Exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows hit a record $1.9 trillion in 2024, pushing total ETF assets to $14.7 trillion.
However, with 10-year U.S. Treasury yields hovering near 4.4%, income-hungry investors face a situation in which traditional ETFs struggle to compete. This has prompted a shift toward innovative strategies aimed at securing higher yields.
Three notable funds are reshaping the income investing landscape by offering yields that far exceed conventional alternatives. Each one uses advanced covered call strategies on major indexes, turning volatile markets into reliable monthly income streams.
The Global X Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD) tracks the CBOE NASDAQ-100 BuyWrite V2 Index. With assets under management reaching $8.38 billion, QYLD’s annual distribution rate sits at 14.13%, paying out distributions monthly.
The fund maintains positions in all stocks in the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX) and simultaneously sells call options on the index, effectively covering 100% of its portfolio. This strategy is aimed at collecting option premiums, which are distributed monthly. While this delivers a robust income stream, the tradeoff comes in the form of capped upside during sharp rallies.
The fund’s expense ratio is 0.6%, which is competitive given the complexity of its options strategy and the steady cash flow it aims to provide. The ETF is down 8.7% in the year to date and is down 6.7% over the past year.
The NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF (SPYI) is a product of NEOS Funds and began trading on Aug. 31, 2022. The ETF also pays out monthly distributions and has a 12-month distribution rate of 12.65%.
This ETF is built on the back of the S&P 500 Index ($SPX), but it’s not just a passive tracker. It holds the stocks in the benchmark index, and then in addition to selling call options on the index, its managers buy put options on the same index. This creates a “collar” effect, aiming to retain more of the upside potential of its holdings if the market breaks out to the upside.
SPYI manages $3.9 billion in assets. The fund’s expense ratio is 0.68%, which is in line with its active approach and complex strategy. SPYI is down 2.4% in the year to date and 1.9% over the past 52 weeks.
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