WNTR vs XPAY: Performance, Holdings, Fees & Risk

WNTR and XPAY are ETFs, but they can differ materially in exposure, yield, fees and risk. WNTR is YieldMax MSTR Short Option Income Strategy ETF, while XPAY is Roundhill Investments - S&P 500 Target 20 Managed Distribution ETF. XPAY has the lower expense ratio. Current AlgovestIQ evidence has XPAY ahead on AIQ Score, 44 versus 33.

Market data as of Oct 21, 2026 market close· Fund characteristics as of Oct 21, 2026
WNTR
YieldMax
vs
XPAY
Roundhill Investments
WNTR
YieldMax MSTR Short Option Income Strategy ETF
Issuer
YieldMax
Inception
2025-03-26
XPAY
Roundhill Investments - S&P 500 Target 20 Managed Distribution ETF
Issuer
Roundhill Investments
Inception
2024-10-31
Expense ratio
WNTR
1%
XPAY
0.49%
Lower annual fund costXPAY
Holdings
WNTR
18
XPAY
15
Broader reported basketWNTR
1Y return
WNTR
-49.1%
XPAY
-4.9%
Trailing performanceXPAY
Annualized volatility
WNTR
60.6%
XPAY
14.2%
Lower realized volatilityXPAY
MetricWNTRXPAY
Fund
Expense ratio1%0.49%
Holdings1815
Distribution yieldTrailing 12 months157.59%21.22%
Average volume168,69552,025
Performance
1Y return-49.1%-4.9%
YTD return-60.4%-4.7%
Risk
Annualized volatility60.6%14.2%
Max drawdown (1Y)-67.3%-15.5%
Beta-2.100.99
Sharpe ratio-0.84-0.60
Sortino ratio-1.09-0.77
AlgovestIQ
AIQ Score33/10044/100
AIQ Edge Score1/103/10
Momentum44/10037/100
Risk Resilience3/10083/100

AlgovestIQ AIQ Comparison

YieldMax MSTR Short Option Income Strategy ETF vs Roundhill Investments - S&P 500 Target 20 Managed Distribution ETF

Data as of Oct 21, 2026· market close· Options Income / Covered Call· Coverage 59/66 fields· Moderate confidence
AIQ VerdictCompetitiveAIQ Comparison Conviction 7/10

XPAY leads

XPAY leads by 11 AIQ points, primarily on Risk Resilience, but the lead has narrowed from 21 points over 30 sessions.

Competitive: 3 of 3 evidence groups support XPAY, and its lead is narrowing.

Evidence agreement: 3 of 3Comparison trend: Weakening
WNTR

YieldMax MSTR Short Option Income Strategy ETF

AIQ Score
33/100
AIQ Edge Score
1/10
XPAY

Roundhill Investments - S&P 500 Target 20 Managed Distribution ETF

Leads
AIQ Score
44/100
AIQ Edge Score
3/10

The Algovestiq AIQ Score currently favors XPAY over WNTR, 44 versus 33 as of Oct 21, 2026. XPAY's advantage is driven primarily by stronger risk resilience, while WNTR holds the stronger momentum profile. XPAY also shows the stronger technical structure relative to its 50-day moving average. 3 of 3 covered evidence groups favor XPAY today, and the comparison is rated Competitive on stability: the leader's advantage has been narrowing. XPAY lead: Weakening — the AIQ differential moved from 21 to 11 points over 30 sessions.

Compare YieldMax MSTR Short Option Income Strategy ETF and Roundhill Investments - S&P 500 Target 20 Managed Distribution ETF across performance, expense ratio, dividend yield, drawdown, volatility and the Algovestiq AIQ Score.

WNTR vs XPAY: 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 wantWNTRXPAYFits
Lower costExpense ratio1%0.49%XPAY
Broader diversificationNumber of holdings1815Similar
Higher incomeTrailing 12-month distribution yield157.59%21.22%WNTR
Smaller drawdownsMax drawdown, 1 year-67.3%-15.5%XPAY
Lower volatilityAnnualized volatility, 1 year60.6%14.2%XPAY

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.

Currently unavailable

Performance over time

Total return with distributions reinvested, from daily closes for both ETFs.

WNTR
+15.1%
XPAY
+36.1%

Total return comparison

Growth of $10,000, distributions reinvested

WNTR $11,507 · XPAY $13,607

Split-adjusted closes; each distribution is reinvested at the close on its ex-dividend date. Taxes and trading costs are not modeled.

Compare WNTR and XPAY against another ticker

Open a multi-ticker workspace without changing this focused pair page.

Basic: 2 symbols·Explorer: 3 symbols·Pro and Premium: 5 symbols·Your limit: 2

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.

WNTR advantage
0
XPAY advantage
  • Risk Resilience3 vs 83
    XPAY +80
  • Momentum44 vs 37
    WNTR +7
  • Quality38 vs 35
    Even

3 of 3 evidence groups favor XPAY. XPAY’s edge is concentrated in risk resilience; WNTR keeps a meaningful momentum edge.

What changed since the last close

Latest scored session 2026-10-20, compared against the prior scored session 2026-10-19.

WNTR-2 AIQ

Largest factor move: Momentum -6

No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 5 active signals are unchanged.

XPAY+1 AIQ

Largest factor move: Momentum +3

No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 5 active signals are unchanged.

XPAY's lead widened by 3 AIQ points in the latest session.

Deeper signal detail for each name lives on its own signals page — WNTR and XPAY both carry a full feed there.

The central trade-off

XPAY (Roundhill Investments - S&P 500 Target 20 Managed Distribution ETF): the stronger current systematic profile, led by risk resilience.

