Data as of .
BALQ vs SPUT: which paid, and which earned it?
BALQ and SPUT both write options for income.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, BALQ and SPUT hold 28% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | BALQ | SPUT |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA | 8.62% | 3.85% |
| APPLE | 7.63% | 3.22% |
| MICROSOFT | 6.72% | 2.47% |
| AMAZON.COM INC | 4.76% | 2.09% |
| ALPHABET CLASS A | 3.44% | 1.84% |
| BROADCOM INC | 2.99% | 1.60% |
| ALPHABET CLASS C | 3.09% | 1.59% |
| META PLATFORMS CLASS A | 3.31% | 1.10% |
| TESLA INC | 2.73% | 0.91% |
| MICRON TECHNOLOGY | 5.06% | 0.48% |
| ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES | 4.31% | 0.47% |
| WALMART INC | 2.36% | 0.47% |
| Only in BALQ | Only in SPUT |
|---|---|
| BLK CSH FND TREASURY SL AGENCY 2.70% | TREASURY BILL 49.24% |
| CASH COLLATERAL MSFUT USD 1.46% | JPMorgan Chase & Co 0.70% |
| SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES COR 0.82% | Eli Lilly & Co 0.65% |
| GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP 0.71% | Exxon Mobil Corp 0.54% |
| LIBERTY MEDIA SERIES C 0.35% | Berkshire Hathaway Inc 0.54% |
| SENTINELONE INC CLASS A 0.34% | Visa Inc 0.46% |
| NEUROCRINE BIOSCIENCES 0.31% | Johnson & Johnson 0.46% |
| DYNATRACE INC 0.30% | Netflix Inc 0.35% |
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 | SPUT | BALQ | SPUT | BALQ | SPUT | |
| 3 months | −0.5% | +2.4% | 2.8% | 1.1% | +1.9 pts | +0.1 pts |
| 6 months | +27.2% | +11.5% | 6.5% | 2.5% | +3.0 pts | −6.5 pts |
| 1 year | not published | +11.5% | not published | 5.2% | not published | −5.1 pts |
| Since launch | +21.4% | +22.4% | 8.5% | 8.5% | +5.3 pts | −15.6 pts |
| BALQ iShares Nasdaq Premium Income Active ETF Covered call on QQQ, paying monthly | SPUT Innovator Equity Premium Income - Daily PutWrite ETF Covered call on SPY, paying monthly | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | iShares | Innovator |
| Strategy | covered call | covered call |
| Benchmark | Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) | S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy |
| Pays | monthly | monthly |
| Payout rate, annualized | 8.9% | 4.7% |
| Expense ratio | 0.35% | 0.79% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 8.5% (since launch on Dec 3, 2025) | 5.2% |
| Price change, 1 year | +11.9% | +6.0% |
| Total return, 1 year | +21.4% (since launch on Dec 3, 2025) | +11.5% |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +16.1% | +16.6% |
| Ahead or behind | +5.3 pts | −5.1 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | not published | not published |
| Age | 289 days | 553 days |
| Net assets | $29m | $17m |
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.
SPUT in plain words
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, SPUT paid 5.2% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 6.0%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +11.5%. S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy returned +16.6% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 5.1 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 4.7%, paid monthly.
Questions people ask
- Which is cheaper, BALQ or SPUT?
- BALQ charges 0.35% a year and SPUT charges 0.79%, 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 SPUT, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/balq-vs-sput Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.