Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

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Income ETFs

FTHI vs XYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return

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Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, XYLD paid 10.7% 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 $3.4bn on Oct 12, 2026 for Global X S&P 500 Covered Call ETF.

At a glance
8.9%
FTHI cash paid, 1 year
10.7%
XYLD cash paid, 1 year
+8.1%
FTHI total return, 1 year
+15.9%
XYLD total return, 1 year
FTHI · 1 year to Nov 4, 2026 6.7 pts behind SPY
FTHI
+8.1%
SPY
+14.8%

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%

8.9% cash

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.
XYLD · 1 year to Nov 4, 2026 1.1 pts ahead of SPY
XYLD
+15.9%
SPY
+14.8%

1.1 pts ahead of SPY

XYLD over 1 year: paid 10.7%, price +4.4%, total +15.9%, SPY +14.8%, +1.1 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

SPY

+14.8%

XYLD

+15.9%

10.7% of it arrived as cash

1.1 pts ahead of SPY

Total return, distributions reinvested

1.1 pts ahead of SPY

XYLD over 1 year: paid 10.7%, price +4.4%, total +15.9%, SPY +14.8%, +1.1 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

SPY

+14.8%

XYLD

+15.9%

10.7% cash

1.1 pts ahead of SPY

10.7% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, with zero at the line. XYLD over 1 year: paid 10.7%, price +4.4%, total +15.9%, SPY +14.8%, +1.1 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Pair scorecard

XYLD costs 0.15 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.8 points; XYLD is 1.3 times larger.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

FTHI vs XYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
MeasureFTHIXYLD
Paid and earned
Total return, 1 year+8.1%+15.9%
Price change, 1 yearfell 1.2%rose 4.4%
Return of capital, issuer estimate92% of the Oct 30, 2026 payment93% of the Sep 24, 2026 payment
Against its benchmark
BenchmarkS&P 500, measured through SPYS&P 500, measured through SPY
Cost and size
Expense ratio0.75%0.60%
Net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026$2.6bn$3.4bn
Holdings
Holdings in common49%
ETFIQ Distribution Coverage Score · XYLD scores higher How much of what it paid out did its total return cover?
IQ Income Score52.4FTHI77.5XYLD

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

0.3, the lowest in this set 99.7, the highest

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 →

Method

Risk and return

Jan 17, 2014 to Oct 30, 2026 · 667 weekly returns · each against SPY
FTHI XYLD
Return
Total return edge Tie +155.1% +155.9%
Annualized edge Tie +7.6% +7.6%
Price return edge FTHI +16.6% −6.9%
Risk
Volatility edge XYLD (slight) 13.1% 12.0%
Max drawdown edge FTHI (slight) −30.0% −32.6%
Downside capture 75.9% 70.8%
Beta 0.71 0.65
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe edge XYLD (slight) 0.47 0.51
Sortino edge Tie 0.64 0.65
Treynor 0.088 0.093
Calmar edge FTHI (slight) 0.25 0.23
Against the benchmark
Alpha −2.3% a year −1.8% a year
Alpha t-stat −1.27 −1.14
Information ratio −0.73 −0.75
Tracking error 8.0% 7.9%
Reading

From Jan 2014 to Oct 2026, FTHI and XYLD returned about the same: +155.1% and +155.9%. XYLD swung slightly less: 12.0% to 13.1%. FTHI fell slightly less at its worst: −30.0% to −32.6%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured
Open ↓
Risk and return: FTHI vs XYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
MeasureFTHIXYLDSPYEdgeHow it is measured
Return
Total return+155.1%+155.9%TiePrice change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized+7.6%+7.6%TieTotal return as a yearly rate.
Price return+16.6%−6.9%FTHIPrice change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility13.1%12.0%XYLD (slight)Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation9.7%9.3%XYLD (slight)Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown−30.0%−32.6%FTHI (slight)Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture54.9%50.2%100.0%FTHI (slight)Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture75.9%70.8%100.0%XYLD (slight)Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta0.710.651.00XYLD lowerHow far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared0.760.781.00Not an edgeShare of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe0.470.51XYLD (slight)Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino0.640.65TieReturn above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor0.0880.0930.120XYLD (slight)Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar0.250.23FTHI (slight)Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
BenchmarkSPYSPYSPYThe ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha−2.3% a year−1.8% a year0.0%Not significantYearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat−1.27−1.14Not an edgeHow sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range−5.9% to +1.3%−4.9% to +1.3%Both include zeroThe 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio−0.73−0.75FTHI (slight)Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error8.0%7.9%0.0%Not an edgeHow 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

49%

By the books each fund has filed, FTHI and XYLD hold 49% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Nov 3, 2026.

