Get the weekly note
ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

Data as of .

JULJ vs QQQI: which paid, and which earned it?

Over the year QQQI paid 15.2% of its price in cash against JULJ’s 5.5%, and returned more with it reinvested.

Innovator Premium Income 30 Barrier ETF - July and NEOS Nasdaq-100(R) High Income ETF.

5.5%JULJ cash paid, 1 year
15.2%QQQI cash paid, 1 year
+5.1%JULJ total return, 1 year
+16.4%QQQI total return, 1 year

ETFIQ Return Stability Score: QQQI scores higher

Was the payout funded by returns, or by your own capital?

JULJ 36.4QQQI 50.53.8, the lowest in this set96.8, the highest

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

JULJ11.5 pts behind SPY · 1 year to Sep 18, 2026
SPY+16.6%JULJ+5.1%5.5% as cash11.5 pts behind SPYTotal return, distributions reinvestedSPY+16.6%JULJ+5.1%11.5 pts behind SPY
QQQI5.3 pts behind QQQ · 1 year to Sep 18, 2026
QQQ+21.8%QQQI+16.4%15.2% of it arrived as cash5.3 pts behind QQQTotal return, distributions reinvestedQQQ+21.8%QQQI+16.4%15.2% as cash5.3 pts behind QQQ

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, JULJ and QQQI hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.

Only in each
Only in JULJOnly in QQQI
TREASURY BILL 100.00%NVIDIA Corp 8.58%
Apple Inc 7.79%
Microsoft Corp 5.84%
Micron Technology Inc 5.03%
Amazon.com Inc 4.36%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc 4.02%
Alphabet Inc 3.24%
Meta Platforms Inc 3.14%

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 Apr 30, 2026 and Sep 21, 2026.

Performance, window by window

JULJ and QQQI over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ.
WindowTotal returnCash paidAgainst the benchmark
JULJQQQIJULJQQQIJULJQQQI
3 months+1.5%−0.7%1.3%3.4%−0.7 pts+1.8 pts
6 months+3.1%+16.7%2.6%7.7%−14.9 pts−7.5 pts
1 year+5.1%+16.4%5.5%15.2%−11.5 pts−5.3 pts
3 years+18.8%not published17.4%not published−59.6 ptsnot published
Since launch+20.4%+59.6%17.6%39.9%−58.1 pts−12.3 pts
Open the live comparison on ETFIQ
JULJ and QQQI on the same fields, as of Sep 18, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
JULJ
Innovator Premium Income 30 Barrier ETF - July
Defined income on SPY, paying quarterly
QQQI
NEOS Nasdaq-100(R) High Income ETF
Option income on QQQ, paying monthly
IssuerInnovatorNEOS
Strategydefined incomeoption income
BenchmarkS&P 500 (SPY)Nasdaq-100 (QQQ)
Paysquarterlymonthly
Payout rate, annualized5.2%14.0%
Expense ratio0.79%0.68%
Cash paid, 1 year5.5%15.2%
Price change, 1 year−0.6%−0.1%
Total return, 1 year+5.1%+16.4%
Benchmark return, 1 year+16.6%+21.8%
Ahead or behind−11.5 pts−5.3 pts
Return of capital, latest estimatenot published98%
Age1173 days962 days
Net assets$14m$14.8bn

JULJ in plain words

Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, JULJ paid 5.5% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 0.6%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +5.1%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +16.6% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 11.5 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 5.2%, paid quarterly.

QQQI in plain words

Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, QQQI paid 15.2% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 0.1%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +16.4%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) returned +21.8% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 5.3 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 14.0%, paid monthly. NEOS estimates that 98% of the distribution paid Jun 18, 2026 was a return of capital (19a-1 notice, estimated, a tax characterization rather than a measure of erosion).

Questions people ask

Which paid more, JULJ or QQQI?
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, JULJ paid 5.5% of its starting price in cash and QQQI paid 15.2%, so QQQI paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
Which returned more once distributions are counted, JULJ or QQQI?
With every distribution reinvested, JULJ returned +5.1% and QQQI returned +16.4% over the year to Sep 18, 2026, so QQQI returned more.
Which is cheaper, JULJ or QQQI?
JULJ charges 0.79% a year and QQQI charges 0.68%, so QQQI 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.

JULJ against QQQI, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 18, 2026. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, JULJ against QQQI, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/julj-vs-qqqi Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

How every figure is computed · Standards and sources