Most Income Investors Have Never Heard of These 3 ETFs Paying Over 10 Percent Monthly

Three options-overlay ETFs are quietly paying double-digit annual distribution rates on a monthly (or weekly) schedule, and most income investors have never touched them. YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF (NYSEARCA:ULTY) is throwing off roughly 50% annualized through weekly checks. NEOS Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF (NASDAQ:QQQI) and NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF (CBOE:SPYI) sit at the other end of the spectrum, using tax-aware index call writing to push monthly payouts well into the double digits while preserving exposure to the underlying index.

The three funds attack the same problem (turning equity volatility into cash) from very different angles. ULTY harvests premium on the market’s most-traded single-name lottery tickets. The two NEOS funds sell calls on broad index options that qualify for Section 1256 60/40 tax treatment. Picking among them is really a question of how much principal risk you are willing to swap for yield.

Why options-income ETFs are suddenly drawing big money

Persistent equity volatility through 2025 and into 2026 has kept option premiums fat, refilling the well these funds drink from. SPYI now manages $10 billion in assets, and ULTY has scaled to roughly $872 million, both up sharply from a year ago. The pitch is straightforward: collect option premium, hand it back to shareholders, and keep enough equity beta to participate when markets grind higher. The catch is that not every fund in the category actually delivers on the second half of that promise.

ULTY: weekly income from the market’s most volatile names

ULTY is the aggressive pick on this list, and the reason is structural. The fund runs a synthetic covered call strategy across a rotating book of the most volatile, most-traded single stocks in the U.S. market. The current top weights tell you exactly what that looks like: Astera Labs, IREN Limited, AMD, Fortinet, Coherent, and Palantir are followed by Robinhood, Quanta Services, Analog Devices, Comfort Systems, and VanEck Gold Miners ETF. These are names with implied volatilities that frequently sit two or three times the S&P 500’s, which is precisely what drives the eye-popping yield.

Distributions are paid weekly, and recent checks have clustered around $0.39 to $0.40 per share, with May 2026 paying out roughly $1.59 across four weeks. Against a current share price near almost $32, that pace works out to a distribution rate in the neighborhood of 50%, down from a peak above 80% at the fund’s frenzied launch in 2024. The expense ratio sits at 1.30%, on the high end for an ETF and a reflection of the active management involved.

The tradeoff is the one every YieldMax investor eventually meets: NAV decay. ULTY’s total return over the trailing year was about 10% on a price-adjusted basis, which means almost all of the income was offset by principal that has barely budged. A fund holding Quantum Computing and Rigetti at meaningful weights can deliver NAV gains quickly if those names roll over. Treat ULTY strictly as a high-cash-flow sleeve.

QQQI: Nasdaq-100 exposure with a 14% paycheck

QQQI is the growth-tilted middle ground and, arguably, the most interesting fund in the trio for investors who still want to participate in tech. It holds the Nasdaq-100 basket and overlays a data-driven call-writing program using NDX index options. Because NDX is a Section 1256 contract, gains on the option leg are taxed at the blended 60% long-term, 40% short-term rate, and a portion of the monthly distribution is typically classified as return of capital, deferring the tax bill.

The fund has paid 12 monthly distributions over the past year, ranging from roughly $0.53 to $0.66 per share, with the most recent payment in May 2026 at $0.6589. At a share price of almost $58, the distribution rate is just under 14%. Crucially, QQQI’s price has actually appreciated almost 32% over the trailing year, so the income has been genuinely additive to NAV. Expenses run 0.68%.

The hurdle here is capped gains. If the Nasdaq takes off, QQQI is going to lag because those short calls effectively call the top of the rally. It’s the price you pay for the income, though—a fair trade if you want Nasdaq exposure without being stuck in a growth fund that pays you nothing.

SPYI: the conservative core of the trio

SPYI runs the same NEOS playbook on the S&P 500 and is the flagship of the family, with $10 billion in net assets and an inception date of August 2022. The fund holds the index constituents directly and writes data-driven SPX index calls against the book, again capturing the 1256 60/40 tax treatment that QQQI enjoys.

Monthly distributions have been consistent. SPYI paid $0.5353 in May 2026 and has hovered between $0.46 and $0.56 per share each month since 2024. Against a share price of $54, the distribution rate runs near 11.5%. Total return over the past year was 24%, and the fund has compounded to a 73% gain since inception, evidence that the call-writing overlay has not destroyed the underlying return engine. Expenses are 0.68%, identical to QQQI.

The tradeoff mirrors QQQI’s. SPY will lag a vertical S&P 500 rally because some of the upside is sold off each month. For a retiree pulling income from a taxable brokerage account, that is often a fair trade for the smoother monthly check and the 1256 tax treatment.

Which one fits your situation

Treat these three as different tools for different jobs. ULTY is for the investor who wants the largest possible cash distribution and accepts that the share price will probably grind sideways or lower over time. The weekly cadence and the 50% annualized rate are real, and so is the concentration risk in names like Quantum Computing and Rigetti.

SPYI is the closest thing to a core holding in the category. A 12% monthly yield backed by the actual S&P 500, with tax efficiency baked in, is a defensible piece of a retirement income plan. QQQI is the same idea aimed at investors who want a Nasdaq tilt and have a stomach for sharper drawdowns. Owning both NEOS funds alongside a small ULTY position is a reasonable barbell: index-grade compounding from SPYI and QQQI, with ULTY squeezing extra cash out of single-stock volatility on the side.