Over the year to September 18, 2026, 37 of 162 index income ETFs finished ahead of the index they write options on, once every cash payment was counted and reinvested. The median fund lagged its benchmark by 4.1 percentage points. The gap was not evenly spread across issuers, and it lines up closely with how much cash each fund paid out and where that cash came from.
Among issuers with a full year of data, iShares had 5 of 6 funds ahead of benchmark, with a median gap of +1.7 points and median cash paid of 10.3%. State Street had 5 of 13 ahead, a median gap of −0.6 points, and median cash paid of 12.8%. Global X had 4 of 13 ahead, a median gap of +0.2 points, on median cash paid of 12.1%. At the other end, Innovator had none of its 13 full-year funds ahead of benchmark, with a median gap of −11.1 points despite modest median cash paid of 5.2%. YieldMax, with 17 full-year funds, had 3 ahead of benchmark, a median gap of −5.7 points, and by far the highest median cash paid among issuers with 3 or more full-year funds, 34.2%, alongside a median price change of −25.7%. Westwood's two full-year funds carried the widest median gap of any issuer, −22.2 points, despite a positive median price change of +12.8% and median total return of +25.6%.
Where that cash comes from matters. Across 61 YieldMax funds with 19a-1 notices, the median fund's latest distribution was 69% return of capital, meaning most of the payment came from investors' own principal rather than income or gains. Twenty-three of those 61 funds reported return of capital at 90% or more. YieldMax's median price change over the year was −40.7%. Other issuers reporting under 19a-1 showed higher median return-of-capital shares: GraniteShares at 96% across 36 funds with 27 at 90% or more, Global X at 98% across 14 funds with 10 at 90% or more, and NEOS at 94% across 12 funds with 9 at 90% or more.
Grouped by distribution rate across all funds, the pattern holds. Funds paying under 8% had median cash paid of 6.6%, a median price change of +0.1%, and a median gap versus benchmark of −5.2 points. Funds paying 30% to 60% had median cash paid of 40.1%, a median price change of −42.9%, and a median total return of −1.5%. Funds paying 60% or more had median cash paid of 44.2%, a median price change of −66.5%, and a median total return of −28.7%. As the summary notes, distributions above thirty percent a year have mostly come out of the fund's own price rather than the income the options generated.
Readers can check any fund's own 19a-1 return-of-capital estimate, its cash paid over the trailing year, and its total return against its stated benchmark on the live desk.