Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
FTQI vs ISPY: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, FTQI paid 12.1% of its price in cash against ISPY’s 6.2%, and returned more with it reinvested.
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Net assets: $997m on Nov 3, 2026 for First Trust Nasdaq BuyWrite Income ETF, and $1.2bn on Nov 4, 2026 for ProShares S&P 500 High Income ETF.
4.2 pts ahead of QQQ
FTQI over 1 year: paid 12.1%, price +3.5%, total +16.5%, QQQ +12.3%, +4.2 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
QQQ
+12.3%
FTQI
+16.5%
12.1% of it arrived as cash
4.2 pts ahead of QQQ
Total return, distributions reinvested
4.2 pts ahead of QQQ
FTQI over 1 year: paid 12.1%, price +3.5%, total +16.5%, QQQ +12.3%, +4.2 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
QQQ
+12.3%
FTQI
+16.5%
12.1% as cash
4.2 pts ahead of QQQ
12.1% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. FTQI over 1 year: paid 12.1%, price +3.5%, total +16.5%, QQQ +12.3%, +4.2 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
Data to Nov 4, 2026.3.5 pts behind SPY
ISPY over 1 year: paid 6.2%, price +4.8%, total +11.3%, SPY +14.8%, −3.5 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
SPY
+14.8%
ISPY
+11.3%
6.2% of it arrived as cash
3.5 pts behind SPY
Total return, distributions reinvested
3.5 pts behind SPY
ISPY over 1 year: paid 6.2%, price +4.8%, total +11.3%, SPY +14.8%, −3.5 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
SPY
+14.8%
ISPY
+11.3%
3.5 pts behind SPY
6.2% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, 0 to +16.5%. ISPY over 1 year: paid 6.2%, price +4.8%, total +11.3%, SPY +14.8%, −3.5 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
Both charts share one scale, 0 to +16.5%. Data to Nov 4, 2026.Pair scorecard
ISPY costs 0.20 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.2 points; ISPY is 1.1 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | FTQI | ISPY |
|---|---|---|
| Paid and earned | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +16.5% | +11.3% |
| Price change, 1 year | rose 3.5% | rose 4.8% |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 99% of the Oct 30, 2026 payment | 87% of the Nov 6, 2026 payment |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| Benchmark | Nasdaq-100, measured through QQQ | S&P 500, measured through SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.75% | 0.55% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $997m | $1.1bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 38% | |
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
Dec 29, 2023 to Oct 30, 2026 · 148 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: FTQI against QQQ, Jan 17, 2014 to Oct 30, 2026; ISPY against SPY, Dec 29, 2023 to Oct 30, 2026.
From Dec 2023 to Oct 2026, FTQI returned slightly more: +52.7% to +49.2%. FTQI swung slightly less: 11.9% to 12.8%. ISPY fell less at its worst: −15.6% to −18.1%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | FTQI | ISPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +52.7% | +49.2% | FTQI (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +16.0% | +15.1% | FTQI (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +9.1% | +17.0% | ISPY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 11.9% | 12.8% | FTQI (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 8.2% | 8.8% | FTQI (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −18.1% | −15.6% | ISPY | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 31.2% | 85.6% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 58.3% | 96.6% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.45 | 0.89 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.55 | 0.96 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.94 | 0.82 | FTQI | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.37 | 1.19 | FTQI | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.123 | 0.118 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.88 | 0.97 | ISPY (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | QQQ | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −2.0% a year | −2.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.90 | −1.26 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −6.4% to +2.4% | −5.1% to +1.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.84 | −1.16 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 13.4% | 3.1% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 148 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, FTQI and ISPY hold 38% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Nov 3, 2026.
half
38% 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 | FTQI | ISPY | FTQI | ISPY | FTQI | ISPY |
| 3 months | +0.4% | −0.5% | 3.0% | 1.5% | +3.8 pts | −0.3 pts |
| 6 months | +6.6% | +3.8% | 6.0% | 3.1% | +6.9 pts | −1.2 pts |
| 1 year | +16.5% | +11.3% | 12.1% | 6.2% | +4.3 pts | −3.5 pts |
| 3 years | +60.8% | – | 38.1% | – | −30.5 pts | – |
| Since launchNot the same days: FTQI Jan 2014 · ISPY Dec 2023 | +138.8% | +54.0% | 81.1% | 27.1% | −641.3 pts | −15.1 pts |
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FTQI
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, FTQI paid 12.1% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 3.5%. 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 12.3%, paid monthly. First Trust estimates that 99% 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.
ISPY
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, ISPY paid 6.2% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 4.8%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +11.3%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +14.8% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 3.5 pts. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 6.0%, paid monthly. ProShares estimates that 87% of the distribution paid Nov 6, 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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, FTQI against ISPY, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/ftqi-vs-ispy
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). FTQI against ISPY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/income/ftqi-vs-ispy
[FTQI against ISPY (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/income/ftqi-vs-ispy)
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