Data as of .
BALQ vs DRKY: which paid, and which earned it?
BALQ and DRKY both write options for income.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, BALQ and DRKY hold 12% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | BALQ | DRKY |
|---|---|---|
| AMAZON.COM INC | 4.76% | 4.42% |
| ALPHABET CLASS A | 3.44% | 4.45% |
| TESLA INC | 2.73% | 2.07% |
| SANDISK | 1.19% | 3.51% |
| FOX CLASS A | 0.25% | 3.89% |
| INSMED | 0.21% | 4.62% |
| NATERA | 0.15% | 25.22% |
| Only in BALQ | Only in DRKY |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA 8.62% | Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd 9.17% |
| APPLE 7.63% | STMicroelectronics NV 7.49% |
| MICROSOFT 6.72% | YPF SA 4.78% |
| MICRON TECHNOLOGY 5.06% | Seagate Technology Holdings PLC 4.52% |
| ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 4.31% | BBB Foods Inc 4.29% |
| META PLATFORMS CLASS A 3.31% | CDW Corp/DE 3.92% |
| ALPHABET CLASS C 3.09% | United Airlines Holdings Inc 3.73% |
| BROADCOM INC 2.99% | Sea Ltd 3.15% |
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 | DRKY | BALQ | DRKY | BALQ | DRKY | |
| 3 months | −0.5% | +11.8% | 2.8% | 3.8% | +1.9 pts | +9.6 pts |
| 6 months | +27.2% | +25.1% | 6.5% | 8.1% | +3.0 pts | +7.1 pts |
| Since launch | +21.4% | +24.1% | 8.5% | 14.1% | +5.3 pts | +9.7 pts |
| BALQ iShares Nasdaq Premium Income Active ETF Covered call on QQQ, paying monthly | DRKY VistaShares Target 15 DRUKMacro Distribution ETF Covered call on SPY, paying monthly | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | iShares | VistaShares |
| Strategy | covered call | covered call |
| Benchmark | Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) | S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy |
| Pays | monthly | monthly |
| Payout rate, annualized | 8.9% | 14.8% |
| Expense ratio | 0.35% | 0.95% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 8.5% (since launch on Dec 3, 2025) | 14.1% (since launch on Oct 8, 2025) |
| Price change, 1 year | +11.9% | +8.1% |
| Total return, 1 year | +21.4% (since launch on Dec 3, 2025) | +24.1% (since launch on Oct 8, 2025) |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +16.1% | +14.4% |
| Ahead or behind | +5.3 pts | +9.7 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | not published | not published |
| Age | 289 days | 345 days |
| Net assets | $29m | $19m |
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.
DRKY in plain words
Over the period since launch on Oct 8, 2025 to Sep 18, 2026, DRKY paid 14.1% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 8.1%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +24.1%. S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy returned +14.4% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 9.7 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 14.8%, paid monthly.
Questions people ask
- Which is cheaper, BALQ or DRKY?
- BALQ charges 0.35% a year and DRKY charges 0.95%, 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 DRKY, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/balq-vs-drky Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.