Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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Income ETFs

ISPY vs XYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, XYLD paid 10.6% of its price in cash against ISPY’s 5.7%, and returned more with it reinvested.

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Net assets: $1.2bn on Oct 28, 2026 for ProShares S&P 500 High Income ETF, and $3.4bn on Oct 12, 2026 for Global X S&P 500 Covered Call ETF.

At a glance
5.7%
ISPY cash paid, 1 year
10.6%
XYLD cash paid, 1 year
+10.1%
ISPY total return, 1 year
+15.8%
XYLD total return, 1 year
ISPY · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 3.5 pts behind SPY
ISPY
+10.1%
SPY
+13.6%

3.5 pts behind SPY

ISPY over 1 year: paid 5.7%, price +4.0%, total +10.1%, SPY +13.6%, −3.5 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

SPY

+13.6%

ISPY

+10.1%

5.7% of it arrived as cash

3.5 pts behind SPY

Total return, distributions reinvested

3.5 pts behind SPY

ISPY over 1 year: paid 5.7%, price +4.0%, total +10.1%, SPY +13.6%, −3.5 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

SPY

+13.6%

ISPY

+10.1%

3.5 pts behind SPY

5.7% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. ISPY over 1 year: paid 5.7%, price +4.0%, total +10.1%, SPY +13.6%, −3.5 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

Data to Oct 28, 2026.
XYLD · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 2.2 pts ahead of SPY
XYLD
+15.8%
SPY
+13.6%

2.2 pts ahead of SPY

XYLD over 1 year: paid 10.6%, price +4.3%, total +15.8%, SPY +13.6%, +2.2 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

SPY

+13.6%

XYLD

+15.8%

10.6% of it arrived as cash

2.2 pts ahead of SPY

Total return, distributions reinvested

2.2 pts ahead of SPY

XYLD over 1 year: paid 10.6%, price +4.3%, total +15.8%, SPY +13.6%, +2.2 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

SPY

+13.6%

XYLD

+15.8%

10.6% as cash

2.2 pts ahead of SPY

10.6% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, 0 to +15.8%. XYLD over 1 year: paid 10.6%, price +4.3%, total +15.8%, SPY +13.6%, +2.2 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

Both charts share one scale, 0 to +15.8%. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

Pair scorecard

ISPY costs 0.05 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.7 points; XYLD is 2.8 times larger.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

ISPY vs XYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
MeasureISPYXYLD
Paid and earned
Total return, 1 year+10.1%+15.8%
Price change, 1 yearrose 4.0%rose 4.3%
Return of capital, issuer estimate81% of the Oct 7, 2026 payment93% of the Sep 24, 2026 payment
Against its benchmark
BenchmarkS&P 500, measured through SPYS&P 500, measured through SPY
Cost and size
Expense ratio0.55%0.60%
Net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026$1.2bn$3.4bn
Holdings
Holdings in common84%
ETFIQ Distribution Coverage Score · ISPY scores higher How much of what it paid out did its total return cover?
IQ Income Score85.7ISPY77.7XYLD

How much of its payouts the fund's total return covered, ranked against 164 income ETFs not writing on a single company. 100 is best. How it is computed

0.3, the lowest in this set 99.7, the highest

A percentile among the 164 income ETFs not writing on a single company. One year only, and a ratio of two published numbers: it says nothing about where a distribution came from. All income ETFs ranked by it →

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Dec 29, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 147 weekly returns · each against SPY
ISPY XYLD
Return
Total return edge ISPY +49.9% +42.5%
Annualized edge ISPY +15.4% +13.3%
Price return edge ISPY +17.6% +4.3%
Risk
Volatility edge XYLD 12.8% 8.8%
Max drawdown edge XYLD (slight) −15.6% −14.0%
Downside capture 96.6% 48.6%
Beta 0.89 0.53
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe edge XYLD 0.84 0.97
Sortino edge XYLD 1.22 1.37
Treynor 0.121 0.160
Calmar edge ISPY (slight) 0.99 0.95
Against the benchmark
Alpha −2.0% a year +0.9% a year
Alpha t-stat −1.26 0.32
Information ratio −1.17 −0.73
Tracking error 3.1% 8.0%
Reading

