Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
FTHI vs QYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, QYLD paid 12.3% of its price in cash against FTHI’s 8.9%, and returned more with it reinvested.
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Net assets: $2.5bn on Nov 3, 2026 for First Trust BuyWrite Income ETF, and $8.5bn on Oct 12, 2026 for Global X NASDAQ 100 Covered Call ETF.
6.7 pts behind SPY
FTHI over 1 year: paid 8.9%, price −1.2%, total +8.1%, SPY +14.8%, −6.7 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
SPY
+14.8%
FTHI
+8.1%
8.9% of it arrived as cash
6.7 pts behind SPY
Total return, distributions reinvested
6.7 pts behind SPY
FTHI over 1 year: paid 8.9%, price −1.2%, total +8.1%, SPY +14.8%, −6.7 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
SPY
+14.8%
FTHI
+8.1%
6.7 pts behind SPY
8.9% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. FTHI over 1 year: paid 8.9%, price −1.2%, total +8.1%, SPY +14.8%, −6.7 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
Data to Nov 4, 2026.4.2 pts ahead of QQQ
QYLD over 1 year: paid 12.3%, price +3.3%, total +16.5%, QQQ +12.3%, +4.2 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
QQQ
+12.3%
QYLD
+16.5%
12.3% of it arrived as cash
4.2 pts ahead of QQQ
Total return, distributions reinvested
4.2 pts ahead of QQQ
QYLD over 1 year: paid 12.3%, price +3.3%, total +16.5%, QQQ +12.3%, +4.2 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
QQQ
+12.3%
QYLD
+16.5%
12.3% as cash
4.2 pts ahead of QQQ
12.3% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, with zero at the line. QYLD over 1 year: paid 12.3%, price +3.3%, total +16.5%, QQQ +12.3%, +4.2 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
Data to Nov 4, 2026.Pair scorecard
QYLD costs 0.15 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.4 points; QYLD is 3.3 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | FTHI | QYLD |
|---|---|---|
| Paid and earned | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +8.1% | +16.5% |
| Price change, 1 year | fell 1.2% | rose 3.3% |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 92% of the Oct 30, 2026 payment | 99% of the Sep 24, 2026 payment |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| Benchmark | S&P 500, measured through SPY | Nasdaq-100, measured through QQQ |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.75% | 0.60% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026 | $2.6bn | $8.5bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 40% | |
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
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 →
Risk and return
Jan 17, 2014 to Oct 30, 2026 · 667 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: FTHI against SPY, Jan 17, 2014 to Oct 30, 2026; QYLD against QQQ, Dec 20, 2013 to Oct 30, 2026.
From Jan 2014 to Oct 2026, QYLD returned more: +185.7% to +155.1%. QYLD swung slightly less: 12.3% to 13.1%. QYLD fell less at its worst: −24.5% to −30.0%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | FTHI | QYLD | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +155.1% | +185.7% | QYLD | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +7.6% | +8.5% | QYLD | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +16.6% | −30.4% | FTHI | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 13.1% | 12.3% | QYLD (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 9.7% | 9.2% | QYLD (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −30.0% | −24.5% | QYLD | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 54.9% | 37.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 75.9% | 64.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.71 | 0.55 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.76 | 0.77 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.47 | 0.56 | QYLD | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.64 | 0.75 | QYLD | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.088 | 0.127 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.25 | 0.35 | QYLD | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | SPY | QQQ | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −2.3% a year | −2.3% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −1.27 | −1.37 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −5.9% to +1.3% | −5.5% to +1.0% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.73 | −0.93 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 8.0% | 10.6% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 667 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, FTHI and QYLD hold 40% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Nov 3, 2026.
half
40% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
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
| Total return | Cash paid | Against the benchmark | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | FTHI | QYLD | FTHI | QYLD | FTHI | QYLD |
| 3 months | −0.5% | +2.4% | 2.2% | 3.0% | −0.3 pts | +5.9 pts |
| 6 months | +2.5% | +5.4% | 4.4% | 6.0% | −2.5 pts | +5.8 pts |
| 1 year | +8.1% | +16.5% | 8.9% | 12.3% | −6.7 pts | +4.2 pts |
| 3 years | +48.1% | +52.7% | 29.7% | 37.9% | −34.8 pts | −38.6 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: FTHI Jan 2014 · QYLD Dec 2013 | +155.0% | +194.8% | 84.3% | 117.5% | −262.6 pts | −610.5 pts |
Client brief:
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FTHI
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, FTHI paid 8.9% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 1.2%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +8.1%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +14.8% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 6.7 pts. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 9.0%, paid monthly. First Trust estimates that 92% 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.
QYLD
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, QYLD paid 12.3% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 3.3%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +16.5%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) returned +12.3% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 4.2 pts. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 12.2%, paid monthly. Global X estimates that 99% of the distribution paid Sep 24, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice).
Questions people ask
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.
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ETFIQ, FTHI against QYLD, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/fthi-vs-qyld
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). FTHI against QYLD. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/income/fthi-vs-qyld
[FTHI against QYLD (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/income/fthi-vs-qyld)
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