MARO vs MSTY: Performance, Holdings, Fees & Risk
MARO and MSTY are ETFs, but they can differ materially in exposure, yield, fees and risk. MARO is YieldMax MARA Option Income Strategy ETF, while MSTY is YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF. MSTY is broader by holdings count, with 24 positions versus 9 for MARO. MARO has the lower expense ratio. Current AlgovestIQ evidence has MSTY ahead on AIQ Score, 33 versus 27.
| Metric | MARO | MSTY |
|---|---|---|
| Fund | ||
| Expense ratio | 1% | 1.03% |
| Holdings | 9 | 24 |
| Distribution yieldTrailing 12 months | 249.99% | 141.1% |
| Average volume | 560,563 | 1,967,123 |
| Performance | ||
| 1Y return | -86% | -75.4% |
| YTD return | -63.2% | -51.4% |
| Risk | ||
| Annualized volatility | 67.7% | 71.1% |
| Max drawdown (1Y) | -86.6% | -81.3% |
| Beta | 2.80 | 2.81 |
| Sharpe ratio | -2.59 | -1.70 |
| Sortino ratio | -3.90 | -2.98 |
| AlgovestIQ | ||
| AIQ Score | 27/100 | 33/100 |
| AIQ Edge Score | 1/10 | 1/10 |
| Momentum | 25/100 | 29/100 |
| Risk Resilience | 1/100 | 0/100 |
AlgovestIQ AIQ Comparison
YieldMax MARA Option Income Strategy ETF vs YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF
MSTY leads
MSTY leads by 6 AIQ points, primarily on Quality and Momentum, but the lead has narrowed from 14 points over 30 sessions.
Competitive: 2 of 3 evidence groups support MSTY, and its lead is narrowing.
YieldMax MARA Option Income Strategy ETF
YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF
The Algovestiq AIQ Score currently favors MSTY over MARO, 33 versus 27 as of Oct 21, 2026. MSTY's advantage is driven primarily by stronger quality and momentum. MSTY also shows the stronger technical structure relative to its 50-day moving average. 2 of 3 covered evidence groups favor MSTY today, and the comparison is rated Competitive on stability: the leader's advantage has been narrowing. MSTY lead: Weakening — the AIQ differential moved from 14 to 6 points over 30 sessions.
Compare YieldMax MARA Option Income Strategy ETF and YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF across performance, expense ratio, dividend yield, drawdown, volatility and the Algovestiq AIQ Score.
MARO vs MSTY: which fits what
Each row is settled by a single measure. Where the gap is too small to matter it reads Similar, and no row decides the comparison as a whole.
| If you want | MARO | MSTY | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower costExpense ratio | 1% | 1.03% | MARO |
| Broader diversificationNumber of holdings | 9 | 24 | MSTY |
| Higher incomeTrailing 12-month distribution yield | 249.99% | 141.1% | MARO |
| Smaller drawdownsMax drawdown, 1 year | -86.6% | -81.3% | MSTY |
| Lower volatilityAnnualized volatility, 1 year | 67.7% | 71.1% | MARO |
Similar means the gap is within 0.01 percentage points of expense ratio, 25% more holdings, 3 points of top-10 weight, 0.2 points of yield, 2 points of drawdown or 1 point of volatility. Past drawdowns and volatility describe the funds’ history, not their future.
Performance over time
Total return with distributions reinvested, from daily closes for both ETFs.
Total return comparison
Growth of $10,000, distributions reinvested
Split-adjusted closes; each distribution is reinvested at the close on its ex-dividend date. Taxes and trading costs are not modeled.
Compare MARO and MSTY against another ticker
Open a multi-ticker workspace without changing this focused pair page.
AIQ Factor Divergence
Where the two separate, on the four dimensions behind the AIQ Score. Bars read outward from a shared zero: further from the centre is a wider gap.
