HISF First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF
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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, HISF paid 4.9% in cash and lost 1.0% in total, against −1.4% for AGG.
Promise check: MissedOver the year to Oct 28, 2026, HISF paid 4.9% in cash and returned −1.0% in total, covering −20.4% of its payout.
HISF risk and return scorecard
vs AGG · Mar 2024 to Oct 2026 · 137 weekly returns · dividend-adjusted
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records; risk-free rate: U.S. Treasury, Daily Treasury Bill Rates, 13-week coupon equivalent Method · Data
Money in and out
Net fund flows · Oct 27, 2026What you earned
What it paid
13 distributions · latest Oct 21, 2026More on HISF
Every number below is on this page. Open what you need.Price and total return, 1 year
$42.79−0.1%1 day, priceClose, Oct 28, 2026
Total return adds every distribution, reinvested. Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices.
Source: Tiingo end-of-day prices. Data as of Oct 28, 2026. Updated every trading night. Report a data error
| Window | Total return | Cash paid | Price | AGG | Ahead or behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1M Sep 28 – Oct 28, 2026 | +1.3% | 0.4% | +0.9% | +1.7% | −0.4 pts |
| 3M Jul 29 – Oct 28, 2026 | −0.9% | 1.3% | −2.2% | −0.7% | −0.2 pts |
| 6M Apr 29 – Oct 28, 2026 | −1.2% | 2.5% | −3.6% | −1.1% | −0.1 pts |
| YTD Dec 31, 2025 – Oct 28, 2026 | −1.3% | 4.1% | −5.4% | −1.0% | −0.3 pts |
| 1Y Oct 28, 2025 – Oct 28, 2026 | −1.0% | 4.9% | −5.9% | −1.4% | +0.4 pts |
Total returns, distributions reinvested. No data for 3 years.
Source: Tiingo end-of-day prices, with distributions reinvested.
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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
HISF paid 4.9% in cash over the year while its total return was −1.0%, so it paid out more than it returned.
Money in and out
Daily data · as of Oct 27, 2026HISF: in the 17 trading days to Oct 27, 2026, net $8.6m went out.
Oct 27, 2026
Oct 21, 2026 to Oct 27, 2026
Aug 1, 2025 to Jul 31, 2026
monthly, from SEC filings
Aug 1, 2023 to Jul 31, 2026
monthly, from SEC filings
monthly, from SEC filings
HISF, net flow each trading day over the 65 sessions from Jul 28, 2026 to Oct 27, 2026: money came in on 1 day and went out on 1 day, of the 16 days with daily data; the other 49 have none. Before Oct 6, 2026 ETFIQ has the fund’s monthly data only, from SEC filings: that span is shaded and draws no bars, and its months are in the month by month list.
In on 1 day, out on 1. 49 days missing.
HISF, net flow each trading day over the 251 sessions from Oct 28, 2025 to Oct 27, 2026: money came in on 1 day and went out on 1 day, of the 16 days with daily data; the other 235 have none. Before Oct 6, 2026 ETFIQ has the fund’s monthly data only, from SEC filings: that span is shaded and draws no bars, and its months are in the month by month list.
In on 1 day, out on 1. 235 days missing.
HISF, net flow each trading day over the 400 sessions from Mar 26, 2025 to Oct 27, 2026: money came in on 1 day and went out on 1 day, of the 16 days with daily data; the other 384 have none. Before Oct 6, 2026 ETFIQ has the fund’s monthly data only, from SEC filings: that span is shaded and draws no bars, and its months are in the month by month list.
In on 1 day, out on 1. 384 days missing.
Daily data starts Oct 6, 2026.
How this is computed
Computed by ETFIQ from First Trust’s daily data: each day’s change in shares outstanding times the previous day’s net asset value. Percentages are of net assets at the start of each window. Numbers are net: money in less money out. Every day and month ETFIQ holds for HISF, back to Aug 2019, is in its flows file. Flows across every fund · How these flows are computed · Compare HISF with other funds in the flows tool
Every trading day, last 3 months16 days
Most recent first.
Week by week, last year4 weeks
Net flow into HISF each week, Oct 6, 2026 to Oct 27, 2026, most recent first, each week named by its last trading day with data. Computed by ETFIQ.
Month by month, money in and money outSep 2023 to Oct 2026
HISF, money in and money out each month from Sep 2023 to Jul 2026: two bars a month, money in above the line and money out below. Every bar is from HISF’s SEC filings (N-PORT item B.6). Oct 2026 is still in progress, so it is in the list and not drawn. Of the 36 months listed, money came in on net in 16 and went out in 3.
