Data as of .
FTQI vs SEPI: which paid, and which earned it?
Over the year FTQI paid 12.0% of its price in cash against SEPI’s 7.5% and the two finished level on total return.
ETFIQ Return Stability Score: SEPI scores higher
Was the payout funded by returns, or by your own capital?
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
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, FTQI and SEPI hold 32% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | FTQI | SEPI |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. | 5.41% | 7.54% |
| Apple Inc. | 8.76% | 5.24% |
| NVIDIA Corporation | 6.55% | 4.04% |
| Amazon.com, Inc. | 4.13% | 3.36% |
| Meta Platforms, Inc. (Class A) | 2.75% | 2.79% |
| Micron Technology, Inc. | 2.38% | 6.53% |
| Alphabet Inc. (Class A) | 2.06% | 4.68% |
| Broadcom Inc. | 1.92% | 3.08% |
| Microsoft Corporation | 1.41% | 3.42% |
| Netflix, Inc. | 1.24% | 1.21% |
| eBay Inc. | 0.85% | 2.47% |
| Caterpillar Inc. | 0.82% | 7.20% |
| Only in FTQI | Only in SEPI |
|---|---|
| US Dollar 5.75% | GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC (THE) 3.91% |
| Cisco Systems, Inc. 3.18% | MERCK & COMPANY INC 2.67% |
| Tesla, Inc. 2.68% | ARISTA NETWORKS INC 2.18% |
| Palantir Technologies Inc. (Class A) 2.54% | DUKE ENERGY CORP 2.08% |
| Seagate Technology Holdings Plc 2.17% | GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY 1.96% |
| Alphabet Inc. (Class C) 2.05% | CARDINAL HEALTH INC 1.91% |
| Palo Alto Networks, Inc. 1.42% | BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC 1.87% |
| AbbVie Inc. 1.32% | AKAMAI TECHNOLOGIES INC 1.80% |
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 | SEPI | FTQI | SEPI | FTQI | SEPI | |
| 3 months | +4.0% | +5.4% | 2.9% | 2.1% | +6.5 pts | +3.2 pts |
| 6 months | +18.3% | +20.5% | 6.3% | 4.7% | −5.9 pts | +2.5 pts |
| 1 year | +21.5% | +21.8% | 12.0% | 7.5% | −0.3 pts | +5.2 pts |
| 3 years | +62.9% | not published | 37.0% | not published | −35.3 pts | not published |
| Since launch | +141.7% | +24.4% | 78.8% | 7.7% | −675.0 pts | +5.4 pts |
| FTQI First Trust Nasdaq BuyWrite Income ETF Covered call on QQQ, paying monthly | SEPI Shelton Equity Premium Income ETF Covered call on SPY, paying monthly | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | First Trust | Shelton |
| Strategy | covered call | covered call |
| Benchmark | Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| Pays | monthly | monthly |
| Payout rate, annualized | 11.9% | 8.3% |
| Expense ratio | 0.75% | 0.54% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 12.0% | 7.5% |
| Price change, 1 year | +8.0% | +13.4% |
| Total return, 1 year | +21.5% | +21.8% |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +21.8% | +16.6% |
| Ahead or behind | −0.3 pts | +5.2 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | not published | not published |
| Age | 4637 days | 375 days |
| Net assets | $975m | $152m |
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.
SEPI in plain words
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, SEPI paid 7.5% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 13.4%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +21.8%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +16.6% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 5.2 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 8.3%, paid monthly.
Questions people ask
- Which paid more, FTQI or SEPI?
- Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, FTQI paid 12.0% of its starting price in cash and SEPI paid 7.5%, 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 SEPI?
- With every distribution reinvested, FTQI returned +21.5% and SEPI returned +21.8% over the year to Sep 18, 2026, so SEPI returned more.
- Which is cheaper, FTQI or SEPI?
- FTQI charges 0.75% a year and SEPI charges 0.54%, so SEPI 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 SEPI, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/ftqi-vs-sepi Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.