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Data as of .

FTQI vs LOCT: which paid, and which earned it?

Over the year FTQI paid 12.0% of its price in cash against LOCT’s 5.2%, and returned more with it reinvested.

First Trust Nasdaq BuyWrite Income ETF and Innovator Premium Income 15 Buffer ETF - October.

12.0%FTQI cash paid, 1 year
5.2%LOCT cash paid, 1 year
+21.5%FTQI total return, 1 year
+5.4%LOCT total return, 1 year

ETFIQ Return Stability Score: FTQI scores higher

Was the payout funded by returns, or by your own capital?

FTQI 76LOCT 42.23.8, the lowest in this set96.8, the highest

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

FTQIAbout even with QQQ · 1 year to Sep 18, 2026
QQQ+21.8%FTQI+21.5%12.0% of it arrived as cashabout even with QQQTotal return, distributions reinvestedQQQ+21.8%FTQI+21.5%12.0% cashabout even with QQQ
LOCT11.2 pts behind SPY · 1 year to Sep 18, 2026
SPY+16.6%LOCT+5.4%5.2% as cash11.2 pts behind SPYTotal return, distributions reinvestedSPY+16.6%LOCT+5.4%11.2 pts behind SPY

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, FTQI and LOCT hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.

Only in each
Only in FTQIOnly in LOCT
Apple Inc. 8.76%TREASURY BILL 98.30%
NVIDIA Corporation 6.55%TREASURY BILL 0.43%
US Dollar 5.75%TREASURY BILL 0.43%
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 5.41%TREASURY BILL 0.42%
Amazon.com, Inc. 4.13%TREASURY BILL 0.42%
Cisco Systems, Inc. 3.18%
Meta Platforms, Inc. (Class A) 2.75%
Tesla, Inc. 2.68%

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 Apr 30, 2026 and Sep 18, 2026.

Performance, window by window

FTQI and LOCT over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ.
WindowTotal returnCash paidAgainst the benchmark
FTQILOCTFTQILOCTFTQILOCT
3 months+4.0%+1.0%2.9%1.3%+6.5 pts−1.2 pts
6 months+18.3%+3.9%6.3%2.6%−5.9 pts−14.1 pts
1 year+21.5%+5.4%12.0%5.2%−0.3 pts−11.2 pts
3 years+62.9%not published37.0%not published−35.3 ptsnot published
Since launch+141.7%+18.5%78.8%16.5%−675.0 pts−66.4 pts
Open the live comparison on ETFIQ
FTQI and LOCT on the same fields, as of Sep 18, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
FTQI
First Trust Nasdaq BuyWrite Income ETF
Covered call on QQQ, paying monthly
LOCT
Innovator Premium Income 15 Buffer ETF - October
Buffer with income on SPY, paying monthly
IssuerFirst TrustInnovator
Strategycovered callbuffer with income
BenchmarkNasdaq-100 (QQQ)S&P 500 (SPY)
Paysmonthlymonthly
Payout rate, annualized11.9%5.2%
Expense ratio0.75%0.79%
Cash paid, 1 year12.0%5.2%
Price change, 1 year+8.0%+0.1%
Total return, 1 year+21.5%+5.4%
Benchmark return, 1 year+21.8%+16.6%
Ahead or behind−0.3 pts−11.2 pts
Return of capital, latest estimatenot publishednot published
Age4637 days1082 days
Net assets$975m$11m

FTQI in plain words

Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, FTQI paid 12.0% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 8.0%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +21.5%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) returned +21.8% over the same days, so a holder was about even. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 11.9%, paid monthly.

LOCT in plain words

Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, LOCT paid 5.2% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 0.1%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +5.4%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +16.6% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 11.2 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 5.2%, paid monthly.

Questions people ask

Which paid more, FTQI or LOCT?
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, FTQI paid 12.0% of its starting price in cash and LOCT paid 5.2%, so FTQI paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
Which returned more once distributions are counted, FTQI or LOCT?
With every distribution reinvested, FTQI returned +21.5% and LOCT returned +5.4% over the year to Sep 18, 2026, so FTQI returned more.
Which is cheaper, FTQI or LOCT?
FTQI charges 0.75% a year and LOCT charges 0.79%, so FTQI 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.

FTQI against LOCT, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 18, 2026. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, FTQI against LOCT, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/ftqi-vs-loct Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

How every figure is computed · Standards and sources