NEOSEvery NEOS ETF Ranked by Yield & Total Return
Nineteen funds. Roughly $28 billion in assets. Distribution rates from under 5% to over 35%. Here is the entire NEOS lineup in one table, sorted the way it actually matters.
The short version
NEOS Investments went from a startup nobody had heard of to one of the 25 largest ETF issuers in America in about four years. It did it with one idea: use index options instead of single-stock options, pay monthly, and manage the tax character of the distribution as aggressively as the distribution itself.
That combination is why $QQQI and $SPYI now hold more than $22 billion between them, and why the rest of the lineup keeps expanding into gold, bitcoin, real estate, MLPs, international equity and bonds.
This page ranks all of them. The main table below is wired directly into our live ETF database — the same feed that powers TopDividendETFs PRO — so the yields and total returns refresh as our data updates rather than sitting frozen at whatever the numbers were the day this was written.
What NEOS actually does differently
Three structural choices separate this lineup from the rest of the high income shelf.
1. Index options, not single-stock options
The YieldMax-style funds sell calls on one stock. NEOS sells options on broad-based indexes — the S&P 500, the Nasdaq-100, the Russell 2000. That matters for two reasons. The obvious one is diversification: one earnings miss doesn't wreck the fund. The less obvious one is tax, which we get to below.
2. The overlay doesn't sell the whole portfolio's upside
NEOS runs a data-driven call overlay that is actively managed rather than mechanically selling at-the-money calls on 100% of the book every month. The funds keep partial upside participation. That is the single biggest reason $SPYI and $QQQI have positive long-run total returns while a lot of the ultra-high-yield shelf has bled principal.
3. Tax character is a product feature
Because the options are broad-based index options, they generally fall under Section 1256, which splits gains 60% long-term and 40% short-term regardless of how long the position was held. NEOS also actively harvests losses inside the fund, which has historically pushed a large share of the distribution into return of capital — deferring tax rather than triggering it.
All NEOS ETFs ranked by distribution yield
Click any column header to re-sort. Yield and total return update live from our database.
| # | Symbol | Fund Name | Yield | Total Return | AUM | Expense |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $XBCI | NEOS Boosted Bitcoin High Income ETF | 37.0% | -19% | $75.7M | 0.98% |
| 2 | $BTCI | NEOS Bitcoin High Income ETF | 28.0% | -3% | $1.09B | 0.99% |
| 3 | $XQQI | NEOS Boosted Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF | 20.0% | +13% | $216.3M | 0.98% |
| 4 | $XSPI | NEOS Boosted S&P 500 High Income ETF | 15.0% | +11% | $62.2M | 0.98% |
| 5 | $MLPI | NEOS MLP & Energy Infrastructure High Income ETF | 14.5% | +18% | $46.4M | 0.68% |
| 6 | $IWMI | NEOS Russell 2000 High Income ETF | 14.1% | +45% | $946.8M | 0.68% |
| 7 | $QQQI | NEOS Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF | 14.0% | +58% | $12.45B | 0.68% |
| 8 | $IAUI | NEOS Gold High Income ETF | 12.5% | +18% | $464.2M | 0.79% |
| 9 | $SPYI | NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF | 11.94% | +77% | $10.46B | 0.68% |
| 10 | $IYRI | NEOS Real Estate High Income ETF | 10.8% | +18% | $282.8M | 0.68% |
| 11 | $NIHI | NEOS MSCI EAFE High Income ETF | 9.7% | +17% | $174.5M | 0.68% |
| 12 | $QQQH | NEOS Nasdaq-100 Hedged Equity Income ETF | 9.0% | +22% | $375.3M | 0.68% |
| 13 | $SPYH | NEOS S&P 500 Hedged Equity Income ETF | 7.6% | +29% | $30.1M | 0.68% |
| 14 | $BNDI | NEOS Enhanced Income Aggregate Bond ETF | 5.7% | +16% | $174.6M | 0.58% |
| 15 | $CSHI | NEOS Enhanced Income 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF | 4.9% | +23% | $1.33B | 0.38% |
The four newest NEOS funds
These are in the lineup but not yet in our daily tracking database, so the numbers below are static and pulled from public fund data rather than our live feed.
| Symbol | Fund Name | Yield | AUM | Expense |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $NEHI | NEOS Ethereum High Income ETF | 28.84% | $66.3M | 0.98% |
| $HYBI | NEOS Enhanced Income Credit Select ETF | 8.31% | $222.0M | 0.68% |
| $TLTI | NEOS Enhanced Income 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF | 6.26% | $15.4M | 0.58% |
| $NLSI | NEOS Long/Short Equity Income ETF | 2.94% | $4.6M | 2.89% |
The five NEOS families, explained
Nineteen tickers looks chaotic until you group them. There are really only five product lines.
Core High Income
Index equity exposure plus a managed call overlay. The flagship products, the biggest assets, and the strongest long-run total returns in the lineup.
Boosted
Same underlying exposure, more aggressive option structure, higher distribution rate, higher expense ratio, and less upside participation. The trade is explicit.
Hedged Equity
The defensive branch. Lower distribution, downside protection built in via put structures. Aimed at investors who want income without full drawdown exposure.
Alternative Assets
Bitcoin, ethereum, gold, real estate and energy infrastructure, each wrapped in the same monthly-income option overlay. Highest yields, highest volatility.
Enhanced Fixed Income
Bonds and T-bills with an option overlay layered on top for extra yield. The quietest corner of the lineup and the cheapest by expense ratio.
