Which is cheaper, FGSI or SCEP?

FGSI charges 0.85% a year and SCEP charges 0.65%, so SCEP is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Income ETFs

FGSI vs SCEP: Dividend Yield & Total Return

FGSI and SCEP 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 $235m on Jun 30, 2026 for STERLING CAPITAL HEDGED EQUITY PREMIUM INCOME ETF.

FGSI on its own →SCEP on its own →

At a glance

8.3%

FGSI cash paid, 1 year

6.1%

SCEP cash paid, since launch, Dec 11, 2025

+9.0%

FGSI total return, 1 year

+5.3%

SCEP total return, since launch, Dec 11, 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.

SCEP · since launch to Nov 4, 2026 Not measured

SCEP

+5.3%

none

Not measured

SCEP since launch: paid 6.1%, price −1.0%, total +5.3%, not measured against a benchmark. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

SCEP

+5.3%

6.1% of it arrived as cash

Total return, distributions reinvested

Not measured

SCEP since launch: paid 6.1%, price −1.0%, total +5.3%, not measured against a benchmark. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

SCEP

+5.3%

6.1% cash

6.1% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, with zero at the line. SCEP since launch: paid 6.1%, price −1.0%, total +5.3%, not measured against a benchmark. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Pair scorecard

SCEP costs 0.20 points a year less.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

FGSI vs SCEP: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Measure	FGSI	SCEP
Paid and earned
Measure	FGSI	SCEP
Total return, 1 year	+9.0%	not published
Price change	rose 0.2% (1 year)	fell 1.1% (6 months)
Return of capital, issuer estimate	53% of the Oct 30, 2026 payment	100% of the Oct 5, 2026 payment
Against its benchmark
Measure	FGSI	SCEP
Benchmark	First Trust Growth Strength ETF, measured through FTGS	its own stocks
Cost and size
Measure	FGSI	SCEP
Expense ratio	0.85%	0.65%
Net assets, FGSI as of Nov 3, 2026 and SCEP as of Jun 30, 2026	$2.0m	$235m
Holdings
Measure	FGSI	SCEP
Holdings in common	16%

Method

What they share

16%

By the books each fund has filed, FGSI and SCEP hold 16% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Nov 3, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

16% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first FGSI SCEP

Broadcom Inc. 2.02% 5.51%

NVIDIA Corporation 1.93% 5.61%

Amphenol Corporation 2.11% 1.90%

Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. 2.18% 1.86%

Vertiv Holdings Co (Class A) 2.28% 1.79%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (Class A) 1.73% 2.19%

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. 2.02% 1.06%

Netflix, Inc. 1.79% 1.00%

Mastercard Incorporated 2.10% 0.76%

Palantir Technologies Inc. (Class A) 1.88% 0.76%

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. 2.06% 0.69%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in FGSI

Eli Lilly and Company 2.25%

United Therapeutics Corporation 2.25%

Blackstone Inc. 2.21%

Delta Air Lines, Inc. 2.20%

General Dynamics Corporation 2.16%

S&P Global Inc. 2.16%

Cincinnati Financial Corporation 2.15%

Arch Capital Group Ltd. 2.12%

Only in SCEP

ALPHABET INC 5.88%

APPLE INC 5.61%

AMAZON.COM INC 4.60%

JP MORGAN CHASE & COMPANY 3.50%

MICROSOFT CORP 3.43%

LAM RESEARCH CORP 2.60%

PARKER-HANNIFIN CORP 2.59%

COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP 2.36%

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 SCEP STERLING CAPITAL HEDGED EQUITY PREMIUM INCOME ETF · Covered call on its own stocks, paying monthly

Issuer First Trust Sterling Capital

Strategy option income covered call

Benchmark First Trust Growth Strength ETF (FTGS) SCEP's own stocks, without the options (from its filed holdings, rebalanced at each filing; latest Jun 30, 2026)

Pays monthly monthly

Payout rate, annualized 8.3% 7.0%

Expense ratio 0.85% 0.65%

Cash paid, 1 year 8.3% 6.1% (since launch, Dec 11, 2025)

Price change, 1 year +0.2% −1.0% (since launch, Dec 11, 2025)

Total return, 1 year +9.0% +5.3% (since launch, Dec 11, 2025)

Benchmark return, 1 year +8.8% not published

Ahead or behind +0.2 pts not available

Return of capital, latest estimate 53% 100%

Age 1.4 years 328 days

Net assets, FGSI as of Nov 3, 2026 and SCEP as of Jun 30, 2026 $2.0m $235m

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 SCEP: Dividend Yield & Total Return
	Total return		Cash paid		Against the benchmark
Window	FGSI	SCEP	FGSI	SCEP	FGSI	SCEP
3 months	−2.2%	−1.2%	2.0%	1.7%	+0.6 pts	+0.8 pts
6 months	+6.3%	+2.4%	4.3%	3.5%	+0.2 pts	+0.4 pts
1 year	+9.0%	–	8.3%	–	+0.2 pts	–
Since launchNot the same days: FGSI Jun 2025 · SCEP Dec 2025	+13.6%	+5.3%	11.3%	6.1%	−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.

SCEP

SCEP's own stocks, without the options (from its filed holdings, rebalanced at each filing; latest Jun 30, 2026) returned +2.1% over the same days, so a holder was about even.

Over the 6 months to Nov 4, 2026, SCEP paid 3.5% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 1.1%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +2.4%. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 7.0%, paid monthly. Sterling Capital estimates that 100% of the distribution paid Oct 5, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice).

Questions people ask

Which is cheaper, FGSI or SCEP?: FGSI charges 0.85% a year and SCEP charges 0.65%, so SCEP is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

FGSI vs TCAL FGSI vs RNTY FGSI vs GRNI FGSI vs HEMI SCEP vs TPAY SCEP vs ODTE SCEP vs KIQQ SCEP 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 →SCEP on its own →FGSI dividend history →FGSI holdings →SCEP dividend history →SCEP 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 ↗

SCEP filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SCEP prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

SCEP 19a-1 distribution notice ↗

Sterling Capital 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 SCEP, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/fgsi-vs-scep

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