Over the year to September 28, 2026, 44 of 174 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 3.8 points. That gap sits alongside a wide range of outcomes by issuer. Global X, with 15 funds listed and 14 with a full year of history, had 6 ahead of benchmark and a median gap of just −0.5 points, paired with a median cash paid of 12.3% and a median price change of +3.2%. Overlay Shares, with 7 funds, had 6 ahead of benchmark and a median gap of +2.7 points. At the other end, Innovator's 14 full-year funds had none ahead of benchmark, with a median gap of −11.2 points, and GraniteShares' 2 full-year funds showed a median gap of −14.5 points alongside a median price change of −39.8%.
Return of capital, the portion of a distribution that is not drawn from income or gains but instead represents cash paid back from the fund's own assets, was common among the largest payers. YieldMax, across 61 funds with 19a-1 notices, reported a median return of capital of 87% on the latest distribution, with 26 of those funds at 90% or more. GraniteShares reported a median of 95% across 40 funds, with 28 at 90% or more. Global X reported a median of 99% across 15 funds, with 11 at 90% or more, though its median one-year price change was positive at +3.2%, unlike YieldMax's −41.1% or GraniteShares' −51.8%.
The relationship between distribution rate and price performance was consistent across the full universe of funds. Those paying under 8% a year had a median cash paid of 6.4%, a median price change of +0.1%, and a median gap versus benchmark of −5.3 points. Funds paying 8% to 15% had a median price change of +0.1% and a smaller median gap of −3.4 points. Once distribution rates rose into the 15% to 30% band, median price change turned negative, at −19.2%, though the median total return stayed positive at +5.1%. Funds paying 30% to 60% had a median price change of −40.2% and a median total return of −0.3%. At 60% and above, the median cash paid was 44.6%, the median price change was −59.1%, and the median total return was −16.4%, with a median gap versus benchmark of −8.8 points, the widest of any band.
The summary describes this pattern directly: the higher the distribution rate, the worse the price did and the further behind the benchmark the fund fell, with payouts above thirty percent a year mostly funded from the price rather than from income generated by the underlying options strategy.
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