Data as of .
BALQ vs HEMI: which paid, and which earned it?
BALQ and HEMI both write options for income.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, BALQ and HEMI hold 11% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | BALQ | HEMI |
|---|---|---|
| AMAZON.COM INC | 4.76% | 5.73% |
| BROADCOM INC | 2.99% | 4.02% |
| WALMART INC | 2.36% | 1.70% |
| TESLA INC | 2.73% | 0.40% |
| ABBOTT LABORATORIES | 0.33% | 0.61% |
| CISCO SYSTEMS INC | 2.15% | 0.29% |
| MERCK & CO INC | 0.29% | 1.15% |
| Only in BALQ | Only in HEMI |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA 8.62% | NVIDIA Corp 9.11% |
| APPLE 7.63% | Alphabet Inc 7.69% |
| MICROSOFT 6.72% | Apple Inc 5.86% |
| MICRON TECHNOLOGY 5.06% | Microsoft Corp 5.72% |
| ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 4.31% | Meta Platforms Inc 2.66% |
| ALPHABET CLASS A 3.44% | JPMorgan Chase & Co 2.42% |
| META PLATFORMS CLASS A 3.31% | Eli Lilly & Co 2.13% |
| ALPHABET CLASS C 3.09% | Mastercard Inc 2.04% |
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 | HEMI | BALQ | HEMI | BALQ | HEMI | |
| 3 months | −0.5% | +0.8% | 2.8% | 2.2% | +1.9 pts | −1.5 pts |
| 6 months | +27.2% | +13.6% | 6.5% | 4.9% | +3.0 pts | −4.5 pts |
| Since launch | +21.4% | +11.2% | 8.5% | 6.0% | +5.3 pts | −3.4 pts |
| BALQ iShares Nasdaq Premium Income Active ETF Covered call on QQQ, paying monthly | HEMI Hartford Equity Premium Income ETF Covered call on SPY, paying monthly | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | iShares | Hartford |
| Strategy | covered call | covered call |
| Benchmark | Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| Pays | monthly | monthly |
| Payout rate, annualized | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| Expense ratio | 0.35% | 0.49% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 8.5% (since launch on Dec 3, 2025) | 6.0% (since launch on Dec 17, 2025) |
| Price change, 1 year | +11.9% | +4.9% |
| Total return, 1 year | +21.4% (since launch on Dec 3, 2025) | +11.2% (since launch on Dec 17, 2025) |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +16.1% | +14.7% |
| Ahead or behind | +5.3 pts | −3.4 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | not published | not published |
| Age | 289 days | 275 days |
| Net assets | $29m | $33m |
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.
HEMI in plain words
Over the period since launch on Dec 17, 2025 to Sep 18, 2026, HEMI paid 6.0% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 4.9%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +11.2%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +14.7% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 3.4 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 9.1%, paid monthly.
Questions people ask
- Which is cheaper, BALQ or HEMI?
- BALQ charges 0.35% a year and HEMI charges 0.49%, 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 HEMI, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/balq-vs-hemi Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.