Which is cheaper, BALQ or FDND?

BALQ charges 0.35% a year and FDND charges 0.75%, so BALQ is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Income ETFs

BALQ vs FDND: Dividend Yield & Total Return

BALQ and FDND both write options for income.

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Net assets on Nov 3, 2026: $43m for iShares Nasdaq Premium Income Active ETF and $9.3m for FT Vest Dow Jones Internet & Target Income ETF.

BALQ on its own →FDND on its own →

At a glance

10.0%

BALQ cash paid, since launch, Dec 3, 2025

7.3%

FDND cash paid, 1 year

+15.6%

BALQ total return, since launch, Dec 3, 2025

−2.6%

FDND 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%

10.0% cash

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.

FDND · 1 year to Nov 4, 2026 1 pt behind FDN

FDND

−2.6%

FDN

−1.6%

1 pt behind FDN

FDND over 1 year: paid 7.3%, price −10.1%, total −2.6%, FDN −1.6%, −1.0 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

FDN

−1.6%

FDND

−2.6%

1 pt behind FDN

Total return, distributions reinvested

1 pt behind FDN

FDND over 1 year: paid 7.3%, price −10.1%, total −2.6%, FDN −1.6%, −1.0 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

FDN

−1.6%

FDND

−2.6%

1 pt behind FDN

7.3% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, with zero at the line. FDND over 1 year: paid 7.3%, price −10.1%, total −2.6%, FDN −1.6%, −1.0 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Pair scorecard

BALQ costs 0.40 points a year less; BALQ is 4.6 times larger.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

BALQ vs FDND: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Measure	BALQ	FDND
Paid and earned
Measure	BALQ	FDND
Total return, 1 year	not published	−2.6%
Price change	rose 5.1% (since Dec 3, 2025)	fell 10.1% (1 year)
Return of capital, issuer estimate	97% of the Nov 5, 2026 payment	100% of the Oct 30, 2026 payment
Against its benchmark
Measure	BALQ	FDND
Benchmark	Nasdaq-100, measured through QQQ	First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund, measured through FDN
Against its benchmark, same days	ahead by 4.1 pts	behind by 1.0 pts
Cost and size
Measure	BALQ	FDND
Expense ratio	0.35%	0.75%
Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026	$43m	$9.3m
Holdings
Measure	BALQ	FDND
Holdings in common	17%

Method

What they share

17%

By the books each fund has filed, BALQ and FDND hold 17% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Nov 3, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

17% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first BALQ FDND

AMAZON.COM INC 5.04% 10.68%

META PLATFORMS CLASS A 3.09% 10.21%

ALPHABET CLASS A 2.75% 5.05%

ALPHABET CLASS C 2.44% 4.06%

CISCO SYSTEMS INC 2.30% 8.81%

ARISTA NETWORKS 0.27% 4.26%

ORACLE 0.27% 3.78%

NUTANIX CLASS A 0.25% 0.64%

SALESFORCE 0.21% 4.40%

HUBSPOT 0.13% 0.41%

CIENA 0.11% 1.57%

DUOLINGO CLASS A 0.10% 0.19%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in BALQ

NVIDIA 8.33%

APPLE 7.82%

MICROSOFT 7.46%

MICRON TECHNOLOGY 4.74%

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 4.10%

COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP 3.46%

BROADCOM INC 2.99%

WALMART 2.97%

Only in FDND

Netflix, Inc. 5.64%

Booking Holdings Inc. 4.29%

Snowflake Inc. (Class A) 3.75%

Cloudflare, Inc. (Class A) 3.23%

Datadog, Inc. (Class A) 2.72%

Airbnb, Inc. (Class A) 2.57%

DoorDash, Inc. (Class A) 2.53%

Carvana Co. (Class A) 1.88%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

BALQ iShares Nasdaq Premium Income Active ETF · Covered call on QQQ, paying monthly FDND FT Vest Dow Jones Internet & Target Income ETF · Writes calls on the Nasdaq-100, measured against the Dow Jones Internet Composite Index, paying monthly

Issuer iShares First Trust

Strategy covered call option income

Benchmark Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (FDN)

Pays monthly monthly

Payout rate, annualized 8.5% 8.2%

Expense ratio 0.35% 0.75%

Cash paid, 1 year 10.0% (since launch, Dec 3, 2025) 7.3%

Price change, 1 year +5.1% (since launch, Dec 3, 2025) −10.1%

Total return, 1 year +15.6% (since launch, Dec 3, 2025) −2.6%

Benchmark return, 1 year +11.5% (since launch, Dec 3, 2025) −1.6%

Ahead or behind +4.1 pts (since launch, Dec 3, 2025) −1.0 pts

Return of capital, latest estimate 97% 100%

Age 336 days 2.6 years

Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 $43m $9.3m

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: BALQ vs FDND: Dividend Yield & Total Return
	Total return		Cash paid		Against the benchmark
Window	BALQ	FDND	BALQ	FDND	BALQ	FDND
3 months	−3.8%	−4.7%	2.1%	2.0%	−0.3 pts	+0.5 pts
6 months	+1.3%	+2.2%	5.2%	4.0%	+1.7 pts	0.0 pts
1 year	–	−2.6%	–	7.3%	–	−1.0 pts
Since launchNot the same days: BALQ Dec 2025 · FDND Mar 2024	+15.6%	+27.3%	10.0%	21.9%	+4.1 pts	−4.9 pts

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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.

FDND

Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, FDND paid 7.3% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 10.1%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned −2.6%. First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (FDN) returned −1.6% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 1.0 pts. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 8.2%, paid monthly. First Trust 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, BALQ or FDND?: BALQ charges 0.35% a year and FDND charges 0.75%, so BALQ is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

BALQ vs PAPI BALQ vs OVL BALQ vs ULTY BALQ vs SIXH FDND vs IQQQ FDND vs XQQI FDND vs ROCQ FDND vs KIQQ

Where to next

Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) →First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (FDN) →All income ETFs ranked by the Distribution Coverage Score →How the scores are computed →BALQ on its own →FDND on its own →BALQ dividend history →BALQ holdings →FDND dividend history →FDND 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 ↗

FDND filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FDND prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

FDND 19a-1 distribution notice ↗

First Trust page for FDND ↗

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 FDND, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/balq-vs-fdnd

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