Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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Income ETFs

QYLD vs XYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QYLD paid 12.3% of its price in cash against XYLD’s 10.6%, and returned more with it reinvested.

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Net assets on Oct 12, 2026: $8.5bn for Global X NASDAQ 100 Covered Call ETF and $3.4bn for Global X S&P 500 Covered Call ETF.

At a glance
12.3%
QYLD cash paid, 1 year
10.6%
XYLD cash paid, 1 year
+19.3%
QYLD total return, 1 year
+15.8%
XYLD total return, 1 year
QYLD · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 4.1 pts ahead of QQQ
QYLD
+19.3%
QQQ
+15.2%

4.1 pts ahead of QQQ

QYLD over 1 year: paid 12.3%, price +5.8%, total +19.3%, QQQ +15.2%, +4.1 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

QQQ

+15.2%

QYLD

+19.3%

12.3% of it arrived as cash

4.1 pts ahead of QQQ

Total return, distributions reinvested

4.1 pts ahead of QQQ

QYLD over 1 year: paid 12.3%, price +5.8%, total +19.3%, QQQ +15.2%, +4.1 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

QQQ

+15.2%

QYLD

+19.3%

12.3% cash

4.1 pts ahead of QQQ

12.3% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. QYLD over 1 year: paid 12.3%, price +5.8%, total +19.3%, QQQ +15.2%, +4.1 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

Data to Oct 28, 2026.
XYLD · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 2.2 pts ahead of SPY
XYLD
+15.8%
SPY
+13.6%

2.2 pts ahead of SPY

XYLD over 1 year: paid 10.6%, price +4.3%, total +15.8%, SPY +13.6%, +2.2 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

SPY

+13.6%

XYLD

+15.8%

10.6% of it arrived as cash

2.2 pts ahead of SPY

Total return, distributions reinvested

2.2 pts ahead of SPY

XYLD over 1 year: paid 10.6%, price +4.3%, total +15.8%, SPY +13.6%, +2.2 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

SPY

+13.6%

XYLD

+15.8%

10.6% cash

2.2 pts ahead of SPY

10.6% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, 0 to +19.3%. XYLD over 1 year: paid 10.6%, price +4.3%, total +15.8%, SPY +13.6%, +2.2 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

Both charts share one scale, 0 to +19.3%. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

Pair scorecard

Both cost 0.60% a year; their one-year returns differ by 3.5 points; QYLD is 2.5 times larger.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

QYLD vs XYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
MeasureQYLDXYLD
Paid and earned
Total return, 1 year+19.3%+15.8%
Price change, 1 yearrose 5.8%rose 4.3%
Return of capital, issuer estimate99% of the Sep 24, 2026 payment93% of the Sep 24, 2026 payment
Against its benchmark
BenchmarkNasdaq-100, measured through QQQS&P 500, measured through SPY
Cost and size
Expense ratio0.60%0.60%
Net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026$8.5bn$3.4bn
Holdings
Holdings in common54%
ETFIQ Distribution Coverage Score · QYLD scores higher How much of what it paid out did its total return cover?
IQ Income Score82QYLD77.7XYLD

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. Method

Risk and return

Dec 20, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026 · 670 weekly returns
QYLD XYLD
Return
Total return edge QYLD +192.9% +158.9%
Annualized edge QYLD +8.7% +7.7%
Price return edge XYLD −28.7% −7.4%
Risk
Volatility edge XYLD (slight) 12.3% 12.0%
Max drawdown edge QYLD −24.5% −32.6%
Downside capture 64.8% 70.9%
Beta 0.55 0.66
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe edge QYLD 0.58 0.51
Sortino edge QYLD 0.77 0.66
Treynor 0.129 0.103
Calmar edge QYLD 0.35 0.24
Against the benchmark
Alpha −2.3% a year −1.5% a year
Alpha t-stat −1.36 −1.00
Information ratio −0.94 −0.75
Tracking error 10.6% 7.8%

Each against its own benchmark: QYLD against QQQ, Dec 20, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026; XYLD against SPY, Jul 5, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

QYLD returned more: +192.9% to +158.9%. XYLD swung slightly less: 12.0% to 12.3%. QYLD fell less at its worst: −24.5% to −32.6%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured
Open ↓
Risk and return: QYLD vs XYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
MeasureQYLDXYLDEdgeHow it is measured
Return
Total return+192.9%+158.9%QYLDPrice change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized+8.7%+7.7%QYLDTotal return as a yearly rate.
Price return−28.7%−7.4%XYLDPrice change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility12.3%12.0%XYLD (slight)Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation9.2%9.3%TieLike volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown−24.5%−32.6%QYLDDeepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture37.8%51.3%Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture64.8%70.9%Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta0.550.66Not an edgeHow far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared0.770.78Not an edgeShare of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe0.580.51QYLDReturn above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino0.770.66QYLDReturn above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor0.1290.103Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar0.350.24QYLDAnnualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
BenchmarkQQQSPYThe ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha−2.3% a year−1.5% a yearNot significantYearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat−1.36−1.00Not an edgeHow sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range−5.5% to +1.0%−4.5% to +1.5%Includes zeroThe 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio−0.94−0.75Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error10.6%7.8%Not an edgeHow far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 670 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

54%

By the books each fund has filed, QYLD and XYLD hold 54% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026.

