Data as of .
BALQ vs FDND: which paid, and which earned it?
BALQ and FDND both write options for income.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, BALQ and FDND hold 18% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | BALQ | FDND |
|---|---|---|
| AMAZON.COM INC | 4.76% | 9.98% |
| ALPHABET CLASS A | 3.44% | 5.82% |
| META PLATFORMS CLASS A | 3.31% | 10.12% |
| ALPHABET CLASS C | 3.09% | 4.65% |
| CISCO SYSTEMS INC | 2.15% | 8.66% |
| SALESFORCE | 0.33% | 4.36% |
| NUTANIX CLASS A | 0.26% | 0.64% |
| ORACLE | 0.26% | 4.08% |
| ARISTA NETWORKS | 0.18% | 4.62% |
| OKTA CLASS A | 0.15% | 1.03% |
| ATLASSIAN CORP CLASS A | 0.13% | 1.04% |
| CIENA | 0.12% | 1.69% |
| Only in BALQ | Only in FDND |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA 8.62% | Netflix, Inc. 5.90% |
| APPLE 7.63% | Booking Holdings Inc. 4.28% |
| MICROSOFT 6.72% | Snowflake Inc. (Class A) 3.90% |
| MICRON TECHNOLOGY 5.06% | Cloudflare, Inc. (Class A) 3.53% |
| ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 4.31% | Datadog, Inc. (Class A) 2.62% |
| BROADCOM INC 2.99% | DoorDash, Inc. (Class A) 2.46% |
| TESLA INC 2.73% | Airbnb, Inc. (Class A) 2.36% |
| BLK CSH FND TREASURY SL AGENCY 2.70% | Carvana Co. (Class A) 1.59% |
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.
Performance, window by window
| Window | Total return | Cash paid | Against the benchmark | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BALQ | FDND | BALQ | FDND | BALQ | FDND | |
| 3 months | −0.5% | +8.9% | 2.8% | 2.0% | +1.9 pts | +8.5 pts |
| 6 months | +27.2% | +18.8% | 6.5% | 4.3% | +3.0 pts | +4.8 pts |
| 1 year | not published | −0.6% | not published | 7.1% | not published | −14.1 pts |
| Since launch | +21.4% | +34.3% | 8.5% | 20.4% | +5.3 pts | −0.5 pts |
| BALQ iShares Nasdaq Premium Income Active ETF Covered call on QQQ, paying monthly | FDND FT Vest Dow Jones Internet & Target Income ETF Option income on DIA, paying monthly | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | iShares | First Trust |
| Strategy | covered call | option income |
| Benchmark | Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) | Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) |
| Pays | monthly | monthly |
| Payout rate, annualized | 8.9% | 7.8% |
| Expense ratio | 0.35% | 0.75% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 8.5% (since launch on Dec 3, 2025) | 7.1% |
| Price change, 1 year | +11.9% | −8.2% |
| Total return, 1 year | +21.4% (since launch on Dec 3, 2025) | −0.6% |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +16.1% | +13.5% |
| Ahead or behind | +5.3 pts | −14.1 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | not published | not published |
| Age | 289 days | 911 days |
| Net assets | $29m | $10m |
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.
FDND in plain words
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, FDND paid 7.1% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 8.2%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned −0.6%. Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) returned +13.5% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 14.1 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 7.8%, paid monthly.
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
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 FDND, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/balq-vs-fdnd Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.