Data as of .
FTHI vs ULTY: which paid, and which earned it?
Over the year ULTY paid 44.9% 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 ULTY hold 10% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | FTHI | ULTY |
|---|---|---|
| Dell Technologies Inc. (Class C) | 2.52% | 2.95% |
| Alphabet Inc. (Class A) | 2.41% | 4.39% |
| NVIDIA Corporation | 6.90% | 2.36% |
| Palantir Technologies Inc. (Class A) | 0.74% | 4.27% |
| Comfort Systems USA, Inc. | 0.52% | 4.61% |
| Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. | 0.42% | 5.23% |
| Caterpillar Inc. | 0.39% | 3.07% |
| Ciena Corporation | 0.27% | 3.07% |
| Southern Copper Corporation | 0.26% | 2.60% |
| Robinhood Markets, Inc. (Class A) | 0.16% | 4.07% |
| Only in FTHI | Only in ULTY |
|---|---|
| Apple Inc. 7.75% | MercadoLibre Inc 4.99% |
| US Dollar 5.90% | Lumentum Holdings Inc 4.75% |
| Microsoft Corporation 2.94% | Strategy Inc 4.66% |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. 2.67% | Lam Research Corp 4.34% |
| Amazon.com, Inc. 2.53% | Coherent Corp 4.30% |
| Bank of America Corporation 2.22% | Analog Devices Inc 4.11% |
| ASML Holding N.V. (New York Registry Shares) 2.17% | Space Exploration Technologies Corp 4.11% |
| Broadcom Inc. 2.01% | Alibaba Group Holding Ltd 4.07% |
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 | ULTY | FTHI | ULTY | FTHI | ULTY | |
| 3 months | +1.7% | −1.1% | 2.2% | 13.7% | −0.6 pts | −3.3 pts |
| 6 months | +9.8% | +14.0% | 4.6% | 30.1% | −8.2 pts | −4.0 pts |
| 1 year | +9.7% | −7.8% | 8.9% | 44.9% | −6.9 pts | −24.3 pts |
| 3 years | +47.9% | not published | 28.9% | not published | −30.5 pts | not published |
| Since launch | +156.3% | +10.7% | 82.6% | 86.9% | −257.8 pts | −44.1 pts |
| FTHI First Trust BuyWrite Income ETF Covered call on SPY, paying monthly | ULTY YieldMax(R) Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF Synthetic covered call on SPY, paying weekly | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | First Trust | YieldMax |
| Strategy | covered call | synthetic covered call |
| Benchmark | S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy | S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy |
| Pays | monthly | weekly |
| Payout rate, annualized | 9.0% | 59.8% |
| Expense ratio | 0.75% | 1.30% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 8.9% | 44.9% |
| Price change, 1 year | +0.3% | −54.1% |
| Total return, 1 year | +9.7% | −7.8% |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +16.6% | +16.6% |
| Ahead or behind | −6.9 pts | −24.3 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | not published | 100% |
| Age | 4637 days | 932 days |
| Net assets | $2.5bn | $721m |
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.
ULTY in plain words
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, ULTY paid 44.9% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 54.1%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned −7.8%. S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy returned +16.6% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 24.3 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 59.8%, paid weekly. YieldMax estimates that 100% of the distribution paid Sep 17, 2026 was a return of capital (19a-1 notice, estimated, a tax characterization rather than a measure of erosion).
Questions people ask
- Which paid more, FTHI or ULTY?
- Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, FTHI paid 8.9% of its starting price in cash and ULTY paid 44.9%, so ULTY 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 ULTY?
- With every distribution reinvested, FTHI returned +9.7% and ULTY returned −7.8% over the year to Sep 18, 2026, so FTHI returned more.
- Which is cheaper, FTHI or ULTY?
- FTHI charges 0.75% a year and ULTY charges 1.30%, 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 ULTY, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/fthi-vs-ulty Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.