Over the year to October 16, 2026, 53 of 162 index income ETFs finished ahead of the index their options are written on, once every cash payment was counted and reinvested. The median fund across the group lagged its benchmark by 0.7 points. The pattern was not even across issuers. Overlay Shares, with 7 of its 7 funds reaching a full year, had 6 of them ahead of benchmark and a median gap of +2.0 points. Aptus, with 3 funds, saw all 3 ahead, with a median gap of +4.5 points. At the other end, Innovator's 14 full-year funds produced zero ahead of benchmark and a median gap of −10.7 points, and Nicholas, with 2 funds, showed a median gap of −28.2 points.
The size of the cash payment tracked closely with what happened to the price. Funds paying under 8% a year had a median price change of +0.5% and a median gap of −3.0 points against benchmark. Funds in the 8% to 15% band paid a median 11.9% and showed the smallest median gap, −0.7 points. From there the relationship turns stark: funds paying 30% to 60% had a median price change of −42.9% and a median total return of −5.1%, and the 21 funds paying 60% or more had a median price change of −71.6% and a median total return of −36.3%, though this top band's median gap versus benchmark was +0.2 points. Among issuers, YieldMax funds carried a median cash paid of 33.4% against a median price change of −24.2%, while GraniteShares funds, with a median cash paid of 34.3%, had a median price change of −37.3%.
Part of this traces to where the distributions actually come from. YieldMax's own Rule 19a-1 notices put the median fund's latest distribution at 80% return of capital, across 61 funds with notices, and 26 of those funds were estimated at 90% or more return of capital. GraniteShares' 40 funds with notices carried a median return of capital of 95%, with 27 at 90% or above, alongside a median one-year price change of −65.7%. By contrast, Global X's 15 funds with notices had a median return of capital of 99% but a median one-year price change of +0.4%, and NEOS, with a median return of capital of 93% across 15 funds, showed a median price change of −3.7%. Defiance's 5 funds with notices carried a median return of capital of 100%, with 4 of them at 90% or more, against a median price change of −14.4%.
Taken together, the data show that a higher stated distribution rate has generally come with weaker price performance and a wider shortfall against the underlying index, and that return of capital, meaning cash paid out that is not drawn from income or gains, made up a large share of many funds' latest payments, particularly above a payout rate of roughly thirty percent a year.
Readers can check any individual fund's one-year gap against its benchmark, its cash paid and price change, and its latest 19a-1 return-of-capital estimate on ETFIQ's fund pages.