Data as of .
FTHI vs SEPI: which paid, and which earned it?
Over the year FTHI paid 8.9% of its price in cash against SEPI’s 7.5%, though SEPI returned more with it reinvested.
ETFIQ Return Stability Score: SEPI 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 SEPI hold 32% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | FTHI | SEPI |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Inc. | 7.75% | 5.24% |
| NVIDIA Corporation | 6.90% | 4.04% |
| Microsoft Corporation | 2.94% | 3.42% |
| Amazon.com, Inc. | 2.53% | 3.36% |
| Alphabet Inc. (Class A) | 2.41% | 4.68% |
| Broadcom Inc. | 2.01% | 3.08% |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 2.67% | 1.77% |
| Meta Platforms, Inc. (Class A) | 1.31% | 2.79% |
| Fortinet, Inc. | 1.25% | 1.15% |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1.11% | 3.31% |
| Micron Technology, Inc. | 1.10% | 6.53% |
| ExxonMobil Holdings Corp. | 1.09% | 3.08% |
| Only in FTHI | Only in SEPI |
|---|---|
| US Dollar 5.90% | EBAY INC 2.47% |
| Dell Technologies Inc. (Class C) 2.52% | ARISTA NETWORKS INC 2.18% |
| Bank of America Corporation 2.22% | GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY 1.96% |
| ASML Holding N.V. (New York Registry Shares) 2.17% | CARDINAL HEALTH INC 1.91% |
| Alphabet Inc. (Class C) 1.74% | BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC 1.87% |
| Costco Wholesale Corporation 1.74% | AKAMAI TECHNOLOGIES INC 1.80% |
| Amgen Inc. 1.37% | CVS HEALTH CORP 1.79% |
| Gilead Sciences, Inc. 1.27% | MONSTER BEVERAGE CORP 1.56% |
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 Jun 30, 2026 and Sep 18, 2026.
Performance, window by window
| Window | Total return | Cash paid | Against the benchmark | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTHI | SEPI | FTHI | SEPI | FTHI | SEPI | |
| 3 months | +1.7% | +5.4% | 2.2% | 2.1% | −0.6 pts | +3.2 pts |
| 6 months | +9.8% | +20.5% | 4.6% | 4.7% | −8.2 pts | +2.5 pts |
| 1 year | +9.7% | +21.8% | 8.9% | 7.5% | −6.9 pts | +5.2 pts |
| 3 years | +47.9% | not published | 28.9% | not published | −30.5 pts | not published |
| Since launch | +156.3% | +24.4% | 82.6% | 7.7% | −257.8 pts | +5.4 pts |
| FTHI First Trust BuyWrite Income ETF Covered call on SPY, paying monthly | SEPI Shelton Equity Premium Income ETF Covered call on SPY, paying monthly | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | First Trust | Shelton |
| Strategy | covered call | covered call |
| Benchmark | S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| Pays | monthly | monthly |
| Payout rate, annualized | 9.0% | 8.3% |
| Expense ratio | 0.75% | 0.54% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 8.9% | 7.5% |
| Price change, 1 year | +0.3% | +13.4% |
| Total return, 1 year | +9.7% | +21.8% |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +16.6% | +16.6% |
| Ahead or behind | −6.9 pts | +5.2 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | not published | not published |
| Age | 4637 days | 375 days |
| Net assets | $2.5bn | $152m |
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.
SEPI in plain words
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, SEPI paid 7.5% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 13.4%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +21.8%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +16.6% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 5.2 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 8.3%, paid monthly.
Questions people ask
- Which paid more, FTHI or SEPI?
- Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, FTHI paid 8.9% of its starting price in cash and SEPI paid 7.5%, so FTHI 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 SEPI?
- With every distribution reinvested, FTHI returned +9.7% and SEPI returned +21.8% over the year to Sep 18, 2026, so SEPI returned more.
- Which is cheaper, FTHI or SEPI?
- FTHI charges 0.75% a year and SEPI charges 0.54%, so SEPI 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 SEPI, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/fthi-vs-sepi Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.