The payout and the result came apart in option-income funds
YieldMax's high-payout fund lost 5.5% in the year through September 29, 2026, while First Trust's rising-dividend fund returned 17.8%, ahead of the S&P 500 fund.
Key takeaways
YieldMax's high-payout fund lost 5.5% over the year through Tuesday, September 29, 2026, with every payment put back into the fund.
First Trust's rising-dividend fund returned 17.8%. It is the largest in Active Option Income, and it finished ahead of SPY, the fund that holds the S&P 500, which returned 16.4%.
These funds own stocks, or other funds that own stocks, and sell options so that part of a rise arrives as cash. The sale limits the gain if prices move past a set level.
Active Option Income is 51 funds and $12.4 billion. Three of them hold about 60% of the money.
The middle result among funds with a full year of history was 8.3%. Weighted by the money in each, 18 funds with a full year returned 12.7%. They hold $11.3 billion of the $12.4 billion.
A holder looking for income might have compared these funds with bonds. AGG holds investment-grade U.S. bonds. Its share price fell 5.6%, and the interest did not cover the drop.
First Trust beat SPY; YieldMax lagged even the bond fund
YieldMax's high-payout fund ULTY sells options on a shifting list of 15 to 30 stocks, mixing volatile companies with steadier large ones. It is just under 6% of the money.
YieldMax ran a 1-for-10 reverse split, and the shares began trading on that basis on Monday, December 1, 2025. In today's share terms, ULTY paid $26 a share in the year through the distribution that went ex-dividend on Wednesday, September 23. The shares closed on Tuesday, September 29 at $25.58, down from $54.70 a year earlier on the same basis. The price fell 53%.
A holder who put every check back in still lost that 5.5%. The weekly payment, restated for the split, fell from 92 cents to 31 cents. The check from Thursday, September 25, 2025, was 9 cents in cash, before the split.
YieldMax estimates that the payment declared on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, is a full return of capital, and none of it is income.
On Monday, December 8, 2025, YieldMax changed the stocks ULTY holds and the options it sells, and it changed the managers. The 5.5% loss includes the months before that change. Since the end of 2025 the total return is 10.2%, and the share price is still down 31%, from $37.33. From Tuesday, June 30, 2026, the price fell 13.5%, and the total return was 0.7%.
RDVI holds $3.7 billion of U.S. stocks from the Nasdaq US Rising Dividend Achievers Index. Each week it sells call options on the S&P 500 at about the current level of the index, without owning the index.
It collects cash, and it owes the index's gain above a set price. It aims to pay, before fees, 8 percentage points a year more than the S&P 500's dividend.
The last 12 monthly payments came to $2.31 a share, 8.2% of the $28.01 price. The share price rose 8.3%. With the payments put back in, the return was 17.8%.
First Trust's RDVY tracks that index. It returned 18.2% over the same year, ahead of SPY. RDVI finished close to the stocks it holds.
Aptus's collared fund ACIO holds large U.S. stocks, sells calls on those stocks, and buys puts that pay off if the market falls hard. The fund has $2.4 billion.
Four quarterly payments came to 18 cents a share, 0.4% of the price. The total return was 9.0%, against 16.4% for SPY, and the share price rose 8.5%.
Main Management's covered-call fund BUYW holds other funds, led by S&P 500 funds, and sells calls on that portfolio. It has $1.4 billion. Twelve monthly payments came to 86 cents a share, 6.0% of the price. The share price rose 2.0%, so most of its 8.3% return came from the payments. That 8.3% is the middle result among funds with a full year.
The figures cover Monday, September 29, 2025, through Tuesday, September 29, 2026. Total return puts the payments back into the fund. The share-price change leaves them out.
The largest fund went with its stocks
From Tuesday, June 30, 2026, RDVI lost 2.7% with payments reinvested, close to the 2.6% loss for RDVY. Over that same stretch, SPY returned 2.6%.
Frequently asked
How did YieldMax's high-payout fund do over the year?
YieldMax's high-payout fund lost 5.5% over the year through September 29, 2026, with every payment put back into the fund.
How did First Trust's rising-dividend fund compare with the S&P 500 fund?
First Trust's rising-dividend fund returned 17.8%, ahead of the S&P 500 fund, which returned 16.4%.
Is YieldMax's latest payment income?
YieldMax estimates that the payment declared on September 22, 2026, is a full return of capital, and none of it is income.
What was the middle result among option-income funds with a full year?
The middle result among funds with a full year of history was 8.3%.
