Data as of .
BALQ vs ULTY: which paid, and which earned it?
BALQ and ULTY both write options for income.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, BALQ and ULTY hold 16% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | BALQ | ULTY |
|---|---|---|
| ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES | 4.31% | 5.23% |
| ALPHABET CLASS A | 3.44% | 4.39% |
| NVIDIA | 8.62% | 2.36% |
| PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES CLASS A | 1.96% | 4.27% |
| LAM RESEARCH | 1.94% | 4.34% |
| SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES COR | 0.82% | 4.11% |
| ASTERA LABS | 0.36% | 3.35% |
| CATERPILLAR INC | 0.29% | 3.07% |
| STRATEGY INC CLASS A | 0.27% | 4.66% |
| COMFORT SYSTEMS USA | 0.23% | 4.61% |
| DELL TECHNOLOGIES INC CLASS C | 0.23% | 2.95% |
| CIENA | 0.12% | 3.07% |
| Only in BALQ | Only in ULTY |
|---|---|
| APPLE 7.63% | MercadoLibre Inc 4.99% |
| MICROSOFT 6.72% | Lumentum Holdings Inc 4.75% |
| MICRON TECHNOLOGY 5.06% | Coherent Corp 4.30% |
| AMAZON.COM INC 4.76% | Analog Devices Inc 4.11% |
| META PLATFORMS CLASS A 3.31% | Alibaba Group Holding Ltd 4.07% |
| ALPHABET CLASS C 3.09% | Robinhood Markets Inc 4.07% |
| BROADCOM INC 2.99% | VanEck Gold Miners ETF/USA 4.07% |
| TESLA INC 2.73% | Figure Technology Solutions Inc 4.02% |
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 Sep 18, 2026 and Sep 21, 2026.
Performance, window by window
| Window | Total return | Cash paid | Against the benchmark | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BALQ | ULTY | BALQ | ULTY | BALQ | ULTY | |
| 3 months | −0.5% | −1.1% | 2.8% | 13.7% | +1.9 pts | −3.3 pts |
| 6 months | +27.2% | +14.0% | 6.5% | 30.1% | +3.0 pts | −4.0 pts |
| 1 year | not published | −7.8% | not published | 44.9% | not published | −24.3 pts |
| Since launch | +21.4% | +10.7% | 8.5% | 86.9% | +5.3 pts | −44.1 pts |
| BALQ iShares Nasdaq Premium Income Active ETF Covered call on QQQ, paying monthly | ULTY YieldMax(R) Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF Synthetic covered call on SPY, paying weekly | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | iShares | YieldMax |
| Strategy | covered call | synthetic covered call |
| Benchmark | Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) | S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy |
| Pays | monthly | weekly |
| Payout rate, annualized | 8.9% | 59.8% |
| Expense ratio | 0.35% | 1.30% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 8.5% (since launch on Dec 3, 2025) | 44.9% |
| Price change, 1 year | +11.9% | −54.1% |
| Total return, 1 year | +21.4% (since launch on Dec 3, 2025) | −7.8% |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +16.1% | +16.6% |
| Ahead or behind | +5.3 pts | −24.3 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | not published | 100% |
| Age | 289 days | 932 days |
| Net assets | $29m | $721m |
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.
ULTY in plain words
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, ULTY paid 44.9% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 54.1%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned −7.8%. S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy returned +16.6% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 24.3 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 59.8%, paid weekly. YieldMax estimates that 100% of the distribution paid Sep 17, 2026 was a return of capital (19a-1 notice, estimated, a tax characterization rather than a measure of erosion).
Questions people ask
- Which is cheaper, BALQ or ULTY?
- BALQ charges 0.35% a year and ULTY charges 1.30%, 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 ULTY, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/balq-vs-ulty Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.