Data as of .
SEPI vs SPYI: which paid, and which earned it?
Over the year SPYI paid 13.1% of its price in cash against SEPI’s 7.5%, though SEPI returned more with it reinvested.
ETFIQ Return Stability Score: SEPI 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, SEPI and SPYI hold 39% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | SEPI | SPYI |
|---|---|---|
| APPLE INC | 5.24% | 7.52% |
| NVIDIA CORP | 4.04% | 8.28% |
| MICROSOFT CORP | 3.42% | 5.62% |
| AMAZON.COM INC | 3.36% | 3.82% |
| ALPHABET INC | 4.68% | 3.12% |
| BROADCOM INC | 3.08% | 2.59% |
| META PLATFORMS INC | 2.79% | 2.22% |
| MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC | 6.53% | 1.74% |
| BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC | 1.87% | 1.43% |
| JP MORGAN CHASE & COMPANY | 1.77% | 1.43% |
| ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES INC | 7.54% | 1.41% |
| EXXON MOBIL CORP | 3.08% | 1.03% |
| Only in SEPI | Only in SPYI |
|---|---|
| Alphabet Inc 2.50% | |
| Tesla Inc 1.58% | |
| Eli Lilly & Co 1.42% | |
| Visa Inc 0.93% | |
| Intel Corp 0.82% | |
| AbbVie Inc 0.71% | |
| Mastercard Inc 0.70% | |
| Cisco Systems Inc 0.67% |
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 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEPI | SPYI | SEPI | SPYI | SEPI | SPYI | |
| 3 months | +5.4% | +3.1% | 2.1% | 3.0% | +3.2 pts | +0.9 pts |
| 6 months | +20.5% | +14.4% | 4.7% | 6.5% | +2.5 pts | −3.6 pts |
| 1 year | +21.8% | +15.3% | 7.5% | 13.1% | +5.2 pts | −1.2 pts |
| 3 years | not published | +57.2% | not published | 38.6% | not published | −21.2 pts |
| Since launch | +24.4% | +77.1% | 7.7% | 50.3% | +5.4 pts | −25.3 pts |
| SEPI Shelton Equity Premium Income ETF Covered call on SPY, paying monthly | SPYI NEOS S&P 500(R) High Income ETF Option income on SPY, paying monthly | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | Shelton | NEOS |
| Strategy | covered call | option income |
| Benchmark | S&P 500 (SPY) | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| Pays | monthly | monthly |
| Payout rate, annualized | 8.3% | 12.1% |
| Expense ratio | 0.54% | 0.68% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 7.5% | 13.1% |
| Price change, 1 year | +13.4% | +1.2% |
| Total return, 1 year | +21.8% | +15.3% |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +16.6% | +16.6% |
| Ahead or behind | +5.2 pts | −1.2 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | not published | 93% |
| Age | 375 days | 1480 days |
| Net assets | $152m | $12.2bn |
SEPI in plain words
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, SEPI paid 7.5% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 13.4%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +21.8%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +16.6% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 5.2 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 8.3%, paid monthly.
SPYI in plain words
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, SPYI paid 13.1% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 1.2%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +15.3%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +16.6% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 1.2 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 12.1%, paid monthly. NEOS estimates that 93% of the distribution paid Jun 18, 2026 was a return of capital (19a-1 notice, estimated, a tax characterization rather than a measure of erosion).
Questions people ask
- Which paid more, SEPI or SPYI?
- Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, SEPI paid 7.5% of its starting price in cash and SPYI paid 13.1%, so SPYI paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
- Which returned more once distributions are counted, SEPI or SPYI?
- With every distribution reinvested, SEPI returned +21.8% and SPYI returned +15.3% over the year to Sep 18, 2026, so SEPI returned more.
- Which is cheaper, SEPI or SPYI?
- SEPI charges 0.54% a year and SPYI charges 0.68%, so SEPI 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, SEPI against SPYI, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/sepi-vs-spyi Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.