0 half 100%

half

49% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first FTHI XYLD
Apple Inc. 7.86% 7.13%
NVIDIA Corporation 6.59% 7.64%
Microsoft Corporation 3.18% 5.42%
Amazon.com, Inc. 2.57% 4.18%
Alphabet Inc. (Class A) 1.99% 3.28%
Broadcom Inc. 1.92% 2.90%
JPMorgan Chase & Co. 2.65% 1.48%
Alphabet Inc. (Class C) 1.44% 2.65%
Meta Platforms, Inc. (Class A) 1.25% 1.92%
Eli Lilly and Company 1.19% 1.43%
Tesla, Inc. 1.09% 1.38%
ExxonMobil Holdings Corp. 1.22% 1.01%
Only in one fund ↓
Only in FTHI
ASML Holding N.V. (New York Registry Shares) 2.06%
Coca-Cola European Partners Plc 1.15%
Jackson Financial Inc. (Class A) 0.80%
Novartis AG (ADR) 0.71%
Royalty Pharma Plc (Class A) 0.64%
HF Sinclair Corp. 0.62%
InterDigital, Inc. 0.58%
IDACORP, Inc. 0.57%
Only in XYLD
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. 1.47%
VISA INC. 0.95%
MASTERCARD INCORPORATED 0.72%
UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INCORPORATED 0.59%
LAM RESEARCH CORPORATION 0.58%
THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY 0.53%
THE HOME DEPOT, INC. 0.52%
PALO ALTO NETWORKS, INC. 0.42%
Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

FTHI First Trust BuyWrite Income ETF · Covered call on SPY, paying monthly XYLD Global X S&P 500 Covered Call ETF · Covered call on SPY, paying monthly
Strategy covered call covered call
Benchmark S&P 500 (SPY) S&P 500 (SPY)
Pays monthly monthly
Payout rate, annualized 9.0% 9.1%
Expense ratio 0.75% 0.60%
Cash paid, 1 year 8.9% 10.7%
Price change, 1 year −1.2% +4.4%
Total return, 1 year +8.1% +15.9%
Benchmark return, 1 year +14.8% +14.8%
Ahead or behind −6.7 pts +1.1 pts
Return of capital, latest estimate 92% 93%
Age 12.8 years 13.4 years
Net assets, FTHI as of Nov 3, 2026 and XYLD as of Oct 12, 2026 $2.5bn $3.4bn

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

Window by window: FTHI vs XYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Total returnCash paidAgainst the benchmark
WindowFTHIXYLDFTHIXYLDFTHIXYLD
3 months−0.5%+2.4%2.2%2.2%−0.3 pts+2.6 pts
6 months+2.5%+7.9%4.4%5.1%−2.5 pts+2.9 pts
1 year+8.1%+15.9%8.9%10.7%−6.7 pts+1.1 pts
3 years+48.1%+48.4%29.7%34.0%−34.8 pts−34.5 pts
Since launchNot the same days: FTHI Jan 2014 · XYLD Jun 2013+155.0%+194.8%84.3%114.5%−262.6 pts−316.0 pts

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About each fund
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.

XYLD

Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, XYLD paid 10.7% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 4.4%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +15.9%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +14.8% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 1.1 pts. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 9.1%, paid monthly. Global X estimates that 93% of the distribution paid Sep 24, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice).

Questions people ask

Which paid more, FTHI or XYLD?
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, FTHI paid 8.9% of its starting price in cash and XYLD paid 10.7%, so XYLD 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 XYLD?
With every distribution reinvested, FTHI returned +8.1% and XYLD +15.9% over the year to Nov 4, 2026.
Which is cheaper, FTHI or XYLD?
FTHI charges 0.75% a year and XYLD charges 0.60%, so XYLD is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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Sources and dates

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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, FTHI against XYLD, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/fthi-vs-xyld

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