Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
SCEP vs YQQQ: Dividend Yield & Total Return
SCEP and YQQQ both write options for income.
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Net assets: $235m on Jun 30, 2026 for STERLING CAPITAL HEDGED EQUITY PREMIUM INCOME ETF, and $15m on Nov 3, 2026 for YieldMax Short N100 Option Income Strategy ETF.
SCEP since launch: paid 6.1%, price −1.0%, total +5.3%, not measured against a benchmark. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
Data to Nov 4, 2026.YQQQ over 1 year: paid 26.8%, price −21.3%, total +6.6%, short QQQ −14.5%, +21.1 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
Data to Nov 4, 2026.Pair scorecard
SCEP costs 0.46 points a year less.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | SCEP | YQQQ |
|---|---|---|
| Paid and earned | ||
| Total return, 1 year | not published | +6.6% |
| Price change | fell 1.1% (6 months) | fell 21.3% (1 year) |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 100% of the Oct 5, 2026 payment | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| Benchmark | its own stocks | Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) held short |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.65% | 1.11% |
| Net assets, SCEP as of Jun 30, 2026 and YQQQ as of Nov 3, 2026 | $235m | $15m |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Risk and return
Dec 19, 2025 to Oct 30, 2026 · 45 weekly returnsFrom Dec 2025 to Oct 2026, YQQQ returned slightly more: +5.1% to +4.7%. SCEP fell less at its worst: −6.6% to −20.5%.
Full scorecard
3 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SCEP | YQQQ | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +4.7% | +5.1% | YQQQ (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Price return | −1.0% | −19.2% | SCEP | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Max drawdown | −6.6% | −20.5% | SCEP | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 45 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SCEP and YQQQ hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and 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 | SCEP | YQQQ | SCEP | YQQQ | SCEP | YQQQ |
| 3 months | −1.2% | +10.7% | 1.7% | 10.6% | +0.8 pts | +8.0 pts |
| 6 months | +2.4% | +9.0% | 3.5% | 15.9% | +0.4 pts | +11.1 pts |
| 1 year | – | +6.6% | – | 26.8% | – | +21.1 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: SCEP Dec 2025 · YQQQ Aug 2024 | +5.3% | −10.1% | 6.1% | 40.8% | not measured | +28.7 pts |
– means no data for this window. Open this comparison in the app →
No client brief for this pair: ETFIQ prints no one-year total return for SCEP; the two funds' holdings are dated 127 days apart.
SCEP's own stocks, without the options (from its filed holdings, rebalanced at each filing; latest Jun 30, 2026) returned +2.1% over the same days, so a holder was about even.
Over the 6 months to Nov 4, 2026, SCEP paid 3.5% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 1.1%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +2.4%. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 7.0%, paid monthly. Sterling Capital estimates that 100% of the distribution paid Oct 5, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
YQQQ
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, YQQQ paid 26.8% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 21.3%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +6.6%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) held short returned −14.5% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 21.1 pts. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 22.7%, paid weekly.
Questions people ask
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
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, SCEP against YQQQ, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/scep-vs-yqqq
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). SCEP against YQQQ. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/income/scep-vs-yqqq
[SCEP against YQQQ (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/income/scep-vs-yqqq)
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