Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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Income ETFs

QQQI vs RYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QQQI paid 13.7% of its price in cash against RYLD’s 12.1% and the two finished level on total return.

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Net assets: $15.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for NEOS Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF, and $1.3bn on Oct 12, 2026 for Global X Russell 2000 Covered Call ETF.

At a glance
13.7%
QQQI cash paid, 1 year
12.1%
RYLD cash paid, 1 year
+11.9%
QQQI total return, 1 year
+12.1%
RYLD total return, 1 year
QQQI · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 3.3 pts behind QQQ
QQQI
+11.9%
QQQ
+15.2%

3.3 pts behind QQQ

QQQI over 1 year: paid 13.7%, price −2.8%, total +11.9%, QQQ +15.2%, −3.3 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

QQQ

+15.2%

QQQI

+11.9%

13.7% of it arrived as cash

3.3 pts behind QQQ

Total return, distributions reinvested

3.3 pts behind QQQ

QQQI over 1 year: paid 13.7%, price −2.8%, total +11.9%, QQQ +15.2%, −3.3 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

QQQ

+15.2%

QQQI

+11.9%

13.7% as cash

3.3 pts behind QQQ

13.7% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. QQQI over 1 year: paid 13.7%, price −2.8%, total +11.9%, QQQ +15.2%, −3.3 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

Data to Oct 28, 2026.
RYLD · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 2 pts behind IWM
RYLD
+12.1%
IWM
+14.1%

2 pts behind IWM

RYLD over 1 year: paid 12.1%, price −0.6%, total +12.1%, IWM +14.1%, −2.0 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

IWM

+14.1%

RYLD

+12.1%

12.1% of it arrived as cash

2 pts behind IWM

Total return, distributions reinvested

2 pts behind IWM

RYLD over 1 year: paid 12.1%, price −0.6%, total +12.1%, IWM +14.1%, −2.0 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

IWM

+14.1%

RYLD

+12.1%

12.1% as cash

2 pts behind IWM

12.1% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, with zero at the line. RYLD over 1 year: paid 12.1%, price −0.6%, total +12.1%, IWM +14.1%, −2.0 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

Data to Oct 28, 2026.

Pair scorecard

RYLD costs 0.08 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.2 points; QQQI is 11.8 times larger.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

QQQI vs RYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
MeasureQQQIRYLD
Paid and earned
Total return, 1 year+11.9%+12.1%
Price change, 1 yearfell 2.8%fell 0.6%
Return of capital, issuer estimate100% of the Oct 23, 2026 payment100% of the Sep 24, 2026 payment
Against its benchmark
BenchmarkNasdaq-100, measured through QQQRussell 2000, measured through IWM
Against its benchmark, same daysbehind by 3.3 ptsbehind by 2.0 pts
Cost and size
Expense ratio0.68%0.60%
Net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026$15.3bn$1.3bn
Holdings
Holdings in common0%
ETFIQ Distribution Coverage Score · RYLD scores higher How much of what it paid out did its total return cover?
IQ Income Score49.1QQQI57.6RYLD

How much of its payouts the fund's total return covered, ranked against 164 income ETFs not writing on a single company. 100 is best. How it is computed

0.3, the lowest in this set 99.7, the highest

A percentile among the 164 income ETFs not writing on a single company. 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 Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Feb 9, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026 · 141 weekly returns
QQQI RYLD
Return
Total return edge QQQI +52.7% +27.9%
Annualized edge QQQI +16.9% +9.5%
Price return edge QQQI +3.2% −8.1%
Risk
Volatility edge RYLD 16.0% 10.6%
Max drawdown edge RYLD −18.4% −15.3%
Downside capture 85.4% 62.8%
Beta 0.79 0.54
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe edge QQQI 0.79 0.50
Sortino edge QQQI 1.16 0.65
Treynor 0.158 0.063
Calmar edge QQQI 0.92 0.62
Against the benchmark
Alpha 0.0% a year −1.3% a year
Alpha t-stat 0.01 −0.43
Information ratio −0.67 −0.38
Tracking error 4.8% 13.9%

Each against its own benchmark: QQQI against QQQ, Feb 9, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026; RYLD against IWM, May 3, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

