An option-income ETF does two things at once. It owns a basket of stocks, and it sells call options on some or all of them. Those contracts pay the fund cash now, and in exchange the fund gives up stock gains above a set price. You get a bigger monthly check than the stocks alone would pay, and you keep less of the upside when the market runs.
The category has grown quickly as investors look for monthly income without leaving the stock market, and S&P 500 versions are now among the largest. Two of them are the Goldman Sachs S&P 500 Premium Income ETF (GPIX) and the NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF (SPYI). They hold essentially the same 500 stocks, and both pay monthly.
Most comparisons stop at yield versus total return. This piece goes one step further, to the 1099. In a taxable account, the tax label on each fund's distributions changed how much of the payout a holder kept in 2025.
GPIX's Income, in Real Numbers
GPIX's latest distribution was $0.3970 per share (ex-dividend October 1, 2026). It pays monthly. At the October 15, 2026 close of $56.10, that payout annualizes to a run-rate of 8.49%. Goldman's own annualized distribution rate, which divides by NAV rather than market price, was 8.55% as of September 30, 2026.
Over the trailing 12 months (November 2025 through October 2026, 12 monthly payments), GPIX paid $4.5865 per share. That works out to a trailing 12-month distribution yield of 8.18%. The payout is variable and moves with option premiums and market conditions, so treat any single month as one data point, not a promise.
Performance and yield figures are historical and may change. Total return includes price movement and distributions where available. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Yield is not the same as total return. Fund descriptions here are strategy profiles, not recommendations.
How Each One Is Built: Same Index, Three Machines
We covered the basics of single-stock, index and ELN option strategies in an earlier piece. Below is the short version applied to three funds: GPIX, SPYI and JPMorgan's JEPI, with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) as the benchmark.
GPIX: calls on part of the portfolio
GPIX launched October 24, 2023. It holds the S&P 500 stocks and sells calls on only part of the portfolio. The prospectus allows coverage of 25% to 75%. In practice, the covered share averaged 36.9% in August 2026 and 32.4% over the trailing 12 months.
GPIX sells its calls over-the-counter on an S&P 500 ETF (its December 31, 2025 schedule of investments lists written OTC calls on SPY), not on SPX index options. The uncovered portion, roughly two-thirds of the fund lately, keeps its full upside. The net expense ratio is 0.29%, with a fee waiver in place through at least April 30, 2027. Assets total $6.3B.
SPYI: index call spreads on up to 100%
SPYI launched August 29, 2022. It holds the S&P 500 and sells near-the-money SPX index calls on up to 100% of the portfolio. It uses part of the premium to buy further-out SPX calls. That makes it a call spread: above the higher strike, some upside comes back.
SPX options are Section 1256 contracts, which are taxed 60% long-term and 40% short-term inside the fund, and the fund harvests tax losses. The expense ratio is 0.68%, and assets total $12.6B.