- Quality42 vs 54MSTY +12
- Momentum25 vs 29MSTY +4
- Risk Resilience1 vs 0Even
2 of 3 evidence groups favor MSTY. MSTY’s edge is concentrated in quality and momentum.
What changed since the last close
Latest scored session 2026-10-20, compared against the prior scored session 2026-10-19.
No factor moved materially.
No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 8 active signals are unchanged.
Largest factor move: Momentum +5
No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 5 active signals are unchanged.
MSTY's lead widened by 1 AIQ point in the latest session.
Deeper signal detail for each name lives on its own signals page — MARO and MSTY both carry a full feed there.
Fund facts, side by side
Two funds tracking overlapping universes are separated by cost and risk far more than by holdings. Those lead here.
| Measure | MARO | MSTY | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 1% | 1.03% | Lower is better — it compounds against you every year you hold. |
| Holdings | 9 | 24 | More holdings means broader diversification, not better returns. |
| Average volume | 560,563 | 1,967,123 | Liquidity — matters most if you trade size. |
| Annualized volatility | 67.7% | 71.1% | Lower is a steadier ride for the same exposure. |
| Max drawdown (1Y) | -86.6% | -81.3% | The worst peak-to-trough loss over the past year. |
| Sharpe ratio | -2.59 | -1.70 | Return per unit of risk. Higher is better. |
| Beta | 2.80 | 2.81 | Sensitivity to the broad market. Neither direction is better — it depends on the role in your portfolio. |
MARO vs MSTY: five-year payout growth
MARO began paying distributions in 2025, so it has no 2020-2025 growth rate to compare. MSTY began paying distributions in 2024, so it has no 2020-2025 growth rate to compare.
| Dividend metric | MARO | MSTY |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 annual payout | $21.132 | $87.205 |
| Peer rank | not ranked | not ranked |
Split-adjusted annual distributions, 2020–2025. Research as of Sep 19, 2026. Yield and expense ratio above are current values, not part of this window.
AIQ Agreement Matrix
2 of 3 covered evidence groups favor MSTY. A wide gap backed by one group is a weaker case than a narrow gap backed by five.
| Evidence group | Favors | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| AIQ Score | MSTY | 27 vs 33 |
| Fundamentals | Not covered | Not covered |
| Valuation | Not covered | Not covered |
| Technicals | MSTY | Price vs 50-day -33% vs 1.5%; vs 200-day -54.7% vs -27.6% |
| Risk Resilience | Even | Risk Resilience 1 vs 0 |
| Analyst expectations | Not covered | Not covered |
✓ agrees with the overall verdict · ✕ points the other way. Groups marked “not covered” lack data on one or both of MARO and MSTY and are excluded from the count.
AIQ Decision Stability
The two are close enough that your objective, not the score, should decide.
- The AIQ gap is moderate at 6 points.
- The leader's advantage has been narrowing. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
Stability combines the score gap, how broadly the evidence agrees, how steady the lead has been across daily snapshots, the current signal state on both names, and analyst dispersion on MSTY.
How the comparison changed
45 daily snapshots · Sep 6 – Oct 20MSTY lead: Weakening — the AIQ differential moved from 14 to 6 points over 30 sessions.
- Today
- MSTY +6
- 27 vs 33
- 7 sessions ago
- MSTY +11
- 27 vs 38
- 30 sessions ago
- MSTY +14
- 30 vs 44
- 90 sessions ago
- Not covered
The lead has not changed hands in this window.
AIQ Signal Divergence
Only the signals that bear on the head-to-head. A conflicted name is carrying bullish and bearish rules at the same time — the technical evidence is not pointing one way.
1 bullish / 5 bearish / 2 neutral, conflicted
Only MARO
- Keltner Channel Breakdown — bearish, volatility, short horizon
- RSI Oversold - Potential Bounce — bullish, momentum, short horizon
- 52-Week Low Proximity — bearish, risk, long horizon (0.0%)
0 bullish / 3 bearish / 2 neutral
No signal that the other name lacks.
