Which is cheaper, BALI or NLSI?

BALI charges 0.35% a year and NLSI charges 2.89%, so BALI is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Income ETFs

BALI vs NLSI: Dividend Yield & Total Return

BALI and NLSI both write options for income.

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Net assets: $1.5bn on Nov 3, 2026 for iShares U.S. Large Cap Premium Income Active ETF, and $5.3m on Oct 28, 2026 for NEOS Long/Short Equity Income ETF.

BALI on its own →NLSI on its own →

At a glance

8.4%

BALI cash paid, 1 year

5.0%

NLSI cash paid, since launch, Dec 10, 2025

+17.6%

BALI total return, 1 year

+17.7%

NLSI total return, since launch, Dec 10, 2025

BALI · 1 year to Nov 4, 2026 2.8 pts ahead of SPY

BALI

+17.6%

SPY

+14.8%

2.8 pts ahead of SPY

BALI over 1 year: paid 8.4%, price +8.4%, total +17.6%, SPY +14.8%, +2.8 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

SPY

+14.8%

BALI

+17.6%

8.4% of it arrived as cash

2.8 pts ahead of SPY

Total return, distributions reinvested

2.8 pts ahead of SPY

BALI over 1 year: paid 8.4%, price +8.4%, total +17.6%, SPY +14.8%, +2.8 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

SPY

+14.8%

BALI

+17.6%

2.8 pts ahead of SPY

8.4% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. BALI over 1 year: paid 8.4%, price +8.4%, total +17.6%, SPY +14.8%, +2.8 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Data to Nov 4, 2026.

NLSI · since launch to Nov 4, 2026 5 pts ahead of SPY

NLSI

+17.7%

SPY

+12.7%

5 pts ahead of SPY

NLSI since launch: paid 5.0%, price +12.0%, total +17.7%, SPY +12.7%, +5.0 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

SPY

+12.7%

NLSI

+17.7%

5.0% as cash

5 pts ahead of SPY

Total return, distributions reinvested

5 pts ahead of SPY

NLSI since launch: paid 5.0%, price +12.0%, total +17.7%, SPY +12.7%, +5.0 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

SPY

+12.7%

NLSI

+17.7%

5 pts ahead of SPY

5.0% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, 0 to +17.7%. NLSI since launch: paid 5.0%, price +12.0%, total +17.7%, SPY +12.7%, +5.0 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Both charts share one scale, 0 to +17.7%. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Pair scorecard

BALI costs 2.54 points a year less; BALI is far larger, $1.6bn against $5.3m.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

BALI vs NLSI: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Measure	BALI	NLSI
Paid and earned
Measure	BALI	NLSI
Total return, 1 year	+17.6%	not published
Price change	rose 8.4% (1 year)	rose 12.0% (since Dec 10, 2025)
Return of capital, issuer estimate	84% of the Nov 5, 2026 payment	100% of the Oct 30, 2026 payment
Against its benchmark
Measure	BALI	NLSI
Benchmark	S&P 500, measured through SPY	S&P 500, measured through SPY
Against its benchmark, same days	ahead by 2.8 pts	ahead by 5.0 pts
Cost and size
Measure	BALI	NLSI
Expense ratio	0.35%	2.89%
Net assets, as of Oct 28, 2026	$1.6bn	$5.3m
Holdings
Measure	BALI	NLSI
Holdings in common	6%

Method

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, BALI and NLSI hold 6% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Nov 3, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

6% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first BALI NLSI

CHEVRON 1.81% 4.51%

MICRON TECHNOLOGY 1.29% 12.00%

PHILLIPS 66 0.67% 4.39%

VALERO ENERGY CORP 0.56% 5.14%

COMFORT SYSTEMS USA 0.36% 4.30%

NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP 0.36% 3.97%

WESTERN DIGITAL CORP 0.35% 2.46%

INTUIT 0.32% 4.45%

SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS PLC 0.29% 4.06%

T MOBILE US INC 0.26% 4.14%

HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE 0.18% 3.90%

ORACLE 0.25% -0.87%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in BALI

NVIDIA 6.95%

APPLE 6.17%

MICROSOFT 5.46%

BROADCOM INC 2.12%

ALPHABET CLASS C 1.95%

EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP 1.93%

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC CLASS B 1.88%

COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP 1.78%

Only in NLSI

Marathon Petroleum Corp 5.94%

Walt Disney Co 4.42%

PayPal Holdings Inc 4.29%

American International Group Inc 4.28%

KKR & Co Inc 4.25%

Diamondback Energy Inc 4.22%

Progressive Corp 4.11%

ON Semiconductor Corp 4.07%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

BALI iShares U.S. Large Cap Premium Income Active ETF · Covered call on SPY, paying monthly NLSI NEOS Long/Short Equity Income ETF · Option income on SPY, paying monthly

Issuer iShares NEOS

Strategy covered call option income

Benchmark S&P 500 (SPY) S&P 500 (SPY)

Pays monthly monthly

Payout rate, annualized 6.5% 5.6%

Expense ratio 0.35% 2.89%

Cash paid, 1 year 8.4% 5.0% (since launch, Dec 10, 2025)

Price change, 1 year +8.4% +12.0% (since launch, Dec 10, 2025)

Total return, 1 year +17.6% +17.7% (since launch, Dec 10, 2025)

Benchmark return, 1 year +14.8% +12.7% (since launch, Dec 10, 2025)

Ahead or behind +2.8 pts +5.0 pts (since launch, Dec 10, 2025)

Return of capital, latest estimate 84% 100%

Age 3.1 years 329 days

Net assets, BALI as of Nov 3, 2026 and NLSI as of Oct 28, 2026 $1.5bn $5.3m

As of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price. Payout rate: the latest payment, annualized, over today’s price.

Window by window

Window by window: BALI vs NLSI: Dividend Yield & Total Return
	Total return		Cash paid		Against the benchmark
Window	BALI	NLSI	BALI	NLSI	BALI	NLSI
3 months	0.0%	+6.7%	1.7%	1.4%	+0.1 pts	+6.9 pts
6 months	+6.5%	+21.4%	3.7%	3.0%	+1.4 pts	+16.4 pts
1 year	+17.6%	–	8.4%	–	+2.8 pts	–
3 years	+74.1%	–	29.6%	–	−8.8 pts	–
Since launchNot the same days: BALI Sep 2023 · NLSI Dec 2025	+77.2%	+17.7%	30.6%	5.0%	−8.4 pts	+4.9 pts

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Alert

About each fund

BALI

Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, BALI paid 8.4% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 8.4%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +17.6%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +14.8% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 2.8 pts. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 6.5%, paid monthly. iShares estimates that 84% of the distribution paid Nov 5, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.

NLSI

Over the period from its first trade on Dec 10, 2025 to Nov 4, 2026, NLSI paid 5.0% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 12.0%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +17.7%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +12.7% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 5.0 pts. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 5.6%, paid monthly. NEOS estimates that 100% of the distribution paid Oct 30, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice).

Questions people ask

Which is cheaper, BALI or NLSI?: BALI charges 0.35% a year and NLSI charges 2.89%, so BALI is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

BALI vs TPRY BALI vs JANH BALI vs JULJ BALI vs JANJ NLSI vs GPIX NLSI vs DIVO NLSI vs JEPI NLSI vs ISPY

Where to next

S&P 500 (SPY) →All income ETFs ranked by the Distribution Coverage Score →How the scores are computed →BALI on its own →NLSI on its own →BALI dividend history →BALI holdings →NLSI dividend history →NLSI holdings →Method →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

BALI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

BALI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

BALI 19a-1 distribution notice ↗

iShares page for BALI ↗

NLSI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

NLSI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

NLSI 19a-1 distribution notice ↗

NEOS page for NLSI ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.

Every number is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, BALI against NLSI, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/bali-vs-nlsi

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.