Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
MSTY vs SPYI: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, MSTY paid 33.4% of its price in cash against SPYI’s 11.9%, though SPYI returned more with it reinvested.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $1.0bn for YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF and $12.7bn for NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF.
5.6 pts ahead of MSTR
MSTY over 1 year: paid 33.4%, price −75.2%, total −43.4%, MSTR −49.0%, +5.6 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
MSTR
−49.0%
MSTY
−43.4%
5.6 pts ahead of MSTR
Total return, distributions reinvested
5.6 pts ahead of MSTR
MSTY over 1 year: paid 33.4%, price −75.2%, total −43.4%, MSTR −49.0%, +5.6 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
MSTR
−49.0%
MSTY
−43.4%
5.6 pts ahead of MSTR
33.4% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. MSTY over 1 year: paid 33.4%, price −75.2%, total −43.4%, MSTR −49.0%, +5.6 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
Data to Oct 28, 2026.About even with SPY
SPYI over 1 year: paid 11.9%, price +0.8%, total +13.6%, SPY +13.6%, 0.0 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
SPY
+13.6%
SPYI
+13.6%
11.9% as cash
about even with SPY
Total return, distributions reinvested
About even with SPY
SPYI over 1 year: paid 11.9%, price +0.8%, total +13.6%, SPY +13.6%, 0.0 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
SPY
+13.6%
SPYI
+13.6%
about even with SPY
11.9% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, with zero at the line. SPYI over 1 year: paid 11.9%, price +0.8%, total +13.6%, SPY +13.6%, 0.0 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
Data to Oct 28, 2026.Pair scorecard
SPYI costs 0.31 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 57.0 points; SPYI is 12.7 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | MSTY | SPYI |
|---|---|---|
| Paid and earned | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −43.4% | +13.6% |
| Price change, 1 year | fell 75.2% | rose 0.8% |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 14% of the Oct 30, 2026 payment | 99% of the Oct 23, 2026 payment |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| Benchmark | MicroStrategy (MSTR) | S&P 500, measured through SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.99% | 0.68% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $1.0bn | $12.7bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
MSTY among the 74 income ETFs writing on a single company
How much of its payouts the fund's total return covered, ranked against 74 income ETFs writing on a single company and 164 income ETFs not writing on a single company. 100 is best. How it is computed
SPYI among the 164 income ETFs not writing on a single company
A percentile among the 74 income ETFs writing on a single company. SPYI is a percentile among the 164 income ETFs not writing on a single company, a different set, so the two marks are not on one scale. 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 Oct 28, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Mar 1, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026 · 138 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: MSTY against MSTR, Mar 1, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026; SPYI against SPY, Sep 9, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPYI returned more: +45.4% to +36.1%. SPYI swung less: 11.8% to 61.8%. SPYI fell less at its worst: −14.8% to −76.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | MSTY | SPYI | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +36.1% | +45.4% | SPYI | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +12.3% | +15.2% | SPYI | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −89.1% | +5.4% | SPYI | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 61.8% | 11.8% | SPYI | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 40.0% | 8.0% | SPYI | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −76.2% | −14.8% | SPYI | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 35.5% | 68.0% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 97.2% | 80.6% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.73 | 0.78 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.93 | 0.96 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.42 | 0.89 | SPYI | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.65 | 1.31 | SPYI | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.358 | 0.123 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.16 | 1.03 | SPYI | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | MSTR | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −2.3% a year | −0.6% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.23 | −0.53 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −21.9% to +17.3% | −2.8% to +1.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.47 | −0.87 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 27.4% | 4.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 138 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, MSTY and SPYI hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 28, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
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
| Total return | Cash paid | Against the benchmark | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | MSTY | SPYI | MSTY | SPYI | MSTY | SPYI |
| 3 months | +42.2% | +6.4% | 25.1% | 3.1% | −13.3 pts | +0.3 pts |
| 6 months | −9.7% | +8.7% | 28.9% | 6.1% | −1.4 pts | −0.4 pts |
| 1 year | −43.4% | +13.6% | 33.4% | 11.9% | +5.6 pts | 0.0 pts |
| 3 years | – | +70.2% | – | 41.0% | – | −24.8 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: MSTY Feb 2024 · SPYI Aug 2022 | +69.4% | +79.8% | 224.6% | 51.3% | −34.2 pts | −25.4 pts |
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MSTY and SPYI are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Income paid. MSTY paid 33.4% and SPYI 11.9% (cash paid over 1 year, as a share of its price at the start), a gap of 21.5 points.
- What each is measured against. MSTY is measured against MicroStrategy (MSTR) and SPYI against S&P 500 through SPY.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 28, 2026).
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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MSTY
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, MSTY paid 33.4% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 75.2%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned −43.4%. MicroStrategy (MSTR) returned −49.0% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 5.6 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 60.3%, paid weekly. YieldMax estimates that 14% of the distribution paid Oct 30, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
SPYI
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPYI paid 11.9% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 0.8%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +13.6%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +13.6% over the same days, so a holder was about even. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 11.4%, paid monthly. NEOS estimates that 99% of the distribution paid Oct 23, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice).
Questions people ask
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.
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ETFIQ, MSTY against SPYI, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/msty-vs-spyi
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). MSTY against SPYI. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/income/msty-vs-spyi
[MSTY against SPYI (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/income/msty-vs-spyi)
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