0 half 100%

half

54% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first QYLD XYLD
NVIDIA CORPORATION 8.20% 7.64%
APPLE INC. 7.65% 7.13%
MICROSOFT CORPORATION 5.82% 5.42%
AMAZON.COM, INC. 4.93% 4.18%
ALPHABET INC. 3.50% 3.28%
BROADCOM INC. 3.11% 2.90%
ALPHABET INC. 3.28% 2.65%
META PLATFORMS, INC. 2.78% 1.92%
MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4.32% 1.46%
TESLA, INC. 2.62% 1.38%
ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC. 3.62% 1.22%
WALMART INC. 2.53% 0.77%
Only in one fund ↓
Only in QYLD
SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP. 0.97%
ASML Holding N.V. 0.70%
SHOPIFY INC. 0.67%
ARM Holdings PLC 0.47%
MercadoLibre, Inc. 0.45%
PDD Holdings Inc. 0.26%
Astera Labs Inc 0.24%
COCA-COLA EUROPACIFIC PARTNERS PLC 0.23%
Only in XYLD
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. 1.48%
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. 1.47%
ELI LILLY AND COMPANY 1.43%
EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORPORATION 1.01%
JOHNSON & JOHNSON 0.97%
VISA INC. 0.95%
MASTERCARD INCORPORATED 0.72%
ABBVIE INC. 0.70%
Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

QYLD Global X NASDAQ 100 Covered Call ETF · Covered call on QQQ, paying monthly XYLD Global X S&P 500 Covered Call ETF · Covered call on SPY, paying monthly
Strategy covered call covered call
Benchmark Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) S&P 500 (SPY)
Pays monthly monthly
Payout rate, annualized 11.9% 9.1%
Expense ratio 0.60% 0.60%
Cash paid, 1 year 12.3% 10.6%
Price change, 1 year +5.8% +4.3%
Total return, 1 year +19.3% +15.8%
Benchmark return, 1 year +15.2% +13.6%
Ahead or behind +4.1 pts +2.2 pts
Return of capital, latest estimate 99% 93%
Age 12.9 years 13.3 years
Net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026 $8.5bn $3.4bn

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: QYLD vs XYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Total returnCash paidAgainst the benchmark
WindowQYLDXYLDQYLDXYLDQYLDXYLD
3 months+10.4%+5.0%3.1%2.3%+0.6 pts−1.1 pts
6 months+9.4%+9.2%6.1%5.2%−0.5 pts+0.1 pts
1 year+19.3%+15.8%12.3%10.6%+4.1 pts+2.2 pts
3 years+62.2%+53.3%39.3%35.1%−51.5 pts−41.7 pts
Since launchNot the same days: QYLD Dec 2013 · XYLD Jun 2013+202.5%+195.1%117.5%114.5%−646.8 pts−320.2 pts

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Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-D1082F0F31

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

  1. What each is measured against. QYLD is measured against Nasdaq-100 through QQQ and XYLD against S&P 500 through SPY.
  2. One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 QYLD returned +19.3% and XYLD +15.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 3.5 points.
  3. Income paid (similar). QYLD paid 12.3% and XYLD 10.6% (cash paid over 1 year, as a share of its price at the start), a gap of 1.7 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund
QYLD

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QYLD paid 12.3% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 5.8%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +19.3%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) returned +15.2% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 4.1 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 11.9%, paid monthly. Global X estimates that 99% of the distribution paid Sep 24, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.

XYLD

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, XYLD paid 10.6% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 4.3%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +15.8%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +13.6% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 2.2 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 9.1%, paid monthly. Global X estimates that 93% of the distribution paid Sep 24, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice).

Questions people ask

Which paid more, QYLD or XYLD?
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QYLD paid 12.3% of its starting price in cash and XYLD paid 10.6%, so QYLD paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
Which returned more once distributions are counted, QYLD or XYLD?
With every distribution reinvested, QYLD returned +19.3% and XYLD +15.8% over the year to Oct 28, 2026.
Which is cheaper, QYLD or XYLD?
QYLD and XYLD both charge 0.60% a year, so neither 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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, QYLD against XYLD, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/qyld-vs-xyld

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