Data as of .
BALQ vs IQQQ: which paid, and which earned it?
BALQ and IQQQ both write options for income.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, BALQ and IQQQ hold 17% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | BALQ | IQQQ |
|---|---|---|
| AMAZON.COM INC | 4.76% | 4.27% |
| BROADCOM INC | 2.99% | 3.11% |
| TESLA INC | 2.73% | 3.20% |
| WALMART INC | 2.36% | 2.30% |
| CISCO SYSTEMS INC | 2.15% | 1.93% |
| COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP | 2.61% | 1.72% |
| WESTERN DIGITAL CORP | 0.85% | 0.73% |
| ADOBE INC | 0.68% | 0.43% |
| MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC | 0.61% | 0.21% |
| Only in BALQ | Only in IQQQ |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA 8.62% | ProShares GENIUS Money Market ETF 7.60% |
| APPLE 7.63% | NVIDIA Corp. 7.54% |
| MICROSOFT 6.72% | Apple, Inc. 6.74% |
| MICRON TECHNOLOGY 5.06% | Microsoft Corp. 4.92% |
| ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 4.31% | Micron Technology, Inc. 4.44% |
| ALPHABET CLASS A 3.44% | Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 3.41% |
| META PLATFORMS CLASS A 3.31% | Alphabet, Inc. 3.25% |
| ALPHABET CLASS C 3.09% | Alphabet, Inc. 3.01% |
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 May 31, 2026 and Sep 18, 2026.
Performance, window by window
| Window | Total return | Cash paid | Against the benchmark | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BALQ | IQQQ | BALQ | IQQQ | BALQ | IQQQ | |
| 3 months | −0.5% | −3.1% | 2.8% | 1.8% | +1.9 pts | −0.6 pts |
| 6 months | +27.2% | +19.1% | 6.5% | 4.2% | +3.0 pts | −5.1 pts |
| 1 year | not published | +17.7% | not published | 6.5% | not published | −4.1 pts |
| Since launch | +21.4% | +51.5% | 8.5% | 24.4% | +5.3 pts | −13.0 pts |
| BALQ iShares Nasdaq Premium Income Active ETF Covered call on QQQ, paying monthly | IQQQ ProShares Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF Option income on QQQ, paying monthly | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | iShares | ProShares |
| Strategy | covered call | option income |
| Benchmark | Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) | Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) |
| Pays | monthly | monthly |
| Payout rate, annualized | 8.9% | 5.7% |
| Expense ratio | 0.35% | 0.97% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 8.5% (since launch on Dec 3, 2025) | 6.5% |
| Price change, 1 year | +11.9% | +10.8% |
| Total return, 1 year | +21.4% (since launch on Dec 3, 2025) | +17.7% |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +16.1% | +21.8% |
| Ahead or behind | +5.3 pts | −4.1 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | not published | not published |
| Age | 289 days | 912 days |
| Net assets | $29m | $405m |
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.
IQQQ in plain words
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, IQQQ paid 6.5% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 10.8%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +17.7%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) returned +21.8% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 4.1 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 5.7%, paid monthly.
Questions people ask
- Which is cheaper, BALQ or IQQQ?
- BALQ charges 0.35% a year and IQQQ charges 0.97%, 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 IQQQ, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/balq-vs-iqqq Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.