Who paid, and where the cash came from

Over the year to September 10, 2026, 27 of 152 index income ETFs finished ahead of the benchmark whose options they write against, once every cash payment was counted and reinvested. The median fund lagged its benchmark by 4.2 points. That gap holds across issuers of very different sizes and payout styles, and the tables show a fairly consistent pattern underneath it: funds that paid out more in cash generally saw their share price fall further, and ended up behind the index by a similar or wider margin than funds that paid out less.

Grouped by distribution rate, funds paying under 8% a year had a median price change of +0.1% and a median total return of +8.9%, trailing the benchmark by 8.5 points. Funds paying 8% to 15% had a median price change of +1.7%, a total return of +14.1%, and the smallest median gap in the table, −3.8 points. Above that, the picture shifts: funds paying 15% to 30% had a median price change of −15.7%; those paying 30% to 60% fell by a median of −44.1%; and funds paying 60% or more fell by a median of −59.5%, with total return turning negative at −18.9%. The cash paid out at the highest rates was, on the data here, largely offset by falling prices rather than added on top of them.

By issuer, results varied widely on both count and scale. State Street had 5 of 12 full-year funds ahead of benchmark, the highest hit rate among issuers with several funds, alongside a median cash paid of 13.0% and a median gap of −0.6 points. Aptus had 2 of 3 funds ahead, with a median price change of +18.7% and a median gap of +3.9 points, the only positive median gap among issuers with three or more funds. YieldMax, with 22 funds listed and 17 with a full year, had 3 ahead of benchmark, a median cash paid of 35.3%, a median price change of −27.4%, and a median gap of −4.4 points. Innovator, with 23 funds listed, had none of its 13 full-year funds ahead, a median gap of −12.0 points, and comparatively modest median cash paid of 5.2%.

Return of capital, the portion of a distribution that is not income or gains but a repayment of the investor's own money, was substantial across several issuers' latest 19a-1 notices. YieldMax's median fund saw 81% return of capital across 58 funds with notices, with 19 of those funds at 90% or more, and a median one-year price change of −42.0%. GraniteShares showed a median return of capital of 96% across 28 funds, 25 of them at 90% or more, alongside a median price change of −60.3%. Global X and Defiance each showed a median return of capital of 100%, but with median one-year price changes of +4.1% and −14.2% respectively, showing that a high return-of-capital estimate alone does not map onto one direction of price movement.

Readers can look up any individual fund's cash paid, price change, total return and gap against its benchmark, along with its latest 19a-1 return-of-capital estimate, on the live desk.