Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
QQQI vs SPYI: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QQQI paid 13.7% 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: $15.4bn for NEOS Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF and $12.7bn for NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF.
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.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% of it arrived 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%
11.9% as cash
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
Both cost 0.68% a year; their one-year returns differ by 1.7 points; QQQI is 1.2 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | QQQI | SPYI |
|---|---|---|
| Paid and earned | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +11.9% | +13.6% |
| Price change, 1 year | fell 2.8% | rose 0.8% |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 100% of the Oct 23, 2026 payment | 99% of the Oct 23, 2026 payment |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| Benchmark | Nasdaq-100, measured through QQQ | S&P 500, measured through SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.68% | 0.68% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $15.4bn | $12.7bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 54% | |
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
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 Oct 28, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Feb 9, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026 · 141 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: QQQI against QQQ, Feb 9, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026; SPYI against SPY, Sep 9, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026.
QQQI returned slightly more: +52.7% to +47.6%. SPYI swung less: 11.7% to 16.0%. SPYI fell less at its worst: −14.8% to −18.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | QQQI | SPYI | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +52.7% | +47.6% | QQQI (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +16.9% | +15.4% | QQQI (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +3.2% | +5.9% | SPYI | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.0% | 11.7% | SPYI | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 10.8% | 7.9% | SPYI | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −18.4% | −14.8% | SPYI | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 69.5% | 68.0% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 85.4% | 80.6% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.79 | 0.78 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.98 | 0.96 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.79 | 0.91 | SPYI | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.16 | 1.35 | SPYI | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.158 | 0.123 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.92 | 1.04 | SPYI | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | QQQ | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | 0.0% a year | −0.6% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.01 | −0.53 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −3.0% to +3.0% | −2.8% to +1.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.67 | −0.87 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 4.8% | 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, 141 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, QQQI and SPYI hold 54% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 28, 2026.
half
54% 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 | QQQI | SPYI | QQQI | SPYI | QQQI | SPYI |
| 3 months | +9.9% | +6.4% | 3.8% | 3.1% | +0.2 pts | +0.3 pts |
| 6 months | +7.8% | +8.7% | 7.2% | 6.1% | −2.1 pts | −0.4 pts |
| 1 year | +11.9% | +13.6% | 13.7% | 11.9% | −3.3 pts | 0.0 pts |
| 3 years | – | +70.2% | – | 41.0% | – | −24.8 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: QQQI Jan 2024 · SPYI Aug 2022 | +60.7% | +79.8% | 41.2% | 51.3% | −12.4 pts | −25.4 pts |
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QQQI and SPYI are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each is measured against. QQQI is measured against Nasdaq-100 through QQQ and SPYI against S&P 500 through SPY.
- Income paid (similar). QQQI paid 13.7% and SPYI 11.9% (cash paid over 1 year, as a share of its price at the start), a gap of 1.8 points.
- Holdings in common (similar). 54% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 28, 2026).
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
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
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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 SPYI, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/qqqi-vs-spyi
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). QQQI against SPYI. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/income/qqqi-vs-spyi
[QQQI against SPYI (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/income/qqqi-vs-spyi)
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