GPIQ review: total return vs QQQ, QQQI and JEPQ

What GPIQ is

GPIQ is the Goldman Sachs Nasdaq-100 Premium Income ETF. It holds the Nasdaq-100 stocks and sells call options on the index against part of the portfolio, so some of a rally stays in the fund. It pays monthly and launched at the end of October 2023.

Total return against QQQ

From its first close on October 27, 2023 to midday November 13, 2026, GPIQ returned about 22.5% a year with distributions reinvested. QQQ returned about 25.2% a year on the same days. Its share price on its own rose about 10.5% a year, so unlike most income funds the price has grown while it paid out.

By year: 2024 +23.2% against QQQ +25.6%; 2025 +19.8% against +20.8%; 2026 to mid November +9.4% against +10.0%. It trailed in every year, but by about one to two and a half points.

Drawdowns and capture

In the February to April 2025 sell-off GPIQ fell 21.1% close to close against QQQ's 22.8%, and that is its worst drawdown since launch. On monthly returns it caught about 85% of QQQ's up months and about 79% of its down months.

That is the trade-off of writing calls on only part of the portfolio: more of the upside than a fund that covers everything, and less of a cushion when the market falls.

GPIQ vs QQQI and JEPQ

On the common window from January 30, 2024 through November 11, 2026, a year: GPIQ +17.8%, QQQI +16.2%, JEPQ +14.6%, against QQQ +19.0%. Worst drawdowns: GPIQ -21.1%, JEPQ -20.1%, QQQI -20.0%, QQQ -22.8%.

QQQI pays out more of its price (about 15% against GPIQ's 11%) and its price has barely grown; GPIQ pays less and kept more of the rally. JEPQ, the JPMorgan fund, sits below both on total return in this window. The QQQI review and JEPQ review have each fund's own history.

GPIQ dividend history

GPIQ pays early each month. In 2024 its eleven payouts came to about 4.50 a share, about 9.7% of the price at each ex-date. In 2025 twelve payouts came to about 5.19 a share, about 10.6%. In 2026 through the November 2 payout, eleven came to about 5.30 a share. Each payout has been between 0.87% and 0.90% of the share price on its ex-date, which means the fund pays a steady share of its price rather than a fixed amount: the payout rises and falls with the market.

The November 2, 2026 payout was 0.471 a share. Of 36 payouts so far, 12 were lower than the one before.

Is GPIQ a good investment?

This is not advice for anyone's account. In this record GPIQ kept about 90% of QQQ's annual return while paying a monthly income, with a slightly smaller drawdown. Its whole history is three years of a mostly rising market. The older covered call funds in our QQQI review show that a long flat or falling stretch is where these funds give up the most, so the honest comparison for the long run is still unwritten.

How we measured

Daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance through midday November 13, 2026, split adjusted. Total return reinvests each distribution on its ex-date. Each fund is compared with what it tracks on exactly the same days, from the fund's first close. No taxes or trading costs are included, and past returns do not predict future ones. This is a measurement, not advice for anyone's account. The common window comparison is from the November 12, 2026 pull through the November 11 close.