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Data as of .

FTHI vs OEI: which paid, and which earned it?

FTHI and OEI both write options for income.

First Trust BuyWrite Income ETF and Optimized Equity Income ETF.

8.9%FTHI cash paid, 1 year
8.6%OEI cash paid, 1 year
+9.7%FTHI total return, 1 year
+14.4%OEI total return, 1 year
FTHI6.9 pts behind SPY · 1 year to Sep 18, 2026
SPY+16.6%FTHI+9.7%8.9% of it arrived as cash6.9 pts behind SPYTotal return, distributions reinvestedSPY+16.6%FTHI+9.7%8.9% cash6.9 pts behind SPY
OEI0.9 pts behind SPY · since launch to Sep 18, 2026
SPY+15.3%OEI+14.4%8.6% of it arrived as cash0.9 pts behind SPYTotal return, distributions reinvestedSPY+15.3%OEI+14.4%8.6% cash0.9 pts behind SPY

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, FTHI and OEI hold 46% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.

Positions FTHI and OEI both hold, largest shared weight first
HoldingFTHIOEI
NVIDIA Corporation6.90%8.32%
Apple Inc.7.75%4.28%
Microsoft Corporation2.94%5.99%
Amazon.com, Inc.2.53%4.56%
Alphabet Inc. (Class A)2.41%3.48%
Broadcom Inc.2.01%3.04%
Alphabet Inc. (Class C)1.74%2.79%
JPMorgan Chase & Co.2.67%1.65%
Bank of America Corporation2.22%1.38%
Meta Platforms, Inc. (Class A)1.31%2.18%
Cisco Systems, Inc.1.26%1.54%
Costco Wholesale Corporation1.74%1.12%
Only in each
Only in FTHIOnly in OEI
US Dollar 5.90%Berkshire Hathaway Inc 1.60%
Dell Technologies Inc. (Class C) 2.52%Mastercard Inc 1.57%
ASML Holding N.V. (New York Registry Shares) 2.17%Home Depot Inc/The 1.17%
Fortinet, Inc. 1.25%Visa Inc 1.15%
Linde Plc 1.11%UnitedHealth Group Inc 1.13%
Coca-Cola European Partners Plc 1.00%Procter & Gamble Co/The 1.07%
TransDigm Group Incorporated 0.90%Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc 0.90%
Union Pacific Corporation 0.90%Realty Income Corp 0.85%

Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Sep 18, 2026.

Performance, window by window

FTHI and OEI over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ.
WindowTotal returnCash paidAgainst the benchmark
FTHIOEIFTHIOEIFTHIOEI
3 months+1.7%+4.8%2.2%2.3%−0.6 pts+2.5 pts
6 months+9.8%+12.5%4.6%4.9%−8.2 pts−5.6 pts
1 year+9.7%not published8.9%not published−6.9 ptsnot published
3 years+47.9%not published28.9%not published−30.5 ptsnot published
Since launch+156.3%+14.4%82.6%8.6%−257.8 pts−0.9 pts
Open the live comparison on ETFIQ
FTHI and OEI on the same fields, as of Sep 18, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
FTHI
First Trust BuyWrite Income ETF
Covered call on SPY, paying monthly
OEI
Optimized Equity Income ETF
Option income on SPY, paying monthly
IssuerFirst TrustCore Alternative
Strategycovered calloption income
BenchmarkS&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxyS&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy
Paysmonthlymonthly
Payout rate, annualized9.0%9.2%
Expense ratio0.75%1.02%
Cash paid, 1 year8.9%8.6% (since launch on Oct 22, 2025)
Price change, 1 year+0.3%+5.2%
Total return, 1 year+9.7%+14.4% (since launch on Oct 22, 2025)
Benchmark return, 1 year+16.6%+15.3%
Ahead or behind−6.9 pts−0.9 pts
Return of capital, latest estimatenot publishednot published
Age4637 days331 days
Net assets$2.5bn$46m

FTHI in plain words

Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, FTHI paid 8.9% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 0.3%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +9.7%. S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy returned +16.6% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 6.9 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 9.0%, paid monthly.

OEI in plain words

Over the period since launch on Oct 22, 2025 to Sep 18, 2026, OEI paid 8.6% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 5.2%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +14.4%. S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy returned +15.3% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 0.9 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 9.2%, paid monthly.

Questions people ask

Which is cheaper, FTHI or OEI?
FTHI charges 0.75% a year and OEI charges 1.02%, so FTHI is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

Where these figures came from

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

FTHI against OEI, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 18, 2026. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, FTHI against OEI, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/fthi-vs-oei Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

How every figure is computed · Standards and sources