Which is cheaper, BALI or VAIE?

BALI charges 0.35% a year and VAIE charges 0.74%, so BALI is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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BALI vs VAIE: Dividend Yield & Total Return

BALI and VAIE both write options for income. Net assets: $1.5bn on Oct 20, 2026 for iShares U.S. Large Cap Premium Income Active ETF, and $67m on Oct 19, 2026 for VegaShares US Equity Autocallable Income ETF.

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Answers cite the figures on this page.

BALI costs 0.39 points a year less; BALI is far larger, $1.5bn against $67m.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

BALI vs VAIE: Dividend Yield & Total Return
	BALI	VAIE
Expense ratio	0.35%	0.74%
Net assets, as of Oct 19, 2026	$1.5bn	$67m
Total return, 1 year	+19.1%	not published
Benchmark	S&P 500, measured through SPY	not published
Holdings in common	not published
Price change	rose 9.8% (1 year)	fell 3.6% (since May 12, 2026)

8.5%

BALI cash paid, 1 year

6.8%

VAIE cash paid, since launch, May 12, 2026

+19.1%

BALI total return, 1 year

+3.3%

VAIE total return, since launch, May 12, 2026

BALI · 1 year to Oct 20, 20263.3 pts ahead of SPY

BALI

+19.1%

SPY

+15.8%

3.3 pts ahead of SPY

BALI over 1 year: paid 8.5%, price +9.8%, total +19.1%, SPY +15.8%, +3.3 pts. Figures to Oct 20, 2026.

SPY

+15.8%

BALI

+19.1%

8.5% of it arrived as cash

3.3 pts ahead of SPY

Total return, distributions reinvested

3.3 pts ahead of SPY

BALI over 1 year: paid 8.5%, price +9.8%, total +19.1%, SPY +15.8%, +3.3 pts. Figures to Oct 20, 2026.

SPY

+15.8%

BALI

+19.1%

3.3 pts ahead of SPY

8.5% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. BALI over 1 year: paid 8.5%, price +9.8%, total +19.1%, SPY +15.8%, +3.3 pts. Figures to Oct 20, 2026.

Figures to Oct 20, 2026.

VAIE · since launch to Oct 20, 2026Not measured

VAIE

+3.3%

none

Not measured

VAIE since launch: paid 6.8%, price −3.6%, total +3.3%, not measured against a benchmark. Figures to Oct 20, 2026.

VAIE

+3.3%

6.8% as cash

Total return, distributions reinvested

Not measured

VAIE since launch: paid 6.8%, price −3.6%, total +3.3%, not measured against a benchmark. Figures to Oct 20, 2026.

VAIE

+3.3%

6.8% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, with zero at the line. VAIE since launch: paid 6.8%, price −3.6%, total +3.3%, not measured against a benchmark. Figures to Oct 20, 2026.

Figures to Oct 20, 2026.

Performance, window by window

Performance, window by window: BALI vs VAIE: Dividend Yield & Total Return
	Total return		Cash paid		Against the benchmark
Window	BALI	VAIE	BALI	VAIE	BALI	VAIE
3 months	+3.7%	+2.5%	1.7%	4.1%	+0.6 pts	not measured
6 months	+11.3%	–	4.0%	–	+1.5 pts	–
1 year	+19.1%	–	8.5%	–	+3.3 pts	–
3 years	+80.1%	–	30.2%	–	−9.2 pts	–
Since launch Not the same days: BALI Sep 2023 · VAIE May 2026	+78.5%	+3.3%	29.9%	6.8%	−7.6 pts	not measured

Source: ETFIQ. – means no data for this window, usually because the fund is younger than it. Open this comparison in the app →

On the same fields

BALI

iShares U.S. Large Cap Premium Income Active ETF · Covered call on SPY, paying monthly

VAIE

VegaShares US Equity Autocallable Income ETF · Autocallable, paying weekly

Issuer iShares VegaShares

Strategy covered call autocallable

Benchmark S&P 500 (SPY) none

Pays monthly weekly

Payout rate, annualized 6.1% 16.8%

Expense ratio 0.35% 0.74%

Cash paid, 1 year 8.5% 6.8% (since launch, May 12, 2026)

Price change, 1 year +9.8% −3.6% (since launch, May 12, 2026)

Total return, 1 year +19.1% +3.3% (since launch, May 12, 2026)

Benchmark return, 1 year +15.8% not published

Ahead or behind +3.3 pts not available

Return of capital, latest estimate not published not published

Age 3.1 years 161 days

Net assets, BALI as of Oct 20, 2026 and VAIE as of Oct 19, 2026 $1.5bn $67m

As of Oct 20, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid is what the fund distributed over the window, as a share of its price at the start. Payout rate is its latest payment, annualized, over today’s price.

About BALI

Over the year to Oct 20, 2026, BALI paid 8.5% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 9.8%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +19.1%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +15.8% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 3.3 pts. At its price on Oct 20, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 6.1%, paid monthly.

About VAIE

Over the period from its first trade on May 12, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, VAIE paid 6.8% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 3.6%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +3.3%. At its price on Oct 20, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 16.8%, paid weekly.

Questions people ask

Which is cheaper, BALI or VAIE?: BALI charges 0.35% a year and VAIE charges 0.74%, so BALI is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

BALI vs MSFO BALI vs DOGG BALI vs MAGY BALI vs YLDE VAIE vs ISPY VAIE vs OMAH VAIE vs FTHI VAIE vs ROCY

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

Where these figures came from

BALI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗BALI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗iShares page for BALI ↗VAIE filings on SEC EDGAR ↗VAIE prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗VegaShares page for VAIE ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, BALI against VAIE, data as of Oct 20, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/bali-vs-vaie

Open data

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