Answered from ETFIQ data as of .
Does a higher yield mean more money?
No, and the two are close to unrelated. Of the 164 index option-income ETFs ETFIQ measures over the year to Sep 11, 2026, 31 finished ahead of the thing they write options on once every distribution was counted and reinvested, and 9 of the 12 paying more than 15% of their price in cash finished behind it.
Cash paid and money made are different quantities. A fund pays a distribution out of option premium, dividends and, when those fall short, the fund itself. The last of those is return of capital: the fund handing back money a holder already owned, which raises the yield and lowers the price by the same amount.
The measure that settles it is total return with every distribution reinvested on its ex-date, against the index or stock the fund actually writes options on, over the same days. ETFIQ publishes that for every fund over five windows, and it is what the income score ranks on rather than the payout.
The table below is the twelve funds paying the most cash, with what a holder actually finished with beside it. Read the last column, not the first.
On ETFIQ today
| Ticker | Fund | Cash paid, 1 year | Price change | Total return | Against what it writes on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVYY | GraniteShares YieldBOOST NVDA ETF | 58.6% | −52.4% | +6.5% | +24.6 pts |
| CHPY | YieldMax(R) Semiconductor Portfolio Opti | 50.1% | +24.9% | +89.5% | +1.9 pts |
| GDXY | YieldMax(R) Gold Miners Option Income St | 49.0% | −32.5% | +18.2% | −22.0 pts |
| USOY | Defiance Oil Enhanced Options Income ETF | 48.1% | −4.0% | +61.2% | +10.5 pts |
| ULTY | YieldMax(R) Ultra Option Income Strategy | 46.9% | −53.3% | −5.8% | −23.3 pts |
| SLTY | YieldMax(R) Ultra Short Option Income St | 44.2% | −54.4% | −11.6% | −29.1 pts |
| LFGY | YieldMax(R) Crypto Industry & Tech Portf | 42.8% | −43.0% | +1.9% | −14.5 pts |
| YMAX | YieldMax(R) Universe Fund of Option Inco | 39.0% | −41.0% | −0.6% | −18.1 pts |
| XBTY | GraniteShares YieldBOOST Bitcoin ETF | 39.0% | −74.7% | −43.4% | −10.7 pts |
| OARK | YieldMax(R) Innovation Option Income Str | 38.6% | −33.3% | +7.2% | −15.8 pts |
| QDTE | Roundhill Innovation-100 0DTE Covered Ca | 36.8% | −18.5% | +22.3% | −0.7 pts |
| YMAG | YieldMax(R) Magnificent 7 Fund of Option | 36.7% | −27.1% | +11.5% | −2.9 pts |
Where to next
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.
ETFIQ is an independent publisher of exchange-traded fund data and makes no recommendations. Every figure is stated arithmetic on published data. Standards and sources
Cite this page. ETFIQ, Does a higher yield mean more money?, data as of Sep 11, 2026. https://etfiq.com/questions/does-a-higher-yield-mean-more-money Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.