Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
PAPI vs SEPI: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, SEPI paid 8.9% of its price in cash against PAPI’s 8.2%, though PAPI returned more with it reinvested.
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Net assets on Jun 30, 2026: $400m for Parametric Equity Premium Income ETF and $152m for Shelton Equity Premium Income ETF.
9.4 pts behind IWD
PAPI over 1 year: paid 8.2%, price +14.3%, total +23.4%, IWD +32.8%, −9.4 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
IWD
+32.8%
PAPI
+23.4%
8.2% as cash
9.4 pts behind IWD
Total return, distributions reinvested
9.4 pts behind IWD
PAPI over 1 year: paid 8.2%, price +14.3%, total +23.4%, IWD +32.8%, −9.4 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
IWD
+32.8%
PAPI
+23.4%
9.4 pts behind IWD
8.2% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. PAPI over 1 year: paid 8.2%, price +14.3%, total +23.4%, IWD +32.8%, −9.4 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
Data to Nov 4, 2026.3.1 pts ahead of SPY
SEPI over 1 year: paid 8.9%, price +8.3%, total +17.9%, SPY +14.8%, +3.1 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
SPY
+14.8%
SEPI
+17.9%
8.9% as cash
3.1 pts ahead of SPY
Total return, distributions reinvested
3.1 pts ahead of SPY
SEPI over 1 year: paid 8.9%, price +8.3%, total +17.9%, SPY +14.8%, +3.1 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
SPY
+14.8%
SEPI
+17.9%
3.1 pts ahead of SPY
8.9% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, 0 to +32.8%. SEPI over 1 year: paid 8.9%, price +8.3%, total +17.9%, SPY +14.8%, +3.1 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
Both charts share one scale, 0 to +32.8%. Data to Nov 4, 2026.Pair scorecard
PAPI costs 0.25 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.5 points; PAPI is 2.6 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | PAPI | SEPI |
|---|---|---|
| Paid and earned | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +23.4% | +17.9% |
| Price change, 1 year | rose 14.3% | rose 8.3% |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| Benchmark | iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF, measured through IWD | S&P 500, measured through SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.29% | 0.54% |
| Net assets, as of Jun 30, 2026 | $400m | $152m |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 7% | |
How much of its payouts the fund's total return covered, ranked against 167 income ETFs not writing on a single company. 100 is best. How it is computed
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 →
Risk and return
Sep 19, 2025 to Oct 30, 2026 · 58 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: PAPI against IWD, Oct 27, 2023 to Oct 30, 2026; SEPI against SPY, Sep 19, 2025 to Oct 30, 2026.
From Sep 2025 to Oct 2026, PAPI returned slightly more: +19.9% to +18.9%. PAPI and SEPI swung about the same: 10.1% and 10.2%. PAPI and SEPI fell about the same at their worst: −6.6% and −6.6%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | PAPI | SEPI | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +19.9% | +18.9% | PAPI (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +17.7% | +16.8% | PAPI (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +9.7% | +8.5% | PAPI | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 10.1% | 10.2% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 6.3% | 5.8% | SEPI (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −6.6% | −6.6% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 61.0% | 83.6% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 82.0% | 77.5% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.69 | 0.80 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.60 | 0.88 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 1.28 | 1.20 | PAPI (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 2.07 | 2.13 | SEPI (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.129 | 0.153 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 2.67 | 2.54 | PAPI (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IWD | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −3.2% a year | +4.6% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.80 | 1.36 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −11.2% to +4.7% | −2.2% to +11.5% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −1.11 | 0.65 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 7.8% | 4.2% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 58 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, PAPI and SEPI hold 7% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026.
half
7% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
As of Nov 4, 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 | PAPI | SEPI | PAPI | SEPI | PAPI | SEPI |
| 3 months | +6.6% | −0.1% | 1.8% | 2.1% | +2.6 pts | 0.0 pts |
| 6 months | +13.2% | +6.8% | 3.9% | 4.4% | −0.7 pts | +1.8 pts |
| 1 year | +23.4% | +17.9% | 8.2% | 8.9% | −9.4 pts | +3.1 pts |
| 3 years | +44.5% | – | 23.7% | – | −39.8 pts | – |
| Since launchNot the same days: PAPI Oct 2023 · SEPI Sep 2025 | +45.5% | +23.5% | 23.9% | 10.0% | −42.4 pts | +3.7 pts |
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PAPI
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, PAPI paid 8.2% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 14.3%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +23.4%. iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD) returned +32.8% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 9.4 pts. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 6.8%, paid monthly.
SEPI
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, SEPI paid 8.9% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 8.3%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +17.9%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +14.8% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 3.1 pts. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 8.5%, paid monthly. Shelton estimates that 99% of the distribution paid Sep 30, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, PAPI against SEPI, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/papi-vs-sepi
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). PAPI against SEPI. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/income/papi-vs-sepi
[PAPI against SEPI (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/income/papi-vs-sepi)
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