Which is cheaper, FGSI or HEMI?

FGSI charges 0.85% a year and HEMI charges 0.49%, so HEMI is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Income ETFs

FGSI vs HEMI: Dividend Yield & Total Return

FGSI and HEMI both write options for income.

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Net assets: $2.0m on Nov 3, 2026 for FT Vest Growth Strength & Target Income ETF, and $35m on Jul 31, 2026 for Hartford Equity Premium Income ETF.

FGSI on its own →HEMI on its own →

At a glance

8.3%

FGSI cash paid, 1 year

7.6%

HEMI cash paid, since launch, Dec 17, 2025

+9.0%

FGSI total return, 1 year

+12.6%

HEMI total return, since launch, Dec 17, 2025

FGSI · 1 year to Nov 4, 2026 About even with FTGS

FGSI

+9.0%

FTGS

+8.8%

About even with FTGS

FGSI over 1 year: paid 8.3%, price +0.2%, total +9.0%, FTGS +8.8%, +0.2 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

FTGS

+8.8%

FGSI

+9.0%

8.3% of it arrived as cash

about even with FTGS

Total return, distributions reinvested

About even with FTGS

FGSI over 1 year: paid 8.3%, price +0.2%, total +9.0%, FTGS +8.8%, +0.2 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

FTGS

+8.8%

FGSI

+9.0%

8.3% as cash

about even with FTGS

8.3% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. FGSI over 1 year: paid 8.3%, price +0.2%, total +9.0%, FTGS +8.8%, +0.2 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Data to Nov 4, 2026.

HEMI · since launch to Nov 4, 2026 Not measured

HEMI

+12.6%

none

Not measured

HEMI since launch: paid 7.6%, price +4.6%, total +12.6%, not measured against a benchmark. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

HEMI

+12.6%

7.6% of it arrived as cash

Total return, distributions reinvested

Not measured

HEMI since launch: paid 7.6%, price +4.6%, total +12.6%, not measured against a benchmark. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

HEMI

+12.6%

7.6% cash

7.6% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, 0 to +12.6%. HEMI since launch: paid 7.6%, price +4.6%, total +12.6%, not measured against a benchmark. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Both charts share one scale, 0 to +12.6%. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Pair scorecard

HEMI costs 0.36 points a year less.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

FGSI vs HEMI: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Measure	FGSI	HEMI
Paid and earned
Measure	FGSI	HEMI
Total return, 1 year	+9.0%	not published
Price change	rose 0.2% (1 year)	fell 0.4% (6 months)
Return of capital, issuer estimate	53% of the Oct 30, 2026 payment	99% of the Oct 29, 2026 payment
Against its benchmark
Measure	FGSI	HEMI
Benchmark	First Trust Growth Strength ETF, measured through FTGS	its own stocks
Cost and size
Measure	FGSI	HEMI
Expense ratio	0.85%	0.49%
Net assets, FGSI as of Nov 3, 2026 and HEMI as of Jul 31, 2026	$2.0m	$35m
Holdings
Measure	FGSI	HEMI
Holdings in common	12%

Method

What they share

12%

By the books each fund has filed, FGSI and HEMI hold 12% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Nov 3, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

12% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first FGSI HEMI

Broadcom Inc. 2.02% 3.60%

NVIDIA Corporation 1.93% 8.49%

Mastercard Incorporated 2.10% 1.84%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (Class A) 1.73% 2.33%

Corning Incorporated 1.90% 0.84%

Cummins Inc. 1.87% 0.81%

Seagate Technology Holdings Plc 1.90% 0.67%

Netflix, Inc. 1.79% 0.65%

Monster Beverage Corporation 2.06% 0.63%

Palantir Technologies Inc. (Class A) 1.88% 0.44%

Applovin Corp. (Class A) 1.83% 0.26%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in FGSI

