fund's total return covered, ranked against 74 income ETFs writing on a single company and 164 income ETFs not writing on a single company. 100 is best. How it is computed

APLY 84.5
0.7, the lowest in this set 99.3, the highest

RYLD among the 164 income ETFs not writing on a single company

RYLD 57.6
0.3, the lowest in this set 99.7, the highest

A percentile among the 74 income ETFs writing on a single company. RYLD is a percentile among the 164 income ETFs not writing on a single company, a different set, so the two marks are not on one scale. One year only, and a ratio of two published numbers: it says nothing about where a distribution came from. All income ETFs ranked by it →

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 182 weekly returns
APLY RYLD
Return
Total return edge APLY +61.3% +28.5%
Annualized edge APLY +14.6% +7.4%
Price return edge RYLD −41.2% −15.5%
Risk
Volatility edge RYLD 21.0% 10.4%
Max drawdown edge RYLD −24.1% −15.3%
Downside capture 91.8% 62.8%
Beta 0.78 0.54
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe edge APLY 0.54 0.30
Sortino edge APLY 0.73 0.40
Treynor 0.145 0.063
Calmar edge APLY 0.61 0.49
Against the benchmark
Alpha −4.1% a year −1.3% a year
Alpha t-stat −1.45 −0.43
Information ratio −1.09 −0.38
Tracking error 7.8% 13.9%

Each against its own benchmark: APLY against AAPL, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026; RYLD against IWM, May 3, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

APLY returned more: +61.3% to +28.5%. RYLD swung less: 10.4% to 21.0%. RYLD fell less at its worst: −15.3% to −24.1%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured
Open ↓
Risk and return: APLY vs RYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
MeasureAPLYRYLDEdgeHow it is measured
Return
Total return+61.3%+28.5%APLYPrice change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized+14.6%+7.4%APLYTotal return as a yearly rate.
Price return−41.2%−15.5%RYLDPrice change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility21.0%10.4%RYLDSpread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation15.5%7.9%RYLDLike volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown−24.1%−15.3%RYLDDeepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture66.1%33.1%Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture91.8%62.8%Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta0.780.54Not an edgeHow far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared0.940.73Not an edgeShare of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe0.540.30APLYReturn above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino0.730.40APLYReturn above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor0.1450.063Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar0.610.49APLYAnnualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
BenchmarkAAPLIWMThe ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha−4.1% a year−1.3% a yearNot significantYearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat−1.45−0.43Not an edgeHow sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range−9.7% to +1.5%−7.0% to +4.5%Includes zeroThe 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio−1.09−0.38Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error7.8%13.9%Not an edgeHow far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized.

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

0%

By the books each fund has filed, APLY and RYLD hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026.

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first APLY RYLD
Only in one fund ↓
Only in APLY
United States Treasury Note/Bond 3.375% 09/15/2027 26.10%
United States Treasury Note/Bond 2.375% 05/15/2027 13.93%
AAPL 12/18/2026 310.01 C 11.68%
AAPL US 10/30/26 C352.5 0.03%
AAPL US 10/30/26 C355 0.02%
AAPL US 10/30/26 C350 -0.12%
AAPL US 10/30/26 C347.5 -0.13%
AAPL 12/18/2026 310.01 P -0.86%
Only in RYLD
Global X Russell 2000 ETF 100.94%
N/A 0.00%
N/A 0.00%
N/A 0.00%
N/A 0.00%
N/A 0.00%
Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

APLY YieldMax AAPL Option Income Strategy ETF · Synthetic covered call on AAPL, paying weekly RYLD Global X Russell 2000 Covered Call ETF · Covered call on IWM, paying monthly
Strategy synthetic covered call covered call
Benchmark Apple (AAPL) Russell 2000 (IWM)
Pays weekly monthly
Payout rate, annualized 20.9% 11.5%
Expense ratio 1.04% 0.60%
Cash paid, 1 year 28.6% 12.1%
Price change, 1 year −14.2% −0.6%
Total return, 1 year +18.2% +12.1%
Benchmark return, 1 year +28.3% +14.1%
Ahead or behind −10.1 pts −2.0 pts
Return of capital, latest estimate not published 100%
Age 3.5 years 7.5 years
Net assets, APLY as of Oct 27, 2026 and RYLD as of Oct 12, 2026 $112m $1.3bn

As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price. Payout rate: the latest payment, annualized, over today’s price.

Window by window

Window by window: APLY vs RYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Total returnCash paidAgainst the benchmark
WindowAPLYRYLDAPLYRYLDAPLYRYLD
3 months0.0%−0.3%6.7%2.9%−1.8 pts+1.9 pts
6 months+18.3%+6.8%17.5%6.2%−9.2 pts+2.9 pts
1 year+18.2%+12.1%28.6%12.1%−10.1 pts−2.1 pts
3 years+63.0%+38.8%73.1%35.9%−44.1 pts−40.5 pts
Since launchNot the same days: APLY Apr 2023 · RYLD Apr 2019+62.0%+49.0%76.2%68.4%−47.9 pts−50.0 pts

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Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-4C1AD23B39

APLY and RYLD are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?

  1. Income paid. APLY paid 28.6% and RYLD 12.1% (cash paid over 1 year, as a share of its price at the start), a gap of 16.5 points.
  2. What each is measured against. APLY is measured against Apple (AAPL) and RYLD against Russell 2000 through IWM.
  3. Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 28, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026).

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund
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.

RYLD

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, RYLD paid 12.1% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 0.6%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +12.1%. Russell 2000 (IWM) returned +14.1% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 2.0 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 11.5%, paid monthly. Global X estimates that 100% of the distribution paid Sep 24, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.

Questions people ask

Which paid more, APLY or RYLD?
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, APLY paid 28.6% of its starting price in cash and RYLD paid 12.1%, so APLY paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
Which returned more once distributions are counted, APLY or RYLD?
With every distribution reinvested, APLY returned +18.2% and RYLD +12.1% over the year to Oct 28, 2026.
Which is cheaper, APLY or RYLD?
APLY charges 1.04% a year and RYLD charges 0.60%, so RYLD is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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Sources and dates

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

It is a place in a set, not a rating or a recommendation.

Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.

Every number is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.

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ETFIQ, APLY against RYLD, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/aply-vs-ryld

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