Data as of .
BALQ vs FEPI: which paid, and which earned it?
BALQ and FEPI both write options for income.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, BALQ and FEPI hold 13% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | BALQ | FEPI |
|---|---|---|
| AMAZON.COM INC | 4.76% | 5.21% |
| BROADCOM INC | 2.99% | 8.05% |
| TESLA INC | 2.73% | 7.47% |
| INTEL CORPORATION | 2.62% | 5.24% |
| Only in BALQ | Only in FEPI |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA 8.62% | ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC. 9.98% |
| APPLE 7.63% | MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC. 8.91% |
| MICROSOFT 6.72% | ALPHABET INC. 8.83% |
| MICRON TECHNOLOGY 5.06% | NVIDIA CORPORATION 7.76% |
| ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 4.31% | MICROSOFT CORPORATION 5.19% |
| ALPHABET CLASS A 3.44% | PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES INC. 5.17% |
| META PLATFORMS CLASS A 3.31% | APPLOVIN CORPORATION 5.16% |
| ALPHABET CLASS C 3.09% | NETFLIX, INC. 5.16% |
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 Apr 30, 2026 and Sep 18, 2026.
Performance, window by window
| Window | Total return | Cash paid | Against the benchmark | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BALQ | FEPI | BALQ | FEPI | BALQ | FEPI | |
| 3 months | −0.5% | +2.9% | 2.8% | 6.0% | +1.9 pts | +5.4 pts |
| 6 months | +27.2% | +17.2% | 6.5% | 12.8% | +3.0 pts | −7.1 pts |
| 1 year | not published | +15.7% | not published | 23.4% | not published | −6.1 pts |
| Since launch | +21.4% | +69.0% | 8.5% | 66.8% | +5.3 pts | −28.5 pts |
| BALQ iShares Nasdaq Premium Income Active ETF Covered call on QQQ, paying monthly | FEPI REX FANG & Innovation Equity Premium Income ETF Covered call on QQQ, paying weekly | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | iShares | REX |
| Strategy | covered call | covered call |
| Benchmark | Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) | Nasdaq-100 (QQQ), used as the innovation proxy |
| Pays | monthly | weekly |
| Payout rate, annualized | 8.9% | 24.9% |
| Expense ratio | 0.35% | 0.65% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 8.5% (since launch on Dec 3, 2025) | 23.4% |
| Price change, 1 year | +11.9% | −10.0% |
| Total return, 1 year | +21.4% (since launch on Dec 3, 2025) | +15.7% |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +16.1% | +21.8% |
| Ahead or behind | +5.3 pts | −6.1 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | not published | not published |
| Age | 289 days | 1073 days |
| Net assets | $29m | $713m |
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.
FEPI in plain words
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, FEPI paid 23.4% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 10.0%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +15.7%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ), used as the innovation proxy returned +21.8% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 6.1 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 24.9%, paid weekly.
Questions people ask
- Which is cheaper, BALQ or FEPI?
- BALQ charges 0.35% a year and FEPI charges 0.65%, 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 FEPI, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/balq-vs-fepi Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.