In the year to October 13, 2026, 37 of 126 index income ETFs ended ahead of the index their options are written on, once every cash payment is counted and reinvested. The median fund lagged its benchmark by 1.1 points. That single number hides a wide spread across issuers and across how much cash a fund chose to pay out.
By issuer, Overlay Shares and Aptus stand out on the measure of how many funds beat their benchmark: five of six and three of three funds respectively finished ahead, with median gaps of +2.7 and +4.2 points. NEOS and iShares also had majorities of their funds ahead of benchmark. At the other end, Innovator's 14 funds with a full year of data had none ahead of benchmark, with a median gap of −12.5 points, and GraniteShares and Amplify also showed median gaps of −6.6 and −6.3 points. Median cash paid varied enormously by issuer too, from 5.5% at Innovator and 5.6% at Aptus up to 31.3% at YieldMax, 30.5% at Defiance and 34.1% at GraniteShares.
Where did that cash come from? YieldMax's own Rule 19a-1 notices put the median fund's latest distribution at 80% return of capital, across 61 funds that filed notices, with 26 of those funds at 90% or more return of capital. Other issuers reporting notices showed even higher shares: GraniteShares at a median of 95% (27 of 40 funds at 90% or more), Global X at 99%, NEOS at 93%, Kurv at 85%, REX at 93% and Defiance at 100%. Return of capital is not income earned; it is a repayment of the investor's own capital, and the price-change numbers sitting alongside these numbers are telling: GraniteShares funds with notices showed a median one-year price change of −65.7%, YieldMax −39.0%, REX −25.6% and Kurv −14.0%.
The broader pattern, cutting across issuers, shows up clearly when all funds are grouped by distribution rate. Funds paying under 8% a year had a median price change of +0.5% and a median total return of +6.8%, with a median gap to benchmark of −3.8 points across 39 funds. Funds paying 8% to 15% did better still on total return, at +14.1%, with a smaller median gap of −1.2 points. From there the picture turns: funds distributing 15% to 30% showed a median price decline of −20.7%; those paying 30% to 60% a median price decline of −44.8% and a negative total return of −4.1%; and the 17 funds paying 60% or more showed a median price fall of −73.0% and a median total return of −32.0%, the widest gap to benchmark at −4.3 points. The data show a payout above thirty percent a year has mostly been funded by price falls rather than option income or market gains.
Readers can look up any individual fund's one-year gap to its benchmark, its cash paid, price change and total return, and where available, its latest Rule 19a-1 return-of-capital estimate, on ETFIQ's fund pages.