Every bar is from HISF’s SEC filings (N-PORT item B.6). Of the 36 months listed, money came in on net in 16 and went out in 3.
Most recent first.
How this is computed
N-PORT months: money in is sales plus reinvestments; money out is redemptions. Months summed from daily data: money in adds the days money came in; money out adds the days it went out.
N-PORT months are the filed sales plus reinvestments less redemptions. Later months add up the daily data; the Source column names any missing day.
Source: ETFIQ, from the fund’s daily share counts and net asset values, and its SEC N-PORT filings. Data as of Oct 27, 2026. Last checked Oct 29, 2026.
HISF key stats
HISF return of capital and tax
Trading
as of Oct 27, 2026
13 distributions for HISF, $0.18 to $0.193 a share and $0.186 in the middle, Oct 21, 2025 to Oct 21, 2026. 1 further ex-date is expected with no amount the issuer has declared, so it is not drawn.
HISF pays monthly. The last distribution was $0.184 a share, which went ex on Oct 21, 2026, with payment about 10 days later. The next has not been declared. On its own cadence of about 30 days the ex-date falls near Nov 20, 2026; that date is an ETFIQ projection, not the issuer’s.
Expected distributions for HISF. A projected row carries the fund’s own spacing forward from its last ex-date, at the last amount paid. Neither is an issuer statement. Source: ETFIQ.
Cash distributions per share for HISF. Source: ETFIQ from Tiingo end-of-day distributions.
Source: ETFIQ, from Tiingo end-of-day distributions.
How much of what it paid out did its total return cover?
That is the share of the 164 income ETFs not writing on a single company sitting at or below HISF.
One year only, and a ratio of two published numbers: it says nothing about where a distribution came from. Where the fund sits in this set, not a rating. Do not average it with another category's score.
Total return as a share of the cash paid: −20.4% · 15th pct, −271.3% to 2,166.7% across 164.
HISF top ten by weight, 95.1% of the fund, of its 11 equity positions, from the holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. The options the fund writes are not positions of this kind and are not listed. Source: the issuer’s own daily file.
Source: First Trust’s daily holdings file. Updated each trading day. Last checked Oct 28, 2026.
About HISF
How we measure
12 seats on HISF, as of Oct 28, 2026: 2 Mixed, 4 Challenges, 6 Not enough data.
Questions people ask about HISF
- How much has HISF paid over the last year?
- Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, HISF paid 4.9% of its starting price in cash distributions, while the price fell 5.9%.
- Is HISF ahead of AGG?
- Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, with every distribution reinvested, HISF returned −1.0% against −1.4% for US investment grade bonds (AGG), so a holder was about even with it by 0.4 points.
- How often does HISF pay, and how much?
- HISF pays monthly. The latest distribution annualizes to 5.2% at its price on Oct 28, 2026, which is not a promise; the next one can differ.
- Is the HISF distribution return of capital?
- First Trust estimates 2% of the distribution paid Sep 30, 2026 was return of capital. That is a tax characterization from the fund's own 19a-1 notice, not a measure of erosion.
- When does HISF next pay a distribution?
- HISF pays monthly. The last distribution went ex on Oct 21, 2026 at $0.184 a share. The next is not declared; on a cadence of about 30 days the ex-date falls near Nov 20, 2026, which is an ETFIQ projection. Payment usually follows the ex-date by 10 days.
- What does HISF cost?
- The prospectus expense ratio is 0.83% a year.
- How much of HISF’s distribution is return of capital?
- First Trust’s Rule 19a-1 notice estimates 2.4% of the distribution paid Sep 30, 2026 was return of capital. Across its notices for distributions paid May 29, 2026 to Sep 30, 2026, the estimate is 1.5%. Estimates come before the fund year closes and often change.
Links are sources, not endorsements.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, HISF, income ETFs, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/funds/hisf
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). HISF, income ETFs. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/funds/hisf
[HISF, income ETFs (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/funds/hisf)
The payout bar for HISF, redrawn every trading night.
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<figure style="margin:0;max-width:640px">
<a href="https://etfiq.com/funds/hisf"><img src="https://etfiq.com/assistant/api/embed/income/hisf.svg" alt="HISF: HISF over 1 year: paid 4.9%, price −5.9%, total −1.0%, AGG −1.4%, +0.4 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026." width="640" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<figcaption style="font:13px/1.5 sans-serif">HISF: HISF over 1 year: paid 4.9%, price −5.9%, total −1.0%, AGG −1.4%, +0.4 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026. Data: <a href="https://etfiq.com/funds/hisf">ETFIQ</a></figcaption>
</figure>The day's ETF flows, a comparison and one number. Every trading morning. About the Daily
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