Answered from ETFIQ data as of .
Do covered call ETFs lose value?
Many do lose price while paying cash, which is not the same as losing money. Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, 24 of 154 index option-income ETFs finished ahead of the index they write options on once every distribution was counted and reinvested.
A covered call fund sells away part of the upside, so in a rising market it usually trails the index. The cash it pays can exceed what it earns, and when it does the price falls to fund the difference.
The honest test is total return with distributions reinvested, measured against the index or stock the fund actually writes options on, which is what ETFIQ publishes for every fund over five windows.
A fund paying 40 percent a year while its price falls 30 percent has not necessarily hurt you, and a fund paying 8 percent while flat has not necessarily helped. The gap to the benchmark settles it.
On the desk today
| Ticker | Fund | Cash paid 1Y | Price 1Y | Total return 1Y | vs benchmark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMDY | YieldMax(R) AMD Option Income Strategy ETF | 89.8% | +8.9% | +139.4% | −55.8 pts |
| MRNY | YieldMax(R) MRNA Option Income Strategy ETF | 89.7% | +89.1% | +348.2% | −151.2 pts |
| WNTR | YieldMax(R) MSTR Short Option Income Strategy ETF | 85.1% | −47.5% | +29.5% | +85.9 pts |
| TSYY | GraniteShares YieldBOOST TSLA ETF | 65.8% | −69.7% | −15.5% | −20.1 pts |
| FIAT | YieldMax(R) Short COIN Option Income Strategy ETF | 64.0% | −48.7% | +15.6% | +55.4 pts |
| NVYY | GraniteShares YieldBOOST Natural Gas ETF | 57.5% | −53.3% | +5.7% | +25.1 pts |
| TSLY | YieldMax(R) TSLA Option Income Strategy ETF | 55.9% | −41.6% | +7.7% | +3.1 pts |
| TSII | REX TSLA Growth & Income ETF | 54.7% | −44.5% | +0.4% | −4.2 pts |
Where to next
ETFIQ is an independent publisher of exchange-traded fund data and makes no recommendations. Every figure is stated arithmetic on published data. Standards and sources
Cite this page. ETFIQ, Do covered call ETFs lose value?, data as of Sep 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/questions/do-covered-call-etfs-lose-value.html Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.