Which is cheaper, BALQ or NLSI?

BALQ charges 0.35% a year and NLSI charges 2.89%, so BALQ is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Income ETFs

BALQ vs NLSI: Dividend Yield & Total Return

BALQ and NLSI both write options for income.

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Net assets: $43m on Nov 3, 2026 for iShares Nasdaq Premium Income Active ETF, and $5.3m on Oct 28, 2026 for NEOS Long/Short Equity Income ETF.

BALQ on its own →NLSI on its own →

At a glance

10.0%

BALQ cash paid, since launch, Dec 3, 2025

5.0%

NLSI cash paid, since launch, Dec 10, 2025

+15.6%

BALQ total return, since launch, Dec 3, 2025

+17.7%

NLSI total return, since launch, Dec 10, 2025

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.

NLSI · since launch to Nov 4, 2026 5 pts ahead of SPY

NLSI

+17.7%

SPY

+12.7%

5 pts ahead of SPY

NLSI since launch: paid 5.0%, price +12.0%, total +17.7%, SPY +12.7%, +5.0 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

SPY

+12.7%

NLSI

+17.7%

5.0% as cash

5 pts ahead of SPY

Total return, distributions reinvested

5 pts ahead of SPY

NLSI since launch: paid 5.0%, price +12.0%, total +17.7%, SPY +12.7%, +5.0 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

SPY

+12.7%

NLSI

+17.7%

5 pts ahead of SPY

5.0% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, 0 to +17.7%. NLSI since launch: paid 5.0%, price +12.0%, total +17.7%, SPY +12.7%, +5.0 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Both charts share one scale, 0 to +17.7%. Data to Nov 4, 2026.

Pair scorecard

BALQ costs 2.54 points a year less; BALQ is 8.5 times larger.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

BALQ vs NLSI: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Measure	BALQ	NLSI
Paid and earned
Measure	BALQ	NLSI
Price change	rose 5.1% (since Dec 3, 2025)	rose 12.0% (since Dec 10, 2025)
Return of capital, issuer estimate	97% of the Nov 5, 2026 payment	100% of the Oct 30, 2026 payment
Against its benchmark
Measure	BALQ	NLSI
Benchmark	Nasdaq-100, measured through QQQ	S&P 500, measured through SPY
Against its benchmark, same days	ahead by 4.1 pts	ahead by 5.0 pts
Cost and size
Measure	BALQ	NLSI
Expense ratio	0.35%	2.89%
Net assets, as of Oct 28, 2026	$45m	$5.3m
Holdings
Measure	BALQ	NLSI
Holdings in common	8%

Method

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, BALQ and NLSI hold 8% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Nov 3, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

8% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first BALQ NLSI

MICRON TECHNOLOGY 4.74% 12.00%

GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP 0.82% 3.27%

VALERO ENERGY CORP 0.79% 5.14%

INTUIT 0.72% 4.45%

PHILLIPS 66 0.42% 4.39%

HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE 0.30% 3.90%

JABIL 0.23% 3.86%

COMFORT SYSTEMS USA 0.21% 4.30%

SERVICENOW 0.15% 4.07%

ORACLE 0.27% -0.87%

APPLIED MATERIAL INC 1.71% -1.44%

CATERPILLAR INC 0.39% -1.44%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in BALQ

NVIDIA 8.33%

APPLE 7.82%

MICROSOFT 7.46%

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 4.10%

COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP 3.46%

BROADCOM INC 2.99%

TESLA INC 2.88%

ALPHABET CLASS C 2.44%

Only in NLSI

Marathon Petroleum Corp 5.94%

Chevron Corp 4.51%

Walt Disney Co 4.42%

PayPal Holdings Inc 4.29%

American International Group Inc 4.28%

KKR & Co Inc 4.25%

Diamondback Energy Inc 4.22%

T-Mobile US Inc 4.14%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

BALQ iShares Nasdaq Premium Income Active ETF · Covered call on QQQ, paying monthly NLSI NEOS Long/Short Equity Income ETF · Option income on SPY, paying monthly

Issuer iShares NEOS

Strategy covered call option income

Benchmark Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) S&P 500 (SPY)

Pays monthly monthly

Payout rate, annualized 8.5% 5.6%

Expense ratio 0.35% 2.89%

Cash paid, 1 year 10.0% (since launch, Dec 3, 2025) 5.0% (since launch, Dec 10, 2025)

Price change, 1 year +5.1% (since launch, Dec 3, 2025) +12.0% (since launch, Dec 10, 2025)

Total return, 1 year +15.6% (since launch, Dec 3, 2025) +17.7% (since launch, Dec 10, 2025)

Benchmark return, 1 year +11.5% (since launch, Dec 3, 2025) +12.7% (since launch, Dec 10, 2025)

Ahead or behind +4.1 pts (since launch, Dec 3, 2025) +5.0 pts (since launch, Dec 10, 2025)

Return of capital, latest estimate 97% 100%

Age 336 days 329 days

Net assets, BALQ as of Nov 3, 2026 and NLSI as of Oct 28, 2026 $43m $5.3m

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 NLSI: Dividend Yield & Total Return
	Total return		Cash paid		Against the benchmark
Window	BALQ	NLSI	BALQ	NLSI	BALQ	NLSI
3 months	−3.8%	+6.7%	2.1%	1.4%	−0.3 pts	+6.9 pts
6 months	+1.3%	+21.4%	5.2%	3.0%	+1.7 pts	+16.4 pts
Since launchNot the same days: BALQ Dec 2025 · NLSI Dec 2025	+15.6%	+17.7%	10.0%	5.0%	+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.

NLSI

Over the period from its first trade on Dec 10, 2025 to Nov 4, 2026, NLSI paid 5.0% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 12.0%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +17.7%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +12.7% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 5.0 pts. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 5.6%, paid monthly. NEOS 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 NLSI?: BALQ charges 0.35% a year and NLSI charges 2.89%, so BALQ is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

BALQ vs TPRY BALQ vs JULJ BALQ vs XRMI BALQ vs WDTE NLSI vs IQQQ NLSI vs XQQI NLSI vs ROCQ NLSI vs KIQQ

Where to next

Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) →S&P 500 (SPY) →All income ETFs ranked by the Distribution Coverage Score →How the scores are computed →BALQ on its own →NLSI on its own →BALQ dividend history →BALQ holdings →NLSI dividend history →NLSI 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 ↗

NLSI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

NLSI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

NLSI 19a-1 distribution notice ↗

NEOS page for NLSI ↗

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

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