Income investors have flocked to the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (NYSEARCA:JEPI) for years, and the appeal is straightforward. The fund delivers a yield of roughly 8% paid monthly, with a defensive posture that limits volatility. At nearly $45 billion in assets, it has become one of the largest actively managed ETFs in the U.S. But JEPI’s design also limits upside participation, and newer alternatives have demonstrated that income investors can do better on both yield and total return when markets are rising.
Alternatives including NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF (BATS:SPYI), NEOS NASDAQ-100 High Income ETF (NASDAQ:QQQI), and Roundhill S&P 500 Target 20 Managed Distribution ETF (NYSEARCA:XPAY) all carry higher yields and have captured more of the market’s upside in the current bull cycle. These funds have drawn substantial assets as the broader market has rallied, with issuers refining the options-overlay recipe that JEPI popularized. A higher yield compounds into meaningfully larger total returns for investors who expect the rally to continue. For those who want consistent cash flow without stepping out of the equity market, these three funds deserve a close look.
NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF (SPYI)
SPYI holds the S&P 500 and runs an index call-options overlay to generate high monthly income. Its sector exposure tracks the index closely, which means it behaves more like a standard covered-call fund than the actively curated stock basket inside JEPI. That structural difference matters: JEPI’s portfolio managers tilt toward low-volatility names and use equity-linked notes (ELNs) rather than direct index options, making it deliberately more defensive. SPYI takes a more passive approach and captures more of the index’s return profile, for better and worse.
The fund now carries around $10.4 billion in assets, reflecting strong investor demand since its 2022 launch. Its dividend yield stands at approximately 12%, paid monthly, against an expense ratio of 0.68% (or $68 per $10,000 invested). That yield is roughly 4 percentage points above JEPI’s, and because SPYI tracks the full S&P 500, its technology weighting is meaningfully higher than JEPI’s defensive tilt. A continued rally in large-cap tech lifts SPYI proportionally more. The flip side is that a sharp tech correction would weigh on SPYI more heavily than on JEPI, though broad market selloffs tend to pull both funds lower regardless.
SPYI also benefits from a tax-efficiency advantage. Its distributions are structured using Section 1256 contracts, which receive 60/40 long-term and short-term capital gains treatment, potentially lowering the tax drag relative to funds that distribute ordinary income.
NEOS NASDAQ-100 High Income ETF (QQQI)
QQQI runs the same playbook as SPYI, with the Nasdaq-100 as the target index instead of the S&P 500. The expense ratio is identical at 0.68%, and the fund also applies a Section 1256 options overlay for tax efficiency. The key difference is yield. Because Nasdaq-100 options command higher premiums, reflecting the index’s greater volatility, QQQI can distribute more income each month. The fund’s dividend yield is currently around 14.4%, which is roughly 2 to 3 percentage points above SPYI and more than 6 points above JEPI.
QQQI has attracted approximately $13 billion in assets, making it one of the larger options-income ETFs in the market. Its concentration in technology and growth stocks means it captures more of the upside when the Nasdaq runs, but investors take on commensurately more sector risk. A technology-specific downturn, driven by regulation, earnings disappointments, or valuation compression, would weigh on QQQI more than on a fund with broader diversification. Investors comfortable with that tradeoff get a notably higher income stream than most competing products offer.
Roundhill S&P 500 Target 20 Managed Distribution ETF (XPAY)
XPAY occupies a different category from SPYI and QQQI. Rather than seeking to maximize yield while preserving index-like total return, XPAY is built around a fixed distribution target. The fund’s mandate is to make monthly payments equal to an annualized rate of 20% of net asset value, regardless of market conditions. In practice, its current yield runs close to that target, at around 20.8%. The expense ratio is a relatively lean 0.49%, the lowest of the three funds discussed here.
To sustain that payout, XPAY invests primarily in FLEX Options on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, and a meaningful portion of distributions will typically be classified as return of capital (ROC). ROC is generally not taxable in the year received (unless it exceeds the investor’s cost basis), but it does reduce cost basis and can increase taxable gains at the time of sale. For investors running a deliberate spending plan, this feature can be useful. For investors focused on long-term wealth accumulation, the structure works against compounding because the fund is designed to pay out rather than grow.
XPAY remains a small fund with assets around $155 million, well below the scale of SPYI or QQQI. It suits investors whose primary goal is maximizing monthly cash flow and who are comfortable with active management, derivatives, and the mechanics of a managed-distribution structure. For anyone with a long-horizon total-return objective, the other two funds are likely a better fit.
Editor’s note: Yield figures for SPYI, QQQI, XPAY, and JEPI were updated to reflect mid-2026 data, with SPYI’s yield revised to approximately 12%, QQQI’s to approximately 14.4%, XPAY’s to approximately 20.8%, and JEPI’s AUM confirmed at nearly $45 billion; QQQI’s AUM of approximately $13 billion and SPYI’s approximately $10.4 billion were added as new context.
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