QQQI returned more: +52.7% to +27.9%. RYLD swung less: 10.6% to 16.0%. RYLD fell less at its worst: −15.3% to −18.4%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured
Open ↓
Risk and return: QQQI vs RYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
MeasureQQQIRYLDEdgeHow it is measured
Return
Total return+52.7%+27.9%QQQIPrice change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized+16.9%+9.5%QQQITotal return as a yearly rate.
Price return+3.2%−8.1%QQQIPrice change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility16.0%10.6%RYLDSpread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation10.8%8.1%RYLDLike volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown−18.4%−15.3%RYLDDeepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture69.5%33.1%Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture85.4%62.8%Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta0.790.54Not an edgeHow far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared0.980.73Not an edgeShare of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe0.790.50QQQIReturn above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino1.160.65QQQIReturn above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor0.1580.063Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar0.920.62QQQIAnnualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
BenchmarkQQQIWMThe ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha0.0% a year−1.3% a yearNot significantYearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat0.01−0.43Not an edgeHow sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range−3.0% to +3.0%−7.0% to +4.5%Includes zeroThe 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio−0.67−0.38Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error4.8%13.9%Not an edgeHow far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 141 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

0%

By the books each fund has filed, QQQI and RYLD hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026.

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first QQQI RYLD
Only in one fund ↓
Only in QQQI
NVIDIA Corp 7.99%
Apple Inc 7.74%
Microsoft Corp 6.10%
Micron Technology Inc 4.73%
Amazon.com Inc 4.24%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc 4.04%
Tesla Inc 3.29%
Alphabet Inc 2.93%
Only in RYLD
Global X Russell 2000 ETF 100.94%
N/A 0.00%
N/A 0.00%
N/A 0.00%
N/A 0.00%
N/A 0.00%
Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

QQQI NEOS Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF · Option income on QQQ, paying monthly RYLD Global X Russell 2000 Covered Call ETF · Covered call on IWM, paying monthly
Issuer NEOS Global X
Strategy option income covered call
Benchmark Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) Russell 2000 (IWM)
Pays monthly monthly
Payout rate, annualized 14.1% 11.5%
Expense ratio 0.68% 0.60%
Cash paid, 1 year 13.7% 12.1%
Price change, 1 year −2.8% −0.6%
Total return, 1 year +11.9% +12.1%
Benchmark return, 1 year +15.2% +14.1%
Ahead or behind −3.3 pts −2.0 pts
Return of capital, latest estimate 100% 100%
Age 2.7 years 7.5 years
Net assets, QQQI as of Oct 27, 2026 and RYLD as of Oct 12, 2026 $15.4bn $1.3bn

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

Window by window: QQQI vs RYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Total returnCash paidAgainst the benchmark
WindowQQQIRYLDQQQIRYLDQQQIRYLD
3 months+9.9%−0.3%3.8%2.9%+0.2 pts+1.9 pts
6 months+7.8%+6.8%7.2%6.2%−2.1 pts+2.9 pts
1 year+11.9%+12.1%13.7%12.1%−3.3 pts−2.1 pts
3 years–+38.8%–35.9%–−40.5 pts
Since launchNot the same days: QQQI Jan 2024 · RYLD Apr 2019+60.7%+49.0%41.2%68.4%−12.4 pts−50.0 pts

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Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-BC7ECAF775

QQQI and RYLD are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?

  1. What each is measured against. QQQI is measured against Nasdaq-100 through QQQ and RYLD against Russell 2000 through IWM.
  2. Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 28, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026).
  3. Size. QQQI has $15.3bn in net assets and RYLD $1.3bn (net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026); QQQI is 11.8 times larger.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund
QQQI

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QQQI paid 13.7% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 2.8%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +11.9%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) returned +15.2% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 3.3 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 14.1%, paid monthly. NEOS estimates that 100% of the distribution paid Oct 23, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.

RYLD

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, RYLD paid 12.1% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 0.6%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +12.1%. Russell 2000 (IWM) returned +14.1% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 2.0 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 11.5%, paid monthly. Global X estimates that 100% of the distribution paid Sep 24, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice).

Questions people ask

Which paid more, QQQI or RYLD?
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QQQI paid 13.7% of its starting price in cash and RYLD paid 12.1%, 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, QQQI or RYLD?
With every distribution reinvested, QQQI returned +11.9% and RYLD +12.1% over the year to Oct 28, 2026.
Which is cheaper, QQQI or RYLD?
QQQI charges 0.68% a year and RYLD charges 0.60%, so RYLD is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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Sources and dates

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, QQQI against RYLD, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/qqqi-vs-ryld

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