Answered from ETFIQ data as of .
What is a synthetic covered call ETF?
A fund that sells call options on something it does not own, holding Treasuries and options to stand in for the shares. ETFIQ measures 95 of them. The typical one advertises a distribution rate of 41% and the highest here is 113%, and of the 57 with a full year behind them, 42 finished behind the thing they write options on once the cash is counted back in.
A plain covered call fund owns the shares and sells calls against them. A synthetic one holds cash equivalents plus a long call and a short put to reproduce the exposure, then sells calls on top. The premium is real money and it arrives monthly or weekly, which is what the headline rate describes.
A distribution rate is not a return. It annualizes the latest payment against the current price, so a fund whose price has fallen shows a higher rate for that reason alone, and a payment can be made out of the fund’s own assets. What a holder ended up with is total return: the cash plus whatever the price did. Both are on every fund page here, next to what the fund writes on.
The structure caps the upside by design. In a quarter when the underlying runs, the calls are exercised against the fund and the holder keeps the premium instead of the move. That is the trade being made, and it is a reasonable one to want. It is only not the same trade as owning the stock.
On ETFIQ today
| Ticker | Fund | Distribution rate | Cash paid, 1Y | Total return, 1Y | Writes on | Against it | Pays |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRCO | YieldMax(R) CRCL Option Income Str | 112.6% | too new | too new | CRCL | too new | weekly |
| MSTY | YieldMax(R) MSTR Option Income Str | 110.5% | 35.1% | −54.4% | MSTR | +5.5 pts | weekly |
| HOOY | YieldMax(R) HOOD Option Income Str | 110.0% | 51.1% | −8.2% | HOOD | −3.8 pts | weekly |
| MRNY | YieldMax(R) MRNA Option Income Str | 102.3% | 89.5% | +330.3% | MRNA | −136.8 pts | weekly |
| SMCY | YieldMax(R) SMCI Option Income Str | 100.5% | 48.5% | −14.1% | SMCI | −5.3 pts | weekly |
| RTYY | GraniteShares YieldBOOST RIOT ETF | 96.3% | too new | too new | RIOT | too new | weekly |
| MAAY | GraniteShares YieldBOOST MARA ETF | 95.0% | too new | too new | MARA | too new | weekly |
| CONY | YieldMax(R) COIN Option Income Str | 91.0% | 40.0% | −41.0% | COIN | +4.9 pts | weekly |
| CRY | GraniteShares YieldBOOST CRCL ETF | 87.8% | too new | too new | CRCL | too new | weekly |
| RGYY | GraniteShares YieldBOOST RGTI ETF | 84.0% | too new | too new | RGTI | too new | weekly |
| MARO | YieldMax(R) MARA Option Income Str | 83.1% | 44.8% | −39.0% | MARA | −15.2 pts | weekly |
| CWY | GraniteShares YieldBOOST CRWV ETF | 79.7% | too new | too new | CRWV | too new | weekly |
| HMYY | GraniteShares YieldBOOST HIMS ETF | 79.6% | too new | too new | HIMS | too new | weekly |
| YBIT | YieldMax(R) Bitcoin Option Income | 79.0% | 31.4% | −29.8% | IBIT | +2.9 pts | weekly |
| RBLY | YieldMax(R) RBLX Option Income Str | 79.0% | 30.4% | −64.0% | RBLX | +1.8 pts | weekly |
| HOYY | GraniteShares YieldBOOST HOOD ETF | 77.6% | too new | too new | HOOD | too new | weekly |
| HIYY | YieldMax(R) HIMS Option Income Str | 77.1% | too new | too new | HIMS | too new | weekly |
| AIYY | YieldMax(R) AI Option Income Strat | 75.8% | 38.4% | −41.3% | AI | −5.6 pts | weekly |
| QBY | GraniteShares YieldBOOST QBTS ETF | 75.1% | too new | too new | QBTS | too new | weekly |
| IOYY | GraniteShares YieldBOOST IONQ ETF | 74.6% | too new | too new | IONQ | too new | weekly |
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Where these figures came from
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Cite this page. ETFIQ, What is a synthetic covered call ETF?, data as of Sep 11, 2026. https://etfiq.com/questions/what-is-a-synthetic-covered-call-etf Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.