In the year to September 22, 2026, 43 of 173 index income ETFs finished ahead of the benchmark index they write options against, once every distribution was counted and reinvested. The median fund lagged its benchmark by 3.9 points. That gap sat alongside a wide range of cash payouts and price outcomes across issuers, with no single pattern of high pay and low loss, or the reverse, holding for every fund family.
By issuer, the number of funds beating their benchmark varied widely. Overlay Shares had 6 of 7 funds with a full year ahead of benchmark, and State Street had 6 of 13. Global X had 4 of 14 ahead, with a median cash paid of 12.3% and a median total return of +15.6%. Innovator, by contrast, had none of its 13 funds with a full year ahead of benchmark, a median gap of −11.9 points, and a median price change of +0.1%. YieldMax, with 17 funds carrying a full year of data, had 3 ahead of benchmark, a median cash paid of 34.4%, a median price change of −27.6%, and a median total return of +10.2%.
Return of capital, drawn from each issuer's Rule 19a-1 notices for the latest distribution, shows a similar spread. Across 61 YieldMax funds with notices, the median fund's latest distribution was 47% return of capital, with 22 funds at 90% or more, and a median one-year price change of −39.5%. GraniteShares, across 36 funds with notices, had a median return of capital of 96%, with 27 of those funds at 90% or more, and a median price change of −43.0%. Global X and NEOS also carried median return-of-capital numbers of 96% and 93% respectively, though their median price changes over one year were +3.4% and −1.9%.
Grouped by distribution rate rather than issuer, the data shows a consistent slide as the payout rate rises. Funds paying under 8% a year had a median cash paid of 6.6%, a median price change of +0.1%, and a median gap versus benchmark of −5.0 points. Funds in the 8% to 15% band had a smaller median gap, at −3.3 points, with a median price change of +0.7%. From there the median price change turns negative: −18.1% in the 15% to 30% band, −41.1% in the 30% to 60% band, and −60.9% for funds paying 60% or more, where the median total return was −19.6%. As the summary notes, a payout above thirty percent a year has mostly been paid out of the price rather than from income generated by the fund's holdings.
Readers can check any individual fund's one-year cash paid, price change, total return, and gap versus its benchmark, along with the latest 19a-1 return-of-capital estimate where one has been filed, on the live desk.