Data as of .
QUSA vs TCAL: which paid, and which earned it?
Over the year QUSA paid 13.8% of its price in cash against TCAL’s 11.4% and the two finished level on total return.
ETFIQ Return Stability Score: TCAL scores higher
Was the payout funded by returns, or by your own capital?
A percentile among the 173 income ETFs writing on an index or proxy. It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation. All income ETFs ranked by it · How it is computed
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, QUSA and TCAL hold 15% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | QUSA | TCAL |
|---|---|---|
| Visa Inc | 3.37% | 1.69% |
| Lockheed Martin Corp | 1.76% | 1.60% |
| Mastercard Inc | 2.51% | 1.50% |
| Microsoft Corp | 6.08% | 1.50% |
| Costco Wholesale Corp | 4.40% | 1.20% |
| Abbott Laboratories | 2.35% | 1.08% |
| Meta Platforms Inc | 4.28% | 1.01% |
| Procter & Gamble Co/The | 3.85% | 0.96% |
| Broadcom Inc | 4.70% | 0.95% |
| Netflix Inc | 3.79% | 0.95% |
| Coca-Cola Co/The | 4.33% | 0.90% |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2.93% | 0.86% |
| Only in QUSA | Only in TCAL |
|---|---|
| Apple Inc 5.99% | DANAHER CORP 2.01% |
| NVIDIA Corp 5.78% | WATERS CORP 1.97% |
| Berkshire Hathaway Inc 5.35% | VERALTO CORP 1.87% |
| Caterpillar Inc 4.91% | WASTE CONNECTIONS INC 1.80% |
| Eli Lilly & Co 4.24% | YUM BRANDS INC 1.72% |
| Lam Research Corp 3.47% | MCDONALD S CORP 1.70% |
| Blackrock Inc 2.99% | LINDE PLC 1.63% |
| GE AEROSPACE 2.75% | NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP 1.56% |
Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Sep 21, 2026.
Performance, window by window
| Window | Total return | Cash paid | Against the benchmark | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QUSA | TCAL | QUSA | TCAL | QUSA | TCAL | |
| 3 months | −1.9% | +4.2% | 3.6% | 3.5% | −3.6 pts | +1.9 pts |
| 6 months | +10.4% | +5.3% | 7.8% | 6.3% | −4.3 pts | −12.7 pts |
| 1 year | +3.5% | +3.0% | 13.8% | 11.4% | −11.7 pts | −13.5 pts |
| Since launch | +4.9% | +3.9% | 15.1% | 15.2% | −25.8 pts | −32.7 pts |
| QUSA VistaShares Target 15 USA Quality Income ETF Covered call on QUAL, paying monthly | TCAL T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Premium Income ETF Covered call on SPY, paying monthly | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | VistaShares | T. Rowe Price |
| Strategy | covered call | covered call |
| Benchmark | USA Quality (QUAL), used as the quality proxy | S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy |
| Pays | monthly | monthly |
| Payout rate, annualized | 15.3% | 9.4% |
| Expense ratio | 0.97% | 0.34% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 13.8% | 11.4% |
| Price change, 1 year | −11.0% | −8.6% |
| Total return, 1 year | +3.5% | +3.0% |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +15.2% | +16.6% |
| Ahead or behind | −11.7 pts | −13.5 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | not published | not published |
| Age | 500 days | 540 days |
| Net assets | $22m | $276m |
QUSA in plain words
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, QUSA paid 13.8% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 11.0%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +3.5%. USA Quality (QUAL), used as the quality proxy returned +15.2% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 11.7 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 15.3%, paid monthly.
TCAL in plain words
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, TCAL paid 11.4% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 8.6%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +3.0%. S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy returned +16.6% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 13.5 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 9.4%, paid monthly.
Questions people ask
- Which paid more, QUSA or TCAL?
- Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, QUSA paid 13.8% of its starting price in cash and TCAL paid 11.4%, so QUSA paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
- Which returned more once distributions are counted, QUSA or TCAL?
- With every distribution reinvested, QUSA returned +3.5% and TCAL returned +3.0% over the year to Sep 18, 2026, so QUSA returned more.
- Which is cheaper, QUSA or TCAL?
- QUSA charges 0.97% a year and TCAL charges 0.34%, so TCAL is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Other comparisons
Where these figures came from
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, QUSA against TCAL, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/qusa-vs-tcal Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.