Win by popular vote reflects investor demand for an innovative strategy seeking high monthly income from gold exposure, an asset class not typically associated with income

Lineup of tax-efficient options-based ETFs from covered call pioneers builds streak of wins at ETF.com Awards

NEOS Investments, an award-winning ETF provider specializing in options-based income solutions, today announced the NEOS Gold High Income ETF (IAUI) has won “Best New Options Income ETF” at the 2026 ETF.com Awards. IAUI seeks high monthly income from a data driven call option strategy and the potential for capital appreciation from exposure to physical gold.

“This award is a testament to the loyalty of our investors as well as NEOS’ goal of being a solutions provider aiming to give investors more options for their income needs across a range of asset classes and income targets.,” said Troy Cates, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of NEOS.

The 2026 ETF.com Awards recognize the most influential, innovative, and impactful ETFs launched in 2025, “the biggest year for ETFs in decades”, according to Dave Nadig, President and Director of Research at ETF.com. The 2026 winners were selected through a rigorous four-phase process: a quantitative screening of eligible funds; a qualitative deep-dive measuring each fund’s Merit, Position, Utility, and Power; an editorial review of the shortlist; and an open community vote to determine category winners.

“The main legacy criticism of gold is that it has been a non-income producing asset. In building IAUI, we set out to change that. For investors who wanted exposure to gold’s historically strong diversification properties and capital appreciation potential but had an income need, IAUI added a way to seek high monthly income alongside the timeless value proposition of the precious metal,” said Garrett Paolella, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of NEOS.

This is the second consecutive year NEOS has won an ETF.com award. In 2025, NEOS was awarded “Best New Active ETF” for the NEOS Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF (QQQI), launched in January 2024.

NEOS Alternative High Income Suite seeks to Pairs High Monthly Income with Diversification

Launched in June 2025, IAUI sits within NEOS’ suite of Alternative High Income ETFs. Built for investors who seek both the lower correlation properties of alternatives and income production of NEOS’ options strategies, the suite provides exposure to both traditional and modern portfolio diversifying assets while utilizing data driven options strategies to seek high monthly income distributions. In addition to IAUI, the NEOS Alternative High Income Suite includes:

• BTCI, the Bitcoin High Income ETF, launched October 2024;
• IYRI, the Real Estate High Income ETF, launched January 2025;
• MLPI, the MLP & Energy Infrastructure High Income ETF, launched December 2025;
• NEHI, the Ethereum High Income ETF, launched December 2025.

Tax-Aware Income Investors Vote for NEOS

Additionally in 2025, NEOS won the ETF Express U.S. Award for Best Options Strategies ETF Issuer ($1-$10b). The firm also received multiple award nominations at the 2025 Wealth Management Industry Awards, reflecting its growing recognition within the ETF industry.

About NEOS Investments
NEOS Investments is an award-winning ETF issuer founded in 2022 and headquartered in Westport, CT. The firm was established by a team of options-based ETF pioneers with decades of experience developing and managing some of the industry’s most widely used options-based ETFs. NEOS offers a suite of ETFs designed to deliver the next evolution of options-based investing where seeking income is the outcome. The firm’s solutions aim to provide investors with core portfolio building blocks that offer monthly income, tax efficiency, and diversification through a data-driven approach.