Retirees and income-focused investors gravitate toward the same short list of covered-call and preferred-stock funds: JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (NYSEARCA:JEPI), JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (NASDAQ:JEPQ), Global X NASDAQ 100 Covered Call ETF (NASDAQ:QYLD), NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF (NYSEARCA:SPYI), and Virtus InfraCap U.S. Preferred Stock ETF (NYSEARCA:PFFA). Each markets itself as a high-yield income solution, but each collects checks in very different ways.
Running trailing 12-month distributions against each fund’s current share price shows the gap is wide. A $100,000 stake in JEPI generates roughly $7,949 a year at recent distribution rates. The same $100,000 in SPYI throws off about $11,644. That is roughly $3,700 in additional annual cash from funds many buyers treat as interchangeable.
Why The Yields Diverge
Four of these five funds use the same mechanism: hold a stock portfolio, sell call options on it, and pass the option premium through as monthly distributions. The equity sleeve, call methodology, and tax treatment differ, which opens the yield gap. PFFA is the outlier. It owns preferred securities and uses modest leverage, so income comes from coupon-like dividends rather than option premiums.
The current rate backdrop matters. The 10-year Treasury yield sits at 4.69%, near a 12-month high of 4.75%. That anchors what income products need to pay to be interesting and puts pressure on the preferred securities PFFA holds.
JEPI: The Lower-Volatility Anchor
The tamest fund on this list is JEPI. It runs an actively managed large-cap U.S. equity portfolio and generates income through equity-linked notes that replicate a covered-call overlay on the S&P 500. The equity sleeve includes Broadcom at 1.8%, Ross Stores and Amazon at 1.7% each, and positions across industrials, healthcare, and energy.
The trailing 12-month payout of $4.58022 per share against a recent price of $57.62 puts the running yield near 8%. The fund’s 0.35% expense ratio is the lowest in this group, roughly $350 in annual fees on a $100,000 position. JEPI has also produced about 12% over the past year on price alone, so total return has kept pace with distributions.
The tradeoff is that JEPI’s ceiling is intentionally lower than that of Nasdaq-tilted funds. Investors willing to accept the smallest headline yield have a defensible home here.
JEPQ: The Nasdaq Cousin With More Bite
The JPMorgan playbook applied to the Nasdaq-100 is what JEPQ delivers. The 0.35% expense ratio matches JEPI, though the portfolio concentrates in mega-cap technology, which produces fatter option premiums when tech volatility rises. The August 3, 2026 payout hit $0.70497, the largest in the fund’s history, up from $0.63658 in July.
Against a $59.68 share price, trailing 12-month distributions of $6.52319 work out to roughly 11%. On $100,000, that comes to about $10,930 in annual income. JEPQ has also delivered about 22% price appreciation over the past year, so investors receive the option premium plus residual upside that the covered call overlay does not cap away. The catch is symmetry, since distributions and NAV both swing wider when tech gets choppy.
QYLD: The Highest Advertised Yield
The purest buy-write strategy in this group belongs to QYLD. Global X buys the full Nasdaq-100 and sells at-the-money index calls monthly, distributing all of the premium essentially. Top holdings mirror the index with NVIDIA at 8.85%, Apple at 7.27%, and Microsoft at 5.53%. Total net assets sit at $8.33 billion.
Trailing distributions of $2.1094 against a $18.14 share price give a running yield of roughly 12%. On $100,000, that is about $11,628 a year. The short call position is at-$293.9 million, or 3.5% of net assets, a live snapshot of how much upside the fund trades away for a premium.
That is the source of the NAV erosion critique. QYLD sells calls at the money, so a strong Nasdaq rally clips the fund at the strike while distributions stay flat. Over five years, total price appreciation reads about 48%, well behind the Nasdaq itself. Host Wes Moss on the podcast Ask An Advisor With Wes Moss framed the mechanics plainly: “It limits your upside of the stocks. So if you look at a lot of these covered call ETFs relative to the market, let’s say the market’s over the last five years up 90%, your covered call ETF may be up 50 or 60%.”
SPYI: The Tax-Aware Hybrid
The newer, more strategically designed option is SPYI, which is currently the highest-paying fund in the group. It layers a data-driven call overlay on S&P 500 exposure using SPX index options, which qualify for Section 1256 tax treatment. That routes a portion of the distribution as return of capital or long-term gains rather than ordinary income, an angle that QYLD and JEPI do not press as hard.
Trailing distributions of $6.308826 against a $54.18 share price come to roughly 12%. On $100,000, that is about $11,644 a year. Net assets have grown to $6.9 billion, and the fund has posted about 20% appreciation over the past year, holding NAV better than QYLD.
The 0.68% expense ratio is roughly double JEPI’s, about $680 in annual fees on $100,000. Investors buying SPYI pay for the tax-optimized structure and more flexible call methodology.
PFFA: The Contrarian Preferred-Stock Pick
Options are not part of the strategy at PFFA. Virtus InfraCap runs an actively managed portfolio of U.S. preferred securities with roughly 26% leverage, borrowing to amplify the coupon stream. Net assets sit at $2.35 billion. Positioning skews toward banks and financials, including Flagstar, Banc of California, and First Citizens, as well as REITs and pipeline operators.
Trailing distributions of $2.0575 against a $20.84 share price put the yield near 10%. On $100,000, that is about $9,873 in annual income. Monthly distributions stepped from $0.17 in 2025 to $0.1725 starting in January 2026, one of the few fee-adjusted raises in this group.
PFFA earns its slot as the overlooked option because its return engine is uncorrelated with covered-call mechanics. When equity volatility collapses and option premiums shrink, JEPI, JEPQ, QYLD, and SPYI feel it. PFFA responds to interest rate direction and credit spreads instead. With the 10-year Treasury near cycle highs, the fund’s roughly 7% one-year price change reflects that rate headwind. If rates roll over, preferred valuations tend to recover quickly, and the leverage cuts both ways.
Which One Fits Which Investor
Investors who want lower volatility and accept the smallest headline number tend to gravitate to JEPI first. The equity sleeve is diversified beyond tech, the expense ratio is the lowest in the group, and the equity-linked note structure smooths the ride.
Investors who want maximum monthly cash from a covered-call structure and tolerate NAV drift tend to land in QYLD or SPYI. Between the two, SPYI is currently pulling ahead on total return and offers a friendlier tax profile, while QYLD carries the longer track record and larger asset base. JEPQ sits between them as the actively managed Nasdaq option that keeps more upside on the table.
The diversifier in this group is PFFA. Investors who already hold one covered call fund and want income from a different mechanism can use it to reduce correlation. Rate risk and leverage are the price of admission, and the current Treasury backdrop is exactly why the fund has lagged on price appreciation over the past year.
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