Data as of .
BALQ vs DDDD: which paid, and which earned it?
BALQ and DDDD both write options for income.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, BALQ and DDDD hold 5% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | BALQ | DDDD |
|---|---|---|
| LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP | 0.83% | 2.74% |
| CHEVRON | 0.72% | 4.25% |
| COCA-COLA | 0.56% | 4.30% |
| VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC | 0.52% | 3.96% |
| PROCTER & GAMBLE | 0.47% | 4.01% |
| ABBOTT LABORATORIES | 0.33% | 4.53% |
| MERCK & CO INC | 0.29% | 4.93% |
| UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC | 0.29% | 3.84% |
| BEST BUY | 0.23% | 0.46% |
| ALTRIA GROUP INC | 0.22% | 2.94% |
| HOME DEPOT | 0.22% | 3.68% |
| Only in BALQ | Only in DDDD |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA 8.62% | Amgen Inc 4.38% |
| APPLE 7.63% | ConocoPhillips 4.07% |
| MICROSOFT 6.72% | PepsiCo Inc 3.50% |
| MICRON TECHNOLOGY 5.06% | Texas Instruments Inc 3.32% |
| AMAZON.COM INC 4.76% | Bristol-Myers Squibb Co 3.27% |
| ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 4.31% | Accenture PLC 2.81% |
| ALPHABET CLASS A 3.44% | Automatic Data Processing Inc 2.78% |
| META PLATFORMS CLASS A 3.31% | QUALCOMM Inc 2.73% |
Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Sep 18, 2026 and Sep 21, 2026.
Performance, window by window
| Window | Total return | Cash paid | Against the benchmark | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BALQ | DDDD | BALQ | DDDD | BALQ | DDDD | |
| 3 months | −0.5% | +4.9% | 2.8% | 1.6% | +1.9 pts | +2.6 pts |
| 6 months | +27.2% | +10.5% | 6.5% | 1.7% | +3.0 pts | −7.6 pts |
| Since launch | +21.4% | +8.7% | 8.5% | 1.6% | +5.3 pts | −6.5 pts |
| BALQ iShares Nasdaq Premium Income Active ETF Covered call on QQQ, paying monthly | DDDD YieldMax(R) U.S. Stocks Target Double Distribution ETF Synthetic covered call on SPY | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | iShares | YieldMax |
| Strategy | covered call | synthetic covered call |
| Benchmark | Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| Pays | monthly | not established |
| Payout rate, annualized | 8.9% | 18.4% |
| Expense ratio | 0.35% | 1.01% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 8.5% (since launch on Dec 3, 2025) | 1.6% (since launch on Mar 12, 2026) |
| Price change, 1 year | +11.9% | +7.0% |
| Total return, 1 year | +21.4% (since launch on Dec 3, 2025) | +8.7% (since launch on Mar 12, 2026) |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +16.1% | +15.3% |
| Ahead or behind | +5.3 pts | −6.5 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | not published | 67% |
| Age | 289 days | 190 days |
| Net assets | $29m | $7m |
BALQ in plain words
Over the period since launch on Dec 3, 2025 to Sep 18, 2026, BALQ paid 8.5% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 11.9%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +21.4%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) returned +16.1% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 5.3 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 8.9%, paid monthly.
DDDD in plain words
Over the period since launch on Mar 12, 2026 to Sep 18, 2026, DDDD paid 1.6% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 7.0%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +8.7%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +15.3% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 6.5 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 18.4%, paid periodically. YieldMax estimates that 67% of the distribution paid Jul 6, 2026 was a return of capital (19a-1 notice, estimated, a tax characterization rather than a measure of erosion).
Questions people ask
- Which is cheaper, BALQ or DDDD?
- BALQ charges 0.35% a year and DDDD charges 1.01%, so BALQ is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Other comparisons
Where these figures came from
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, BALQ against DDDD, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/balq-vs-dddd Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.