Which paid more, FGSI or SEPI?

Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, FGSI paid 8.3% of its starting price in cash and SEPI paid 8.9%, so SEPI paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.

Which returned more once distributions are counted, FGSI or SEPI?

With every distribution reinvested, FGSI returned +9.0% and SEPI +17.9% over the year to Nov 4, 2026.

Which is cheaper, FGSI or SEPI?

FGSI charges 0.85% a year and SEPI charges 0.54%, so SEPI is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Income ETFs

FGSI vs SEPI: Dividend Yield & Total Return

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Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, SEPI paid 8.9% of its price in cash against FGSI’s 8.3%, and returned more with it reinvested.

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Net assets: $2.0m on Nov 3, 2026 for FT Vest Growth Strength & Target Income ETF, and $152m on Jun 30, 2026 for Shelton Equity Premium Income ETF.

FGSI on its own →SEPI on its own →

At a glance

8.3%

FGSI cash paid, 1 year

8.9%

SEPI cash paid, 1 year

+9.0%

FGSI total return, 1 year

+17.9%

SEPI total return, 1 year

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%

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.

SEPI · 1 year to Nov 4, 2026 3.1 pts ahead of SPY

SEPI

+17.9%

SPY

+14.8%

3.1 pts ahead of SPY

SEPI over 1 year: paid 8.9%, price +8.3%, total +17.9%, SPY +14.8%, +3.1 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

SPY

+14.8%

SEPI

+17.9%

8.9% of it arrived as cash

3.1 pts ahead of SPY

Total return, distributions reinvested

3.1 pts ahead of SPY

SEPI over 1 year: paid 8.9%, price +8.3%, total +17.9%, SPY +14.8%, +3.1 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

SPY

+14.8%

SEPI

+17.9%

8.9% cash

3.1 pts ahead of SPY

8.9% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, 0 to +17.9%. SEPI over 1 year: paid 8.9%, price +8.3%, total +17.9%, SPY +14.8%, +3.1 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Both charts share one scale, 0 to +17.9%. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Pair scorecard

SEPI costs 0.31 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.9 points.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

FGSI vs SEPI: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Measure	FGSI	SEPI
Paid and earned
Measure	FGSI	SEPI
Total return, 1 year	+9.0%	+17.9%
Price change, 1 year	rose 0.2%	rose 8.3%
Against its benchmark
Measure	FGSI	SEPI
Benchmark	First Trust Growth Strength ETF, measured through FTGS	S&P 500, measured through SPY
Cost and size
Measure	FGSI	SEPI
Expense ratio	0.85%	0.54%
Net assets, FGSI as of Nov 3, 2026 and SEPI as of Jun 30, 2026	$2.0m	$152m
Holdings
Measure	FGSI	SEPI
Holdings in common	16%

ETFIQ Distribution Coverage Score · SEPI scores higher How much of what it paid out did its total return cover?

IQ Income Score63.2FGSI85.9SEPI

How much of its payouts the fund's total return covered, ranked against 167 income ETFs not writing on a single company. 100 is best. How it is computed

FGSI 63.2

SEPI 85.9

0.3, the lowest in this set 99.7, the highest

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 →

Method

What they share

16%

By the books each fund has filed, FGSI and SEPI 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 SEPI

Broadcom Inc. 2.02% 3.20%

NVIDIA Corporation 1.93% 4.20%

Arista Networks, Inc. 1.91% 2.27%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (Class A) 1.73% 2.90%

Monster Beverage Corporation 2.06% 1.62%

CBRE Group, Inc. 2.03% 1.61%

Newmont Corporation 1.80% 1.57%

Netflix, Inc. 1.79% 1.26%

Fortinet, Inc. 1.51% 1.19%

Salesforce, Inc. 1.84% 1.10%

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 SEPI

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES INC 7.84%

CATERPILLAR INC 7.49%

MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC 6.79%

APPLE INC 5.45%

ALPHABET INC 4.86%

GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC (THE) 4.07%

MICROSOFT CORP 3.55%

AMAZON.COM INC 3.50%

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 SEPI Shelton Equity Premium Income ETF · Covered call on SPY, paying monthly

Issuer First Trust Shelton

Strategy option income covered call

Benchmark First Trust Growth Strength ETF (FTGS) S&P 500 (SPY)

Pays monthly monthly

Payout rate, annualized 8.3% 8.5%

Expense ratio 0.85% 0.54%

Cash paid, 1 year 8.3% 8.9%

Price change, 1 year +0.2% +8.3%

Total return, 1 year +9.0% +17.9%

Benchmark return, 1 year +8.8% +14.8%

Ahead or behind +0.2 pts +3.1 pts

Return of capital, latest estimate 53% 99%

Age 1.4 years 1.2 years

Net assets, FGSI as of Nov 3, 2026 and SEPI as of Jun 30, 2026 $2.0m $152m

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 SEPI: Dividend Yield & Total Return
	Total return		Cash paid		Against the benchmark
Window	FGSI	SEPI	FGSI	SEPI	FGSI	SEPI
3 months	−2.2%	−0.1%	2.0%	2.1%	+0.6 pts	0.0 pts
6 months	+6.3%	+6.8%	4.3%	4.4%	+0.2 pts	+1.8 pts
1 year	+9.0%	+17.9%	8.3%	8.9%	+0.2 pts	+3.1 pts
Since launchNot the same days: FGSI Jun 2025 · SEPI Sep 2025	+13.6%	+23.5%	11.3%	10.0%	−0.7 pts	+3.7 pts

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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.

SEPI

Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, SEPI paid 8.9% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 8.3%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +17.9%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +14.8% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 3.1 pts. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 8.5%, paid monthly. Shelton estimates that 99% of the distribution paid Sep 30, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice).

Questions people ask

Which paid more, FGSI or SEPI?: Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, FGSI paid 8.3% of its starting price in cash and SEPI paid 8.9%, so SEPI paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
Which returned more once distributions are counted, FGSI or SEPI?: With every distribution reinvested, FGSI returned +9.0% and SEPI +17.9% over the year to Nov 4, 2026.
Which is cheaper, FGSI or SEPI?: FGSI charges 0.85% a year and SEPI charges 0.54%, so SEPI is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

FGSI vs XSPI FGSI vs JOYT FGSI vs XYLG FGSI vs WDTE SEPI vs TPAY SEPI vs ODTE SEPI vs KIQQ SEPI vs XVSP

Where to next

First Trust Growth Strength ETF (FTGS) →S&P 500 (SPY) →FGSI on its own →SEPI on its own →FGSI dividend history →FGSI holdings →SEPI dividend history →SEPI 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 ↗

SEPI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SEPI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

SEPI 19a-1 distribution notice ↗

Shelton website ↗

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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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