Vertiv Holdings Co (Class A) 2.28%

Eli Lilly and Company 2.25%

United Therapeutics Corporation 2.25%

Blackstone Inc. 2.21%

Delta Air Lines, Inc. 2.20%

Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. 2.18%

General Dynamics Corporation 2.16%

S&P Global Inc. 2.16%

Only in HEMI

Alphabet Inc 6.62%

Apple Inc 6.41%

Microsoft Corp 6.05%

Amazon.com Inc 5.06%

JPMorgan Chase & Co 2.34%

Eli Lilly & Co 2.32%

Advanced Micro Devices Inc 2.26%

Micron Technology Inc 1.86%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

FGSI FT Vest Growth Strength & Target Income ETF · Writes calls on the S&P 500, measured against The Growth Strength Index, paying monthly HEMI Hartford Equity Premium Income ETF · Covered call on its own stocks, paying monthly

Issuer First Trust Hartford

Strategy option income covered call

Benchmark First Trust Growth Strength ETF (FTGS) HEMI's own stocks, without the options (from its filed holdings, rebalanced at each filing; latest Jul 31, 2026)

Pays monthly monthly

Payout rate, annualized 8.3% 8.6%

Expense ratio 0.85% 0.49%

Cash paid, 1 year 8.3% 7.6% (since launch, Dec 17, 2025)

Price change, 1 year +0.2% +4.6% (since launch, Dec 17, 2025)

Total return, 1 year +9.0% +12.6% (since launch, Dec 17, 2025)

Benchmark return, 1 year +8.8% not published

Ahead or behind +0.2 pts not available

Return of capital, latest estimate 53% 99%

Age 1.4 years 322 days

Net assets, FGSI as of Nov 3, 2026 and HEMI as of Jul 31, 2026 $2.0m $35m

As of Nov 4, 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: FGSI vs HEMI: Dividend Yield & Total Return
	Total return		Cash paid		Against the benchmark
Window	FGSI	HEMI	FGSI	HEMI	FGSI	HEMI
3 months	−2.2%	+0.3%	2.0%	2.2%	+0.6 pts	0.0 pts
6 months	+6.3%	+4.0%	4.3%	4.4%	+0.2 pts	−0.4 pts
1 year	+9.0%	–	8.3%	–	+0.2 pts	–
Since launchNot the same days: FGSI Jun 2025 · HEMI Dec 2025	+13.6%	+12.6%	11.3%	7.6%	−0.7 pts	not measured

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Alert

About each fund

FGSI

Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, FGSI paid 8.3% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 0.2%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +9.0%. First Trust Growth Strength ETF (FTGS) returned +8.8% over the same days, so a holder was about even. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 8.3%, paid monthly. First Trust estimates that 53% of the distribution paid Oct 30, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.

HEMI

HEMI's own stocks, without the options (from its filed holdings, rebalanced at each filing; latest Jul 31, 2026) returned +4.4% over the same days, so a holder was about even.

Over the 6 months to Nov 4, 2026, HEMI paid 4.4% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 0.4%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +4.0%. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 8.6%, paid monthly. Hartford estimates that 99% of the distribution paid Oct 29, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice).

Questions people ask

Which is cheaper, FGSI or HEMI?: FGSI charges 0.85% a year and HEMI charges 0.49%, so HEMI is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

FGSI vs GRNI FGSI vs RNTY FGSI vs JUDO FGSI vs SCEP HEMI vs TPAY HEMI vs ODTE HEMI vs KIQQ HEMI vs XVSP

Where to next

First Trust Growth Strength ETF (FTGS) →All income ETFs ranked by the Distribution Coverage Score →How the scores are computed →FGSI on its own →HEMI on its own →FGSI dividend history →FGSI holdings →HEMI dividend history →HEMI holdings →Method →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

FGSI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FGSI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

FGSI 19a-1 distribution notice ↗

First Trust page for FGSI ↗

HEMI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

HEMI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

HEMI 19a-1 distribution notice ↗

Hartford website ↗

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

How this is computed

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

Every number is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, FGSI against HEMI, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/fgsi-vs-hemi

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.