Over the year to October 2, 2026, 50 of 175 index income ETFs finished ahead of the index they write options on, once every cash payment is counted and reinvested. The median fund trailed its benchmark by 3.2 percentage points. That gap sits alongside a wide range of cash payouts and price moves across issuers, and the two are connected in the data.
By issuer, the picture varies. Global X, with 14 of 15 funds through a full year, had 6 ahead of benchmark, a median gap of −0.3 pts, median cash paid of 12.2%, and a median total return of +14.6%. Overlay Shares had 6 of 7 funds ahead of benchmark, a median gap of +2.7 pts, and median cash paid of 8.4%. At the other end, YieldMax, with 17 of 21 funds through a full year, had 3 ahead of benchmark, a median gap of −4.4 pts, median cash paid of 34.2%, and a median price change of −26.8%, though total return still came to +4.3%. Innovator, with 14 funds through a full year, had none ahead of benchmark and a median gap of −10.3 pts. GraniteShares, with only 2 funds through a full year, showed a median gap of −11.4 pts, a median price change of −40.4%, and a median total return of −18.6%.
The source of the cash matters. Across 61 YieldMax funds with Rule 19a-1 notices, the median fund's latest distribution was 89% return of capital, meaning most of the payout came from fund assets rather than income or gains, and 30 of those 61 funds sat at 90% or more return of capital. GraniteShares showed a median return of capital of 95% across 40 funds with notices, with 28 at 90% or more, alongside a median one-year price change of −68.4%. Global X, by contrast, showed a median return of capital of 99% across 15 funds but a median price change of +2.5%, while NEOS showed 93% across 15 funds with a median price change of −2.5%, indicating that a high return-of-capital estimate does not by itself track with price performance across issuers.
Grouped by distribution rate across all funds, the pattern is consistent. Funds paying under 8% had a median price change of +0.3% and a median total return of +6.9%, with a median gap of −6.2 pts. Funds paying 8% to 15% had a median total return of +12.5% and a median gap of −2.8 pts. As the payout rate rose, price performance fell away: funds paying 30% to 60% had a median price change of −41.0% and a median total return of −0.7%, and funds paying 60% and above had a median price change of −72.5%, a median total return of −34.0%, and a median gap versus benchmark of −6.9 pts. A payout above thirty percent a year has mostly been paid out of the price rather than from income generated by the fund.
Readers can check any fund's current distribution rate, its latest 19a-1 return-of-capital estimate, and its one-year price and total-return numbers against its stated benchmark on the live desk.