Data as of .
FTQI vs XISE: which paid, and which earned it?
Over the year FTQI paid 12.0% of its price in cash against XISE’s 6.5%, and returned more with it reinvested.
ETFIQ Return Stability Score: FTQI 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 XISE hold 1% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | FTQI | XISE |
|---|---|---|
| US Dollar | 5.75% | 1.19% |
| Only in FTQI | Only in XISE |
|---|---|
| Apple Inc. 8.76% | 2027-09-17 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust C 0.08 98.96% |
| NVIDIA Corporation 6.55% | 2027-09-17 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust P 761.61 5.02% |
| Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 5.41% | U.S. Treasury Bill, 0%, due 01/28/2027 0.55% |
| Amazon.com, Inc. 4.13% | U.S. Treasury Bill, 0%, due 02/25/2027 0.55% |
| Cisco Systems, Inc. 3.18% | U.S. Treasury Bill, 0%, due 10/29/2026 0.55% |
| Meta Platforms, Inc. (Class A) 2.75% | U.S. Treasury Bill, 0%, due 12/01/2026 0.55% |
| Tesla, Inc. 2.68% | U.S. Treasury Bill, 0%, due 12/31/2026 0.55% |
| Palantir Technologies Inc. (Class A) 2.54% | U.S. Treasury Bill, 0%, due 03/18/2027 0.54% |
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 Sep 18, 2026.
Performance, window by window
| Window | Total return | Cash paid | Against the benchmark | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTQI | XISE | FTQI | XISE | FTQI | XISE | |
| 3 months | +4.0% | +1.2% | 2.9% | 2.0% | +6.5 pts | −1.1 pts |
| 6 months | +18.3% | +4.9% | 6.3% | 3.6% | −5.9 pts | −13.2 pts |
| 1 year | +21.5% | +6.1% | 12.0% | 6.5% | −0.3 pts | −10.5 pts |
| 3 years | +62.9% | +20.9% | 37.0% | 19.1% | −35.3 pts | −57.5 pts |
| Since launch | +141.7% | +21.1% | 78.8% | 19.2% | −675.0 pts | −57.0 pts |
| FTQI First Trust Nasdaq BuyWrite Income ETF Covered call on QQQ, paying monthly | XISE FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer & Premium Income ETF - September Buffer with income on SPY, paying monthly | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | First Trust | First Trust |
| Strategy | covered call | buffer with income |
| Benchmark | Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| Pays | monthly | monthly |
| Payout rate, annualized | 11.9% | 6.0% |
| Expense ratio | 0.75% | 0.85% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 12.0% | 6.5% |
| Price change, 1 year | +8.0% | −0.6% |
| Total return, 1 year | +21.5% | +6.1% |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +21.8% | +16.6% |
| Ahead or behind | −0.3 pts | −10.5 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | not published | not published |
| Age | 4637 days | 1096 days |
| Net assets | $975m | $32m |
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.
XISE in plain words
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, XISE paid 6.5% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 0.6%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +6.1%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +16.6% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 10.5 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 6.0%, paid monthly.
Questions people ask
- Which paid more, FTQI or XISE?
- Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, FTQI paid 12.0% of its starting price in cash and XISE paid 6.5%, 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 XISE?
- With every distribution reinvested, FTQI returned +21.5% and XISE returned +6.1% over the year to Sep 18, 2026, so FTQI returned more.
- Which is cheaper, FTQI or XISE?
- FTQI charges 0.75% a year and XISE charges 0.85%, 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 XISE, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/ftqi-vs-xise Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.