Forget QYLD: Amplify’s Covered-Call Dividend Fund Returned 67.09% Over Five Years Against QYLD’s 49.71%

Plenty of retirees own the Global X Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (NASDAQ:QYLD) for monthly checks tied to the biggest Nasdaq companies, and QYLD’s rules-based design makes it easy to hold. Over the five years starting October 22, 2021, the Amplify CWP Enhanced Dividend Income ETF (NYSEARCA:DIVO) returned 67.09%. QYLD returned 49.71%, which leaves a gap of 17.38 points.

A $100,000 stake in DIVO grew to $167,090, while the same amount in the Global X fund reached $149,710. Both windows start on the same date, and both figures assume every distribution went back into the fund.

What These Five-Year Figures Assume

Both funds pay monthly distributions (Global X and Amplify each list a monthly schedule), and many owners spend that cash. If you took the distributions as income, you did not earn these exact returns. The comparison above shows what happens when you reinvest everything. If you spend every check, your result looks different, and the reinvested figures will overstate what you actually experienced.

Over the Past Year, QYLD Has Led

The recent record gives QYLD holders a real response. Over the year starting October 23, 2025, QYLD returned 19.12% against DIVO’s 13.68%, a lead of 5.44 points for the Global X fund. Year to date, QYLD is up 14.25% versus 11.32% for DIVO, a gap of 2.93 points.

A QYLD buyer from a year ago has done better than a DIVO buyer. The past month told a different story: DIVO gained 1.88% while QYLD returned -0.31%. So DIVO’s advantage shows up most clearly over five years. Over the shorter windows, the Global X fund has mostly been ahead.

Same Tool, Very Different Portfolios

Both funds sell covered calls, but they do it in different ways and on different holdings. Global X describes QYLD as a passive fund that buys the stocks in the Nasdaq 100 Index and writes call options on the same index, aiming to track the Cboe Nasdaq-100 BuyWrite V2 Index. You get one systematic trade applied to the whole index.

Amplify describes DIVO as a portfolio of high-quality large-cap companies with a history of dividend and earnings growth, along with covered calls written on individual stocks on a tactical basis. Its sub-adviser, Capital Wealth Planning, chooses the stocks and decides when to write the calls. That means people make judgment calls throughout the process.

In a covered call, the fund sells someone else the right to buy its shares at a set price and collects a premium for doing so. In exchange, it gives up gains above that price. Global X’s own materials note that this approach can limit the upside potential. Because option premiums rise and fall as markets shift, the income from either fund will vary from month to month. In delayed quotes during Monday afternoon’s session, DIVO traded at $47.78 and QYLD at $18.27.

Check for Return of Capital Before Counting the Income

Part of a covered-call fund’s distribution can be a return of capital. That means the fund hands back some of your own money instead of paying out income it earned. Return of capital usually lowers your cost basis, which can increase your taxable gain when you eventually sell.

Both fund websites include standard disclosures that distributions may contain return of capital. That warning tells you nothing about any specific payment. To know what you actually received, read each fund’s Section 19(a) distribution notices and the 1099-DIV you get at year-end.

Making the Move Without a Tax Surprise

If you hold QYLD in an IRA or 401(k), you can sell and buy DIVO without triggering any tax. In a taxable account, selling QYLD for more than your adjusted cost basis creates a capital gain, so find your basis before you place any trade. A partial switch is one middle path. For example, you could send new contributions and reinvested distributions to DIVO and leave the existing QYLD position where it is.

Who Has Reason to Switch, and Who Doesn’t

If you have five years or more ahead of you, reinvest your distributions, and want a portfolio of dividend-growing stocks instead of one index-wide options trade, DIVO’s 17.38-point five-year lead is the best data point in its favor. If your horizon is short or you want concentrated exposure to the Nasdaq-100, you have less reason to switch. QYLD has led over the past year and year-to-date. What matters most is your time horizon: the longer you plan to hold, the more weight the five-year record deserves.

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