Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
QLDY vs QUSA: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, QLDY paid 35.3% of its price in cash against QUSA’s 14.6%, and returned more with it reinvested.
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Net assets on Nov 3, 2026: $53m for Defiance Nasdaq 100 LightningSpread Income ETF and $20m for VistaShares Target 15 USA Quality Income ETF.
3.2 pts behind QQQ
QLDY over 1 year: paid 35.3%, price −27.2%, total +9.1%, QQQ +12.3%, −3.2 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
QQQ
+12.3%
QLDY
+9.1%
35.3% of it arrived as cash
3.2 pts behind QQQ
Total return, distributions reinvested
3.2 pts behind QQQ
QLDY over 1 year: paid 35.3%, price −27.2%, total +9.1%, QQQ +12.3%, −3.2 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
QQQ
+12.3%
QLDY
+9.1%
35.3% cash
3.2 pts behind QQQ
35.3% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. QLDY over 1 year: paid 35.3%, price −27.2%, total +9.1%, QQQ +12.3%, −3.2 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
Data to Nov 4, 2026.12.9 pts behind SPY
QUSA over 1 year: paid 14.6%, price −12.3%, total +1.9%, SPY +14.8%, −12.9 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
SPY
+14.8%
QUSA
+1.9%
14.6% cash
12.9 pts behind SPY
Total return, distributions reinvested
12.9 pts behind SPY
QUSA over 1 year: paid 14.6%, price −12.3%, total +1.9%, SPY +14.8%, −12.9 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
SPY
+14.8%
QUSA
+1.9%
12.9 pts behind SPY
14.6% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, with zero at the line. QUSA over 1 year: paid 14.6%, price −12.3%, total +1.9%, SPY +14.8%, −12.9 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
Data to Nov 4, 2026.Pair scorecard
QUSA costs 0.07 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.2 points; QLDY is 2.7 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | QLDY | QUSA |
|---|---|---|
| Paid and earned | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +9.1% | +1.9% |
| Price change, 1 year | fell 27.2% | fell 12.3% |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 0% of the Nov 2, 2026 payment | 100% of the Oct 27, 2026 payment |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| Benchmark | Nasdaq-100, measured through QQQ | S&P 500, measured through SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 1.04% | 0.97% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $53m | $20m |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
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 26, 2025 to Oct 30, 2026 · 57 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: QLDY against QQQ, Sep 26, 2025 to Oct 30, 2026; QUSA against SPY, May 16, 2025 to Oct 30, 2026.
From Sep 2025 to Oct 2026, QLDY returned more: +13.0% to −3.0%. QUSA swung less: 10.9% to 21.4%. QUSA fell less at its worst: −9.4% to −13.1%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | QLDY | QUSA | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +13.0% | −3.0% | QLDY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +11.8% | −2.7% | QLDY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −27.2% | −18.6% | QUSA | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 21.4% | 10.9% | QUSA | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 14.3% | 8.4% | QUSA | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −13.1% | −9.4% | QUSA | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 116.7% | 41.5% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 109.3% | 101.9% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.13 | 0.69 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.98 | 0.61 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.45 | −0.54 | QLDY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.68 | −0.71 | QLDY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.085 | −0.108 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.90 | −0.29 | QLDY | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | QQQ | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −3.7% a year | −17.4% a year | QLDY not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −1.33 | −3.21 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −9.3% to +1.9% | −28.3% to −6.6% | QLDY includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.56 | −2.97 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 3.8% | 7.4% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 57 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, QLDY and QUSA hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Nov 4, 2026.
half
0% 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 | QLDY | QUSA | QLDY | QUSA | QLDY | QUSA |
| 3 months | −4.5% | −8.5% | 9.5% | 3.6% | −1.1 pts | −8.4 pts |
| 6 months | −3.1% | −5.5% | 18.5% | 7.3% | −2.8 pts | −10.5 pts |
| 1 year | +9.1% | +1.9% | 35.3% | 14.6% | −3.2 pts | −12.8 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: QLDY Sep 2025 · QUSA May 2025 | +13.2% | −1.8% | 39.1% | 17.3% | −3.7 pts | −41.3 pts |
Client brief:
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QLDY
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, QLDY paid 35.3% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 27.2%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +9.1%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) returned +12.3% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 3.2 pts. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 19.7%, paid weekly. Defiance estimates that 0% of the distribution paid Nov 2, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
QUSA
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, QUSA paid 14.6% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 12.3%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +1.9%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +14.8% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 12.9 pts. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 15.4%, paid monthly. VistaShares estimates that 100% of the distribution paid Oct 27, 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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, QLDY against QUSA, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/qldy-vs-qusa
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). QLDY against QUSA. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/income/qldy-vs-qusa
[QLDY against QUSA (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/income/qldy-vs-qusa)
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