JEPI vs JEPQ: total return, drawdowns and payouts, measured
JPMorgan's two income funds look alike and behave very differently. JEPI has six years of history including 2022; JEPQ is the Nasdaq version. What each returned against its own index on the same days, and what that means for choosing one.
What each fund holds
JEPI, the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF, holds a lower-volatility selection of S&P 500 stocks and earns option income mostly through notes linked to S&P 500 calls. JEPQ, the Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF, does the same on the Nasdaq-100. Both pay monthly. The stock side is the bigger difference: JEPI owns a defensive slice of the S&P 500, JEPQ owns the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Payout and total return
Over the last twelve months JEPI paid out about 7.8% of its price and JEPQ about 11.4%. Neither payout is the return. Since JEPI's first close in May 2020 it returned about 11.5% a year against SPY's 17.2%, with its share price rising about 2.4% a year. Since JEPQ's first close in May 2022 it returned about 14.0% a year against QQQ's 18.1%, with its price rising about 2.1% a year.
On the same window from January 30, 2024, JEPQ returned about 14.6% a year and JEPI about 9.6%, against 19.0% for QQQ and 18.0% for SPY. In a rising market the Nasdaq fund earned more, because its index did.
Drawdowns: where JEPI earns its place
JEPI's best year relative to its index was 2022: it returned -3.5% while SPY returned -18.2%. Its worst drawdown since launch is -13.7% against -24.5% for SPY, and in the February to April 2025 sell-off it fell 13.3% against 18.8%. On monthly returns it caught about 60% of SPY's up months and 53% of its down months.
JEPQ cushioned far less. In 2022 from launch it fell 12.9% against 18.7% for QQQ, and in the 2025 sell-off it fell 20.1% against 22.8%. It caught about 72% of QQQ's up months and 71% of its down months: close to the index's shape, minus a slice in both directions.
Where each fell short
JEPI trailed SPY by about ten points or more in 2020 (from launch), 2023, 2024 and 2025. JEPQ's widest gap was 2023, +36.3% against +54.9% for QQQ, the cost of selling calls into a strong rally. Both trailed their index in every calendar year the index rose.
JEPI or JEPQ?
This is a description of the record, not advice. JEPI behaved like a lower-volatility income fund: smaller payout, much smaller drawdowns, much less of the rally. JEPQ behaved like the Nasdaq with a monthly payout and a modest haircut both ways. Someone who needs the income to hold up in a bad year has looked better served by JEPI's history; someone who wants Nasdaq growth plus income has gotten more from JEPQ, at close to the Nasdaq's drawdowns.
Newer Nasdaq income funds such as QQQI and GPIQ kept more upside than JEPQ over the same window; our QQQI review compares the four.
How we measured
Daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance through the November 11, 2026 close. Total return reinvests each distribution on its ex-date, compared with the index ETF on exactly the same days from the fund's first close. No taxes or trading costs. Past returns do not predict future ones.
Measured from daily closes and distributions, every payout reinvested, each fund against its index on the same days. Past returns do not predict future ones. This is education, not a recommendation to buy or sell anything.