- Pays: weekly (monthly during its first year).
- First paid: October 2023 — one of the first 0DTE income ETFs ever launched.
- What it is: Defiance's Nasdaq income fund that sells same-day-expiry PUT options — effectively selling daily crash insurance on the Nasdaq-100 and distributing the premiums.
- Puts, not calls: unlike QDTE (which sells calls and caps upside), QQQY profits when the Nasdaq doesn't fall — its risk arrives on the down days.
- Headline rate: trailing figures around 35% — with a share-price history that shows what selling crash insurance costs when crashes come.
QQQY sells 0DTE put options for income; distributions carry heavy return-of-capital character and the strategy absorbs losses on the Nasdaq's sharp down days.
QQQY pays weekly (monthly until mid-2024). Each point below is one distribution since October 2023. The table further down totals each year.
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Each point is one payment; the line ends at the most recent payout. The table below totals them by year.
| Recent Ex-Dividend Dates | Distribution / Share |
|---|
"Next expected" is estimated from QQQY's recent payment rhythm — the fund announces exact dates shortly before each payout, and the data feed can lag a few days. You must own shares before the ex-dividend date to receive that payout; the cash typically arrives days later. See every fund's upcoming date on the live dividend calendar.
A real total-return estimate, assuming every payout was reinvested — including what happened to the share price. Before taxes and fees. Past performance does not predict the future.
Most income funds on this site sell calls — renting out upside. QQQY sells puts: every trading day it effectively writes same-day crash insurance on the Nasdaq and pockets the premium. On flat and up days, that's free-looking money. On sharp down days, the insurance pays out — from the fund's own value. The distribution stream looks steady; the share price carries the claims.
This design divides opinion more than any covered-call fund: critics call it selling nickels in front of steamrollers, holders call it harvesting the market's most overpriced fear. The backtest above — real prices plus real payouts — is the only fair referee.
| Year | Total Distributions / Share | Payments | Change vs Prior Year |
|---|
Data source: Yahoo Finance. Figures are per share; the current year may be partial and figures should be verified against official sources.
Calculated from complete calendar years in the data above. Past results don't guarantee future payments.
When Is QQQY's Next Ex-Dividend Date?
QQQY pays weekly. The exact date of each payout is announced by the fund only shortly beforehand, so no site can promise the next date — but the live schedule box above shows the most recent ex-dividend date and the expected window for the next one, computed from QQQY's actual payment rhythm. Remember: you must own shares before the ex-dividend date to receive that payout.
QQQY's Record: The 0DTE Pioneer
QQQY — the Defiance Nasdaq 100 Enhanced Options Income ETF — launched in October 2023 as one of the first funds ever built on same-day options, and its record since is the cleanest public experiment in daily put-selling: steady distributions (trailing ~35%), a share price that has paid for every sharp Nasdaq drop along the way, and a fanbase and critic-base of equal passion.
Selling Fear for a Living
Put buyers are buying protection; QQQY is their counterparty, every single trading day. Academic evidence says short-dated puts are chronically overpriced — fear sells at a premium — which is the strategy's genuine edge. The catch is distribution: the edge arrives as pennies daily and leaves as dollars on crash days. Whether the pennies outrun the dollars across a full cycle is precisely what the backtest above measures.
Where QQQY Fits
For an income investor who understands they're running an insurance book on the Nasdaq — and sized so a bad quarter is survivable. The call-selling alternatives (QDTE, QQQI) fail differently; holding some of each is one way traders hedge the wrapper risk. Next expected date on the live calendar.
Return of Capital, Demystified
QQQY's distributions are mostly ROC by design — here's what that means for your taxes and your principal.
Read: ROC & NAV Erosion