Data as of .
FTQI vs SCEP: which paid, and which earned it?
FTQI and SCEP both write options for income.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, FTQI and SCEP hold 20% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | FTQI | SCEP |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Inc. | 8.76% | 5.71% |
| Amazon.com, Inc. | 4.13% | 4.68% |
| Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. | 5.41% | 2.19% |
| Broadcom Inc. | 1.92% | 5.61% |
| AbbVie Inc. | 1.32% | 1.62% |
| Netflix, Inc. | 1.24% | 1.01% |
| Palo Alto Networks, Inc. | 1.42% | 0.99% |
| Amgen Inc. | 0.87% | 1.10% |
| Equinix, Inc. | 0.67% | 2.05% |
| Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. | 0.48% | 1.89% |
| Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. | 0.21% | 1.87% |
| Johnson & Johnson | 0.19% | 1.54% |
| Only in FTQI | Only in SCEP |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA Corporation 6.55% | ALPHABET INC 5.98% |
| US Dollar 5.75% | NVIDIA CORP 5.70% |
| Cisco Systems, Inc. 3.18% | JP MORGAN CHASE & COMPANY 3.55% |
| Meta Platforms, Inc. (Class A) 2.75% | MICROSOFT CORP 3.49% |
| Tesla, Inc. 2.68% | LAM RESEARCH CORP 2.64% |
| Palantir Technologies Inc. (Class A) 2.54% | PARKER-HANNIFIN CORP 2.63% |
| Micron Technology, Inc. 2.38% | COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP 2.40% |
| Seagate Technology Holdings Plc 2.17% | META PLATFORMS INC 2.23% |
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 | SCEP | FTQI | SCEP | FTQI | SCEP | |
| 3 months | +4.0% | −0.1% | 2.9% | 1.7% | +6.5 pts | −2.4 pts |
| 6 months | +18.3% | +8.3% | 6.3% | 3.7% | −5.9 pts | −9.7 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% | +3.5% | 78.8% | 5.0% | −675.0 pts | −8.2 pts |
| FTQI First Trust Nasdaq BuyWrite Income ETF Covered call on QQQ, paying monthly | SCEP STERLING CAPITAL HEDGED EQUITY PREMIUM INCOME ETF Covered call on SPY, paying monthly | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | First Trust | Sterling Capital |
| Strategy | covered call | covered call |
| Benchmark | Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| Pays | monthly | monthly |
| Payout rate, annualized | 11.9% | 7.1% |
| Expense ratio | 0.75% | 0.65% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 12.0% | 5.0% (since launch on Dec 11, 2025) |
| Price change, 1 year | +8.0% | −1.6% |
| Total return, 1 year | +21.5% | +3.5% (since launch on Dec 11, 2025) |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +21.8% | +11.7% |
| Ahead or behind | −0.3 pts | −8.2 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | not published | not published |
| Age | 4637 days | 281 days |
| Net assets | $975m | $235m |
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.
SCEP in plain words
Over the period since launch on Dec 11, 2025 to Sep 18, 2026, SCEP paid 5.0% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 1.6%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +3.5%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +11.7% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 8.2 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 7.1%, paid monthly.
Questions people ask
- Which is cheaper, FTQI or SCEP?
- FTQI charges 0.75% a year and SCEP charges 0.65%, so SCEP 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 SCEP, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/ftqi-vs-scep Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.