Long/Short
The newest and smallest experiment, and by far the most expensive at 2.89%. Too early to judge on anything but cost.
$SPYI vs $QQQI: the matchup everyone asks about
Together they are roughly 80% of NEOS's total assets. They are not interchangeable.
Head to head
$SPYI is the older fund with the longer compounding runway and broader exposure. $QQQI pays more and has grown faster, but it inherits the Nasdaq-100's concentration — which cuts both ways depending on what mega-cap tech does next.
The practical read: $SPYI behaves closer to a core holding, $QQQI behaves closer to a satellite. Investors who want the higher headline number should be honest that they are also accepting a more concentrated portfolio underneath the option overlay.
If you want the full distribution record on the Nasdaq fund, we track every payment on the $QQQI dividend history page, the upcoming schedule on the $QQQI 2026 dividend dates page, and the case against it on $QQQI's biggest risks.
NEOS income calculator
Pick a fund, enter an amount, see the monthly paycheck at the current distribution rate.
💵 What would this pay you?
Based on the current distribution rate. Distributions are variable and not guaranteed.
Want to model reinvestment and compounding instead of flat income? Our free DRIP and dividend calculators handle that, and the weekly compounding calculator shows what happens when distributions get reinvested rather than spent.
The yield trap, in one chart
Cumulative total return since inception, ordered highest to lowest. Compare this to the yield ranking above.
This is the exact reason we built ETFTotalReturns.com as a separate site — because ranking income funds by yield alone produces a list that looks great and performs badly. You can also see our total return leaderboard across the full 100-ETF database.
How NEOS distributions are taxed
This is the part of the pitch that actually differentiates the lineup, and it's also the part most often oversold.
Section 1256 treatment
Broad-based index options generally qualify as Section 1256 contracts. Gains and losses on those contracts are generally treated as 60% long-term and 40% short-term regardless of holding period, and marked to market at year end. For a high earner, that blended rate can be meaningfully better than ordinary income treatment on the same dollar of distribution.
Return of capital
NEOS actively manages the fund's realized losses, which has historically pushed a substantial share of distributions into return of capital classification. ROC is not taxed in the year received — it reduces your cost basis instead, so the tax arrives when you sell.
Where this actually matters
- Taxable brokerage account: this is where NEOS's tax structure earns its keep. The 60/40 split and ROC deferral are real, quantifiable advantages over an ordinary-income covered call fund.
- Roth IRA: the tax engineering is worth nothing here, because nothing is taxable in the first place. You are paying for a feature you can't use.
- Traditional IRA or 401(k): same as above. Everything comes out as ordinary income at withdrawal regardless of what happened inside the fund.
🏆 See What This Table Doesn't Show
The free table above gives you yield, total return, assets and cost. PRO members see the three columns we hold back — the ones that actually decide whether a fund belongs in your portfolio.
What can go wrong
No fund family is a free lunch. Here is the honest list.
- Capped upside in strong markets. The call overlay is the source of the income and the source of the drag. In a fast rally, every NEOS equity fund will lag its plain index counterpart. That is the design working as intended, not a malfunction.
- Crypto funds carry crypto risk, not option risk. $BTCI, $XBCI and $NEHI live and die by the underlying asset. A 37% distribution rate does not insulate you from a 50% drawdown in bitcoin. The negative total returns in the table above are the receipt.
- Distributions are variable. Every rate on this page is a snapshot of the most recent payment annualized. Option premium depends on volatility, and when volatility falls, so does the payment. Do not build a budget on any single month's number.
- The boosted funds cost more and give up more. $XSPI, $XQQI and $XBCI charge 0.98% versus 0.68% for the standard versions, and their total returns are currently well behind their non-boosted siblings. You are paying more for a bigger monthly number and less growth.
- Half the lineup is young. $MLPI, $NIHI, $NEHI, $XSPI, $XQQI, $XBCI and $NLSI have short track records. Short track records in option income strategies are close to meaningless, because they haven't been tested across a full volatility cycle.
- ROC is deferral, not exemption. A high return-of-capital percentage feels like tax-free income right up until you sell and discover your basis is far lower than you remembered.
NEOS ETF FAQ
Nineteen, with roughly $28 billion in combined assets, which makes NEOS one of the 25 largest ETF issuers in the U.S. Average expense ratio across the lineup is about 0.86%.
The crypto-linked funds. $XBCI and $BTCI both run well above 25%. Among equity funds, the boosted versions $XQQI and $XSPI lead, followed by $IWMI and $QQQI in the mid teens.
$SPYI, followed by $QQQI and $IWMI. The crypto funds have the highest yields and the worst total returns, which is the single most useful thing on this page.
Yes. The entire income lineup distributes monthly, which is why these funds show up constantly on MonthlyETFs.com.
Same index, different aggressiveness. $QQQI is the standard high income version at 0.68%. $XQQI is the boosted version at 0.98% — a more aggressive option structure that pushes the distribution rate higher and gives up more upside participation.
They are different products solving different problems. YieldMax funds sell options on single stocks and produce far higher headline yields with far more NAV erosion. NEOS uses index options, pays less, and has held its value better. Compare the total return columns rather than the yield columns and the distinction becomes obvious.
No. It holds S&P 500 exposure plus an active option overlay and charges 0.68% against roughly 0.03% for a plain index fund. It is an income product built on top of the index, not a cheaper way to own the index.
The main table pulls live from the same database that powers TopDividendETFs PRO, updated on an ongoing basis. Expense ratios, assets and fund names come from fund and public data sources.
Keep reading
More on the funds in this lineup and the strategies behind them.
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