ISPY returned more: +49.9% to +42.5%. XYLD swung less: 8.8% to 12.8%. XYLD fell slightly less at its worst: −14.0% to −15.6%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured
Open ↓
Risk and return: ISPY vs XYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
MeasureISPYXYLDSPYEdgeHow it is measured
Return
Total return+49.9%+42.5%ISPYPrice change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized+15.4%+13.3%ISPYTotal return as a yearly rate.
Price return+17.6%+4.3%ISPYPrice change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility12.8%8.8%XYLDSpread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation8.8%6.2%XYLDLike volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown−15.6%−14.0%XYLD (slight)Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture85.6%41.1%100.0%ISPYShare of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture96.6%48.6%100.0%XYLDShare of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta0.890.531.00XYLD lowerHow far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared0.960.731.00Not an edgeShare of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe0.840.97XYLDReturn above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino1.221.37XYLDReturn above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor0.1210.1600.144XYLDReturn above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar0.990.95ISPY (slight)Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
BenchmarkSPYSPYSPYThe ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha−2.0% a year+0.9% a year0.0%Not significantYearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat−1.260.32Not an edgeHow sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range−5.1% to +1.1%−4.6% to +6.3%Both include zeroThe 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio−1.17−0.73XYLDReturn against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error3.1%8.0%0.0%Not an edgeHow far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 147 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

84%

By the books each fund has filed, ISPY and XYLD hold 84% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.

0 half 100%

half

84% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first ISPY XYLD
NVIDIA Corp. 6.80% 7.64%
Apple, Inc. 5.92% 7.13%
Microsoft Corp. 4.80% 5.42%
Amazon.com, Inc. 3.24% 4.18%
Alphabet, Inc. 2.53% 3.28%
Broadcom, Inc. 2.23% 2.90%
Alphabet, Inc. 2.02% 2.65%
Meta Platforms, Inc. 1.60% 1.92%
Micron Technology, Inc. 1.38% 1.46%
Tesla, Inc. 1.32% 1.38%
JPMorgan Chase & Co. 1.22% 1.48%
Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. 1.18% 1.47%
Only in one fund ↓
Only in ISPY
Ferguson Enterprises, Inc. 0.06%
Reddit, Inc. 0.02%
Only in XYLD
Global X US 500 ETF 0.11%
ELECTRONIC ARTS INC 0.07%
AVALONBAY COMMUNITIES, INC. 0.04%
Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

ISPY ProShares S&P 500 High Income ETF · Option income on SPY, paying monthly XYLD Global X S&P 500 Covered Call ETF · Covered call on SPY, paying monthly
Strategy option income covered call
Benchmark S&P 500 (SPY) S&P 500 (SPY)
Pays monthly monthly
Payout rate, annualized 6.3% 9.1%
Expense ratio 0.55% 0.60%
Cash paid, 1 year 5.7% 10.6%
Price change, 1 year +4.0% +4.3%
Total return, 1 year +10.1% +15.8%
Benchmark return, 1 year +13.6% +13.6%
Ahead or behind −3.5 pts +2.2 pts
Return of capital, latest estimate 81% 93%
Age 2.9 years 13.3 years
Net assets, ISPY as of Oct 28, 2026 and XYLD as of Oct 12, 2026 $1.2bn $3.4bn

As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price. Payout rate: the latest payment, annualized, over today’s price.

Window by window

Window by window: ISPY vs XYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Total returnCash paidAgainst the benchmark
WindowISPYXYLDISPYXYLDISPYXYLD
3 months+4.8%+5.0%1.6%2.3%−1.4 pts−1.1 pts
6 months+7.3%+9.2%3.3%5.2%−1.7 pts+0.1 pts
1 year+10.1%+15.8%5.7%10.6%−3.5 pts+2.2 pts
3 years–+53.3%–35.1%–−41.7 pts
Since launchNot the same days: ISPY Dec 2023 · XYLD Jun 2013+54.8%+195.1%26.5%114.5%−15.5 pts−320.2 pts

– means no data for this window. Open this comparison in the app →

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-E1BB5C662E

ISPY and XYLD are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?

  1. Income paid. ISPY paid 5.7% and XYLD 10.6% (cash paid over 1 year, as a share of its price at the start), a gap of 4.9 points.
  2. One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 ISPY returned +10.1% and XYLD +15.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 5.7 points.
  3. What each is measured against (similar). Both are measured against S&P 500 through SPY.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund
ISPY

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ISPY paid 5.7% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 4.0%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +10.1%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +13.6% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 3.5 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 6.3%, paid monthly. ProShares estimates that 81% of the distribution paid Oct 7, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.

XYLD

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, XYLD paid 10.6% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 4.3%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +15.8%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +13.6% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 2.2 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 9.1%, paid monthly. Global X estimates that 93% of the distribution paid Sep 24, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice).

Questions people ask

Which paid more, ISPY or XYLD?
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ISPY paid 5.7% of its starting price in cash and XYLD paid 10.6%, so XYLD paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
Which returned more once distributions are counted, ISPY or XYLD?
With every distribution reinvested, ISPY returned +10.1% and XYLD +15.8% over the year to Oct 28, 2026.
Which is cheaper, ISPY or XYLD?
ISPY charges 0.55% a year and XYLD charges 0.60%, so ISPY is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Other comparisons
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Sources and dates

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

It is a place in a set, not a rating or a recommendation.

Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.

Every number is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, ISPY against XYLD, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/ispy-vs-xyld

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