WNTR (YieldMax MSTR Short Option Income Strategy ETF): the counter-case, on momentum — but at materially higher volatility, 45.5% against 14.3%.

Fund facts, side by side

Two funds tracking overlapping universes are separated by cost and risk far more than by holdings. Those lead here.

MeasureWNTRXPAYWhy it matters
Expense ratio1%0.49%Lower is better — it compounds against you every year you hold.
Holdings1815More holdings means broader diversification, not better returns.
Average volume168,69552,025Liquidity — matters most if you trade size.
Annualized volatility60.6%14.2%Lower is a steadier ride for the same exposure.
Max drawdown (1Y)-67.3%-15.5%The worst peak-to-trough loss over the past year.
Sharpe ratio-0.84-0.60Return per unit of risk. Higher is better.
Beta-2.100.99Sensitivity to the broad market. Neither direction is better — it depends on the role in your portfolio.

WNTR vs XPAY: five-year payout growth

WNTR began paying distributions in 2025, so it has no 2020-2025 growth rate to compare. XPAY began paying distributions in 2024, so it has no 2020-2025 growth rate to compare.

Dividend metricWNTRXPAY
2025 annual payout$23.226$11.434
Peer ranknot rankednot 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

3 of 3 covered evidence groups favor XPAY. A wide gap backed by one group is a weaker case than a narrow gap backed by five.

Evidence groupFavorsReading
AIQ ScoreXPAY33 vs 44
FundamentalsNot coveredNot covered
ValuationNot coveredNot covered
TechnicalsXPAYPrice vs 50-day -20% vs -1.6%; vs 200-day -41.9% vs -2.4%
Risk ResilienceXPAYRisk Resilience 3 vs 83
Analyst expectationsNot coveredNot covered

✓ agrees with the overall verdict · ✕ points the other way. Groups marked “not covered” lack data on one or both of WNTR and XPAY and are excluded from the count.

AIQ Decision Stability

Competitive

The two are close enough that your objective, not the score, should decide.

  • The AIQ gap is moderate at 11 points.
  • 3 of 3 covered evidence groups point the same way. (supports the conclusion holding)
  • The leader's advantage has been narrowing. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
  • The lead has swung materially session to session. (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 XPAY.

How the comparison changed

45 daily snapshots · Sep 6 – Oct 20

XPAY lead: Weakening — the AIQ differential moved from 21 to 11 points over 30 sessions.

Sep 6WNTR leads above the line · XPAY leads belowOct 20
Today
XPAY +11
33 vs 44
7 sessions ago
XPAY +11
32 vs 43
30 sessions ago
XPAY +21
25 vs 46
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.

WNTRConflicted

1 bullish / 2 bearish / 2 neutral, conflicted

Only WNTR

  • ATR Expansion - Breakout Mode — neutral, volatility, short horizon (5.18%)
  • MACD Bullish Crossover — bullish, momentum, short horizon
XPAY

0 bullish / 3 bearish / 2 neutral

Only XPAY

  • ATR Contraction - Coiling — neutral, volatility, short horizon (1.03%)
  • MACD Bearish Crossover — bearish, momentum, short horizon

Both carry 3 more signals that do not separate them: Bollinger Band Squeeze, Death Cross Active, Downtrend Structure Active.

WNTR 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.

WNTRConfirmed weakness

Price and the AIQ Score both moved down over the latest session (price -6.81%, AIQ -2 points).

XPAYConfirmed strength

Price and the AIQ Score both moved up over the latest session (price +0.53%, 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.

  1. 1WNTR closes the Risk Resilience gap — currently 80 points behind, the largest single contributor to XPAY's edge.
  2. 2WNTR's Death Cross Active resolves — a bearish trend rule currently active against it.
  3. 3XPAY starts generating bearish momentum or trend signals.
  4. 4The narrowing continues — the lead has already given back 10 points over 30 sessions, and a further 11-point move would eliminate XPAY'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

XPAY leads 4 of 6 windows
MetricWNTRXPAY
1 week (5 sessions)2.7%-2.9%
1 month (20 sessions)6.6%-2.4%
3 months (63 sessions)-40.6%-2.3%
6 months (126 sessions)-36.7%-1.2%
Year to date-60.4%-4.7%
1 year (252 sessions)-49.1%-4.9%

Technicals

XPAY has the stronger structure
MetricWNTRXPAY
RSI (14)51.344.6
ADX (14)41.218.4
Price vs 50-day-20%-1.6%
Price vs 200-day-41.9%-2.4%
Volatility (1M, annualized)45.5%14.3%

Risk

XPAY is the more resilient
MetricWNTRXPAY
Beta-2.10.99
Sharpe ratio-0.84-0.6
Sortino ratio-1.09-0.77
Max drawdown-67.3%-15.5%
Current drawdown-64.8%-8.5%
Annualized volatility60.6%14.2%
Value at risk (95%)-6.3%-1.6%

Straight answers

Short answers to the questions fund investors ask about this pair, from the figures above.

Which ETF is more diversified, WNTR or XPAY?

They hold a similar number of positions: 18 for WNTR and 15 for XPAY.

Which has the lower expense ratio?

XPAY has the lower expense ratio, 0.49% a year against 1% for WNTR.

Which ETF has the higher distribution yield?

WNTR, with a trailing 12-month distribution yield of 157.59% against 21.22% for XPAY.

Which ETF has been more volatile?

WNTR has been more volatile over the past year, at 60.6% annualized against 14.2% for XPAY.

Which ETF has had the smaller drawdown?

XPAY fell less from peak to trough over the past year: -15.5% against -67.3% for WNTR.

Compare WNTR and XPAY 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.