Data as of .
FTQI vs NLSI: which paid, and which earned it?
FTQI and NLSI both write options for income.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, FTQI and NLSI hold 8% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | FTQI | NLSI |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA Corporation | 6.55% | 3.17% |
| Micron Technology, Inc. | 2.38% | 14.23% |
| CME Group Inc. | 0.97% | 2.28% |
| F5, Inc. | 0.79% | 3.90% |
| CoStar Group, Inc. | 0.20% | 2.74% |
| Valero Energy Corporation | 0.19% | 3.04% |
| Marathon Petroleum Corporation | 0.17% | 3.13% |
| PTC Inc. | 0.12% | 3.18% |
| Insulet Corporation | 0.09% | 3.19% |
| Only in FTQI | Only in NLSI |
|---|---|
| Apple Inc. 8.76% | Progressive Corp/The 3.80% |
| US Dollar 5.75% | Adobe Inc 3.37% |
| Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 5.41% | Jack Henry & Associates Inc 3.32% |
| Amazon.com, Inc. 4.13% | Universal Health Services Inc 3.23% |
| Cisco Systems, Inc. 3.18% | Veeva Systems Inc 3.19% |
| Meta Platforms, Inc. (Class A) 2.75% | Capital One Financial Corp 3.03% |
| Tesla, Inc. 2.68% | NXP Semiconductors NV 3.02% |
| Palantir Technologies Inc. (Class A) 2.54% | GoDaddy Inc 3.01% |
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 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTQI | NLSI | FTQI | NLSI | FTQI | NLSI | |
| 3 months | +4.0% | +15.6% | 2.9% | 1.4% | +6.5 pts | +13.3 pts |
| 6 months | +18.3% | +24.6% | 6.3% | 2.8% | −5.9 pts | +6.6 pts |
| 1 year | +21.5% | not published | 12.0% | not published | −0.3 pts | not published |
| 3 years | +62.9% | not published | 37.0% | not published | −35.3 pts | not published |
| Since launch | +141.7% | +19.3% | 78.8% | 4.0% | −675.0 pts | +7.3 pts |
| FTQI First Trust Nasdaq BuyWrite Income ETF Covered call on QQQ, paying monthly | NLSI NEOS Long/Short Equity Income ETF Option income on SPY, paying monthly | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | First Trust | NEOS |
| Strategy | covered call | option income |
| Benchmark | Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) | S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy |
| Pays | monthly | monthly |
| Payout rate, annualized | 11.9% | 5.1% |
| Expense ratio | 0.75% | 2.89% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 12.0% | 4.0% (since launch on Dec 10, 2025) |
| Price change, 1 year | +8.0% | +14.6% |
| Total return, 1 year | +21.5% | +19.3% (since launch on Dec 10, 2025) |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +21.8% | +12.0% |
| Ahead or behind | −0.3 pts | +7.3 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | not published | 100% |
| Age | 4637 days | 282 days |
| Net assets | $975m | $5m |
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.
NLSI in plain words
Over the period since launch on Dec 10, 2025 to Sep 18, 2026, NLSI paid 4.0% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 14.6%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +19.3%. S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy returned +12.0% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 7.3 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 5.1%, paid monthly. NEOS estimates that 100% of the distribution paid Jul 31, 2026 was a return of capital (19a-1 notice, estimated, a tax characterization rather than a measure of erosion).
Questions people ask
- Which is cheaper, FTQI or NLSI?
- FTQI charges 0.75% a year and NLSI charges 2.89%, 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.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, FTQI against NLSI, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/ftqi-vs-nlsi Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.