KYLD vs VAIE: Dividend Yield & Total Return
KYLD and VAIE both write options for income. Net assets on Oct 19, 2026: $52m for Kurv High Income ETF and $67m for VegaShares US Equity Autocallable Income ETF.
VAIE costs 0.34 points a year less; VAIE is 1.3 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| KYLD | VAIE | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 1.08% | 0.74% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 19, 2026 | $52m | $67m |
| Benchmark | its own holdings | not published |
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| Against its benchmark, same days | ahead by 7.9 pts | |
| Price change | fell 6.1% (6 months) | fell 3.6% (since May 12, 2026) |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 100% of the Oct 15, 2026 payment | |
Not measured
KYLD since launch: paid 22.5%, price −25.4%, total −2.4%, not measured against a benchmark. Figures to Oct 20, 2026.
KYLD
−2.4%
Total return, distributions reinvested
Not measured
KYLD since launch: paid 22.5%, price −25.4%, total −2.4%, not measured against a benchmark. Figures to Oct 20, 2026.
KYLD
−2.4%
22.5% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. KYLD since launch: paid 22.5%, price −25.4%, total −2.4%, not measured against a benchmark. Figures to Oct 20, 2026.
Figures to Oct 20, 2026.
Not measured
VAIE since launch: paid 6.8%, price −3.6%, total +3.3%, not measured against a benchmark. Figures to Oct 20, 2026.
VAIE
+3.3%
6.8% of it arrived as cash
Total return, distributions reinvested
Not measured
VAIE since launch: paid 6.8%, price −3.6%, total +3.3%, not measured against a benchmark. Figures to Oct 20, 2026.
VAIE
+3.3%
6.8% cash
6.8% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, with zero at the line. VAIE since launch: paid 6.8%, price −3.6%, total +3.3%, not measured against a benchmark. Figures to Oct 20, 2026.
Figures to Oct 20, 2026.
Performance, window by window
| Total return | Cash paid | Against the benchmark | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | KYLD | VAIE | KYLD | VAIE | KYLD | VAIE |
| 3 months | −5.0% | +2.5% | 6.1% | 4.1% | +2.2 pts | not measured |
| 6 months | +6.3% | – | 12.8% | – | +7.9 pts | – |
| Since launch Not the same days: KYLD Oct 2025 · VAIE May 2026 | −2.4% | +3.3% | 22.5% | 6.8% | not measured | not measured |
Source: ETFIQ. – means no data for this window, usually because the fund is younger than it. Open this comparison in the app →
On the same fields
As of Oct 20, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid is what the fund distributed over the window, as a share of its price at the start. Payout rate is its latest payment, annualized, over today’s price.
About KYLD
Over the 6 months to Oct 20, 2026, KYLD paid 12.8% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 6.1%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +6.3%. At its price on Oct 20, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 27.3%, paid weekly. Kurv estimates that 100% of the distribution paid Oct 15, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
KYLD's own holdings, without the options (from its filed holdings, rebalanced at each filing; latest May 31, 2026) returned −1.7% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 7.9 pts.
About VAIE
Over the period from its first trade on May 12, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, VAIE paid 6.8% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 3.6%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +3.3%. At its price on Oct 20, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 16.8%, paid weekly.
Questions people ask
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How this is computed
Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, KYLD against VAIE, data as of Oct 20, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/kyld-vs-vaie
ETFIQ. (Oct 20, 2026). KYLD against VAIE. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/income/kyld-vs-vaie
[KYLD against VAIE (ETFIQ, Oct 20, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/income/kyld-vs-vaie)
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