Which is cheaper, BALQ or CVRD?

BALQ charges 0.35% a year and CVRD charges 0.90%, so BALQ is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Income ETFs

BALQ vs CVRD: Dividend Yield & Total Return

BALQ and CVRD both write options for income.

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Net assets: $43m on Nov 3, 2026 for iShares Nasdaq Premium Income Active ETF, and $32m on Jun 30, 2026 for Madison Covered Call ETF.

BALQ on its own →CVRD on its own →

At a glance

10.0%

BALQ cash paid, since launch, Dec 3, 2025

7.7%

CVRD cash paid, 1 year

+15.6%

BALQ total return, since launch, Dec 3, 2025

+12.7%

CVRD total return, 1 year

BALQ · since launch to Nov 4, 2026 4.1 pts ahead of QQQ

BALQ

+15.6%

QQQ

+11.5%

4.1 pts ahead of QQQ

BALQ since launch: paid 10.0%, price +5.1%, total +15.6%, QQQ +11.5%, +4.1 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

QQQ

+11.5%

BALQ

+15.6%

10.0% of it arrived as cash

4.1 pts ahead of QQQ

Total return, distributions reinvested

4.1 pts ahead of QQQ

BALQ since launch: paid 10.0%, price +5.1%, total +15.6%, QQQ +11.5%, +4.1 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

QQQ

+11.5%

BALQ

+15.6%

4.1 pts ahead of QQQ

10.0% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. BALQ since launch: paid 10.0%, price +5.1%, total +15.6%, QQQ +11.5%, +4.1 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Data to Nov 4, 2026.

CVRD · 1 year to Nov 4, 2026 10.4 pts behind its own stocks

CVRD

+12.7%

Own

+23.1%

10.4 pts behind its own stocks

CVRD over 1 year: paid 7.7%, price +4.3%, total +12.7%, its own stocks +23.1%, −10.4 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

its own stocks

+23.1%

CVRD

+12.7%

7.7% of it arrived as cash

10.4 pts behind its own stocks

Total return, distributions reinvested

10.4 pts behind its own stocks

CVRD over 1 year: paid 7.7%, price +4.3%, total +12.7%, its own stocks +23.1%, −10.4 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

its own stocks

+23.1%

CVRD

+12.7%

10.4 pts behind its own stocks

7.7% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, 0 to +23.1%. CVRD over 1 year: paid 7.7%, price +4.3%, total +12.7%, its own stocks +23.1%, −10.4 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Both charts share one scale, 0 to +23.1%. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Pair scorecard

BALQ costs 0.55 points a year less.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

BALQ vs CVRD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Measure	BALQ	CVRD
Paid and earned
Measure	BALQ	CVRD
Total return, 1 year	not published	+12.7%
Price change	rose 5.1% (since Dec 3, 2025)	rose 4.3% (1 year)
Return of capital, issuer estimate	97% of the Nov 5, 2026 payment
Against its benchmark
Measure	BALQ	CVRD
Benchmark	Nasdaq-100, measured through QQQ	its own stocks
Cost and size
Measure	BALQ	CVRD
Expense ratio	0.35%	0.90%
Net assets, BALQ as of Nov 3, 2026 and CVRD as of Jun 30, 2026	$43m	$32m
Holdings
Measure	BALQ	CVRD
Holdings in common	16%

Method

What they share

16%

By the books each fund has filed, BALQ and CVRD hold 16% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Nov 3, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

16% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first BALQ CVRD

AMAZON.COM INC 5.04% 4.03%

MICROSOFT 7.46% 3.85%

BROADCOM INC 2.99% 3.55%

META PLATFORMS CLASS A 3.09% 2.64%

QUALCOMM 1.18% 2.02%

ADOBE INC 0.71% 2.82%

UNION PACIFIC 0.22% 3.15%

SALESFORCE 0.21% 2.45%

ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND 0.20% 4.54%

NEWMONT 0.10% 2.19%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in BALQ

NVIDIA 8.33%

APPLE 7.82%

MICRON TECHNOLOGY 4.74%

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 4.10%

COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP 3.46%

WALMART 2.97%

TESLA INC 2.88%

ALPHABET CLASS A 2.75%

Only in CVRD

Palo Alto Networks Inc 4.80%

Danaher Corp 4.29%

Agilent Technologies Inc 3.95%

Visa Inc 3.65%

PepsiCo Inc 3.05%

Blackrock Inc 3.01%

American Tower Corp 2.97%

Lowe's Cos Inc 2.97%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

BALQ iShares Nasdaq Premium Income Active ETF · Covered call on QQQ, paying monthly CVRD Madison Covered Call ETF · Covered call on its own stocks, paying quarterly

Issuer iShares Madison

Strategy covered call covered call

Benchmark Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) CVRD's own stocks, without the options (from its filed holdings, rebalanced at each filing; latest Jun 30, 2026)

Pays monthly quarterly

Payout rate, annualized 8.5% 6.3%

Expense ratio 0.35% 0.90%

Cash paid, 1 year 10.0% (since launch, Dec 3, 2025) 7.7%

Price change, 1 year +5.1% (since launch, Dec 3, 2025) +4.3%

Total return, 1 year +15.6% (since launch, Dec 3, 2025) +12.7%

Benchmark return, 1 year +11.5% (since launch, Dec 3, 2025) +23.1%

Ahead or behind +4.1 pts (since launch, Dec 3, 2025) −10.4 pts

Return of capital, latest estimate 97% not published

Age 336 days 3.2 years

Net assets, BALQ as of Nov 3, 2026 and CVRD as of Jun 30, 2026 $43m $32m

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: BALQ vs CVRD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
	Total return		Cash paid		Against the benchmark
Window	BALQ	CVRD	BALQ	CVRD	BALQ	CVRD
3 months	−3.8%	+5.7%	2.1%	1.6%	−0.3 pts	−0.8 pts
6 months	+1.3%	+5.8%	5.2%	3.2%	+1.7 pts	−3.8 pts
1 year	–	+12.7%	–	7.7%	–	−10.4 pts
3 years	–	+26.9%	–	27.7%	–	not measured
Since launchNot the same days: BALQ Dec 2025 · CVRD Aug 2023	+15.6%	+27.2%	10.0%	27.8%	+4.1 pts	not measured

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Alert

About each fund

BALQ

Over the period from its first trade on Dec 3, 2025 to Nov 4, 2026, BALQ paid 10.0% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 5.1%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +15.6%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) returned +11.5% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 4.1 pts. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 8.5%, paid monthly. iShares estimates that 97% 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.

CVRD

Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, CVRD paid 7.7% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 4.3%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +12.7%. CVRD's own stocks, without the options (from its filed holdings, rebalanced at each filing; latest Jun 30, 2026) returned +23.1% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 10.4 pts. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 6.3%, paid quarterly.

Questions people ask

Which is cheaper, BALQ or CVRD?: BALQ charges 0.35% a year and CVRD charges 0.90%, so BALQ is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

BALQ vs HEMI BALQ vs GRNI BALQ vs JUDO BALQ vs RNTY CVRD vs IQQQ CVRD vs XQQI CVRD vs ROCQ CVRD vs KIQQ

Where to next

Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) →All income ETFs ranked by the Distribution Coverage Score →How the scores are computed →BALQ on its own →CVRD on its own →BALQ dividend history →BALQ holdings →CVRD dividend history →CVRD holdings →Method →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

BALQ filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

BALQ prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

BALQ 19a-1 distribution notice ↗

iShares page for BALQ ↗

CVRD filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

CVRD prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Madison website ↗

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, BALQ against CVRD, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/balq-vs-cvrd

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