Research example: JEPI vs QQQI
A worked public-data research note. This is a curated example, not a claim that an AI generated it or a recommendation to buy either fund.
Question
How would the same starting investment behave with half of each payment reinvested and a fixed monthly withdrawal? Is a higher distribution yield the same as a higher economic return?
Recorded data and calculation
Actual common range 2024-02-01 → 2026-10-20; data through 2026-10-20; engine-1.2.0. Initial investment $10,000 per fund, 50% reinvestment, $50 monthly withdrawals. Cash arrives on published pay dates; simulated trades use daily closes, with no taxes, fees or slippage.
| Fund | Ending value | Received | Withdrawn | TWR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JEPI | $10,791.40 | $2,190.82 | $1,600.00 | 25.79% |
| QQQI | $13,830.27 | $4,416.96 | $1,600.00 | 58.33% |
How to read the result
Received distributions and ending account value answer different questions. A payment transfers value into cash; it is not automatically an additional gain on top of the fund price. Compare ending value and withdrawals under the same assumptions rather than selecting the largest yield number.
Changing reinvestment affects cash available and future share count. A fixed withdrawal may require selling shares when cash is insufficient. This calculation models that trade-off; it does not predict future payouts or match a broker’s actual settlement timing.
Next research steps: inspect the issuer’s current strategy and distribution notices, separate estimated tax classifications from annual final classifications, and rerun the same scenario after a relevant revision. ROC classification alone is not a second cash loss.
Sources and unknowns
- JEPI data, distributions and issuer details
- QQQI data, distributions and issuer details
- JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (opens in a new tab) · stored document version 3
- jpmorgan-etfs-2026-distribution-notice.pdf (opens in a new tab) · stored document version 4
- NEOS Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF (opens in a new tab) · stored document version 20
- 2025 Supplemental Tax Information (opens in a new tab) · stored document version 10
- 19a-1 Notice - September (opens in a new tab) · stored document version 17
Only verified documents are linked. Missing notices, unpublished future payments and personal tax outcomes remain unknown. The example refreshes with public data; saved private research keeps its original data date and versions.
Pro adds your own background research tasks, saved versions and updates. Open the research workspace.