Data as of .
FTHI vs QUSA: which paid, and which earned it?
Over the year QUSA paid 13.8% of its price in cash against FTHI’s 8.9%, though FTHI returned more with it reinvested.
ETFIQ Return Stability Score: FTHI scores higher
Was the payout funded by returns, or by your own capital?
A percentile among the 173 income ETFs writing on an index or proxy. It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation. All income ETFs ranked by it · How it is computed
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, FTHI and QUSA hold 31% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | FTHI | QUSA |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Inc. | 7.75% | 5.99% |
| NVIDIA Corporation | 6.90% | 5.78% |
| Microsoft Corporation | 2.94% | 6.08% |
| Alphabet Inc. (Class A) | 2.41% | 2.22% |
| Broadcom Inc. | 2.01% | 4.70% |
| Alphabet Inc. (Class C) | 1.74% | 1.84% |
| Costco Wholesale Corporation | 1.74% | 4.40% |
| Meta Platforms, Inc. (Class A) | 1.31% | 4.28% |
| Fortinet, Inc. | 1.25% | 1.49% |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1.11% | 2.93% |
| Eli Lilly and Company | 0.95% | 4.24% |
| Walmart Inc. | 0.65% | 4.17% |
| Only in FTHI | Only in QUSA |
|---|---|
| US Dollar 5.90% | Berkshire Hathaway Inc 5.35% |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. 2.67% | Procter & Gamble Co/The 3.85% |
| Amazon.com, Inc. 2.53% | Lam Research Corp 3.47% |
| Dell Technologies Inc. (Class C) 2.52% | Visa Inc 3.37% |
| Bank of America Corporation 2.22% | Mastercard Inc 2.51% |
| ASML Holding N.V. (New York Registry Sha 2.17% | Abbott Laboratories 2.35% |
| Amgen Inc. 1.37% | Adobe Inc 2.32% |
| Gilead Sciences, Inc. 1.27% | QUALCOMM Inc 1.95% |
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 Sep 18, 2026 and Sep 21, 2026.
Performance, window by window
| Window | Total return | Cash paid | Against the benchmark | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTHI | QUSA | FTHI | QUSA | FTHI | QUSA | |
| 3 months | +1.7% | −1.9% | 2.2% | 3.6% | −0.6 pts | −3.6 pts |
| 6 months | +9.8% | +10.4% | 4.6% | 7.8% | −8.2 pts | −4.3 pts |
| 1 year | +9.7% | +3.5% | 8.9% | 13.8% | −6.9 pts | −11.7 pts |
| 3 years | +47.9% | not published | 28.9% | not published | −30.5 pts | not published |
| Since launch | +156.3% | +4.9% | 82.6% | 15.1% | −257.8 pts | −25.8 pts |
| FTHI First Trust BuyWrite Income ETF Covered call on SPY, paying monthly | QUSA VistaShares Target 15 USA Quality Income ETF Covered call on QUAL, paying monthly | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | First Trust | VistaShares |
| Strategy | covered call | covered call |
| Benchmark | S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy | USA Quality (QUAL), used as the quality proxy |
| Pays | monthly | monthly |
| Payout rate, annualized | 9.0% | 15.3% |
| Expense ratio | 0.75% | 0.97% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 8.9% | 13.8% |
| Price change, 1 year | +0.3% | −11.0% |
| Total return, 1 year | +9.7% | +3.5% |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +16.6% | +15.2% |
| Ahead or behind | −6.9 pts | −11.7 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | not published | not published |
| Age | 4637 days | 500 days |
| Net assets | $2.5bn | $22m |
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.
QUSA in plain words
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, QUSA paid 13.8% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 11.0%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +3.5%. USA Quality (QUAL), used as the quality proxy returned +15.2% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 11.7 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 15.3%, paid monthly.
Questions people ask
- Which paid more, FTHI or QUSA?
- Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, FTHI paid 8.9% of its starting price in cash and QUSA paid 13.8%, so QUSA paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
- Which returned more once distributions are counted, FTHI or QUSA?
- With every distribution reinvested, FTHI returned +9.7% and QUSA returned +3.5% over the year to Sep 18, 2026, so FTHI returned more.
- Which is cheaper, FTHI or QUSA?
- FTHI charges 0.75% a year and QUSA charges 0.97%, 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.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, FTHI against QUSA, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/fthi-vs-qusa Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.