Both carry 5 more signals that do not separate them: Bollinger Band Squeeze, Death Cross Active, ATR Expansion - Breakout Mode, Downtrend Structure Active, MACD Bearish Crossover.
MARO is conflicted, so the timing case there is weaker than the score alone suggests.
Price vs model alignment
Whether the latest session's price move confirms what the model did over the same session, or contradicts it.
Neither the price nor the AIQ Score moved enough in the latest session to confirm or contradict the other (price +3.15%, AIQ 0 points).
Price and the AIQ Score both moved up over the latest session (price +6.04%, AIQ +1 points).
What would flip this result
A state, not a forecast. These are the specific, observable changes that would reverse the verdict — not a price prediction.
- 1MARO closes the Quality gap — currently 12 points behind, the largest single contributor to MSTY's edge.
- 2MARO's Death Cross Active resolves — a bearish trend rule currently active against it.
- 3MSTY starts generating bearish momentum or trend signals.
- 4The narrowing continues — the lead has already given back 8 points over 30 sessions, and a further 6-point move would eliminate MSTY's advantage entirely.
The full evidence
Every number behind the verdict. The leader is called above each group so you are not left to solve it from the table.
Performance
MSTY leads 6 of 6 windows| Metric | MARO | MSTY |
|---|---|---|
| 1 week (5 sessions) | -18.1% | -7.2% |
| 1 month (20 sessions) | -44.9% | -18.6% |
| 3 months (63 sessions) | -51.8% | 8.1% |
| 6 months (126 sessions) | -59.7% | -43.5% |
| Year to date | -63.2% | -51.4% |
| 1 year (252 sessions) | -86% | -75.4% |
Technicals
MSTY has the stronger structure| Metric | MARO | MSTY |
|---|---|---|
| RSI (14) | 5.8 | 36.5 |
| ADX (14) | 30.7 | 21.2 |
| Price vs 50-day | -33% | 1.5% |
| Price vs 200-day | -54.7% | -27.6% |
| Volatility (1M, annualized) | 47.8% | 51.7% |
Risk
Split| Metric | MARO | MSTY |
|---|---|---|
| Beta | 2.8 | 2.81 |
| Sharpe ratio | -2.59 | -1.7 |
| Sortino ratio | -3.9 | -2.98 |
| Max drawdown | -86.6% | -81.3% |
| Current drawdown | -86.3% | -76.7% |
| Annualized volatility | 67.7% | 71.1% |
| Value at risk (95%) | -7.7% | -6.6% |
Straight answers
Short answers to the questions fund investors ask about this pair, from the figures above.
Which ETF is more diversified, MARO or MSTY?
MSTY holds more positions: 24 versus 9 for MARO.
Which has the lower expense ratio?
MARO has the lower expense ratio, 1% a year against 1.03% for MSTY.
Which ETF has the higher distribution yield?
MARO, with a trailing 12-month distribution yield of 249.99% against 141.1% for MSTY.
Which ETF has been more volatile?
MSTY has been more volatile over the past year, at 71.1% annualized against 67.7% for MARO.
Which ETF has had the smaller drawdown?
MSTY fell less from peak to trough over the past year: -81.3% against -86.6% for MARO.
Compare MARO and MSTY with others
Continue your research
This page answers which of the two. These answer the questions on either side of it.
How this comparison is scored
The Algovestiq AIQ Score composites four factors — Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk, each carrying a fixed weight. Sentiment is reported separately as SentimentPulse and is not folded into the composite. Scores refresh every trading day, and this page regenerates from the latest snapshot rather than being written once.
The verdict names a leader, states how broadly six independent evidence groups agree, and rates how durable that conclusion is given the score gap, its recent trajectory and the current signal state on both names.
How to use side-by-side comparison →This comparison is informational and educational, not investment advice. AIQ scores update daily; re-check after earnings, guidance or macro data that materially changes either name’s factor profile.