{"url":"https://etfiq.com/questions/what-is-a-synthetic-covered-call-etf","section":"questions","title":"What is a synthetic covered call ETF? | ETFIQ","description":"A fund that sells call options on something it does not own, holding Treasuries and options to stand in for the shares. ETFIQ measures 91 of them.","as_of":"Oct 28, 2026","structured_data":[{"@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is a synthetic covered call ETF?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A fund that sells call options on something it does not own, holding Treasuries and options to stand in for the shares. ETFIQ measures 91 of them. The typical one advertises a distribution rate of 40% and the highest here is 113%, and of the 63 with a full year behind them, 38 finished behind their benchmark once the cash is counted back in."}}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ETFIQ","item":"https://etfiq.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Questions","item":"https://etfiq.com/questions/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"What is a synthetic covered call ETF?","item":"https://etfiq.com/questions/what-is-a-synthetic-covered-call-etf"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"What is a synthetic covered call ETF?","description":"A fund that sells call options on something it does not own, holding Treasuries and options to stand in for the shares. ETFIQ measures 91 of them.","url":"https://etfiq.com/questions/what-is-a-synthetic-covered-call-etf","dateModified":"2026-10-28","isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".lede"]},"publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"}}],"characters":4383,"truncated":false,"content":"ETFIQ / Questions / What is a synthetic covered call ETF? \n \n Answered from ETFIQ data as of Oct 28, 2026 .\n What is a synthetic covered call ETF?\n A fund that sells call options on something it does not own, holding Treasuries and options to stand in for the shares. ETFIQ measures 91 of them. The typical one advertises a distribution rate of 40% and the highest here is 113%, and of the 63 with a full year behind them, 38 finished behind their benchmark once the cash is counted back in.\n 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. It arrives monthly or weekly, and the headline rate describes it.\n 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. A payment can also come out of the fund\u2019s 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.\n 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. It is not the same trade as owning the stock.\n On ETFIQ today\n Ticker Fund Distribution rate Cash paid, 1Y Total return, 1Y Writes on Against it Pays \n MRNY YieldMax MRNA Option Income Strate 113.0% 115.6% +498.7% MRNA \u2212246.1 pts weekly \n MAAY GraniteShares YieldBOOST MARA ETF 95.6% too new too new MARA too new weekly \n RTYY GraniteShares YieldBOOST RIOT ETF 92.3% too new too new RIOT too new weekly \n CRY GraniteShares YieldBOOST CRCL ETF 87.1% too new too new CRCL too new weekly \n CWY GraniteShares YieldBOOST CRWV ETF 82.2% too new too new CRWV too new weekly \n GMEY YieldMax GME Option Income Strateg 80.4% 37.4% \u221218.9% GME \u221219.0 pts weekly \n HOYY GraniteShares YieldBOOST HOOD ETF 79.7% 44.9% \u221248.6% HOOD \u221211.1 pts weekly \n HMYY GraniteShares YieldBOOST HIMS ETF 77.6% too new too new HIMS too new weekly \n CRCO YieldMax CRCL Option Income Strate 74.5% 40.9% \u221234.0% CRCL +6.0 pts weekly \n QBY GraniteShares YieldBOOST QBTS ETF 74.3% too new too new QBTS too new weekly \n SMYY GraniteShares YieldBOOST SMCI ETF 72.4% 50.3% \u221229.5% SMCI +2.1 pts weekly \n RDYY YieldMax RDDT Option Income Strate 69.2% 46.0% \u221231.9% RDDT +4.9 pts weekly \n COYY GraniteShares YieldBOOST COIN ETF 69.1% 42.5% \u221257.0% COIN \u22122.7 pts weekly \n RGYY GraniteShares YieldBOOST RGTI ETF 68.4% too new too new RGTI too new weekly \n AMYY GraniteShares YieldBOOST AMD ETF 67.7% 58.3% +14.1% AMD \u2212110.1 pts weekly \n MARO YieldMax MARA Option Income Strate 66.6% 35.3% \u221264.3% MARA \u22123.2 pts weekly \n HIYY YieldMax HIMS Option Income Strate 66.1% 38.8% \u221232.6% HIMS +5.2 pts weekly \n IOYY GraniteShares YieldBOOST IONQ ETF 65.7% too new too new IONQ too new weekly \n SEMY GraniteShares YieldBOOST Semicondu 65.7% too new too new SOXX too new weekly \n HOOY YieldMax HOOD Option Income Strate 62.1% 38.7% \u221233.5% HOOD +4.0 pts weekly \n \n Where to next\n What return of capital means The largest synthetic covered call ETFs Sources\n Rule 19a-1 distribution notices and prospectus filings on SEC EDGAR SEC EDGAR, full-text search of fund filings SEC Form N-PORT, what a fund filed it holds Rule 19a-1, what a distribution notice must say Links are sources, not endorsements.\n ETFIQ is an independent publisher and makes no recommendations. Standards and sources \n Cite this page. ETFIQ, What is a synthetic covered call ETF?, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/questions/what-is-a-synthetic-covered-call-etf Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms. The underlying files are at Open data .\n Other forms Plain ETFIQ, What is a synthetic covered call ETF?, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/questions/what-is-a-synthetic-covered-call-etf APA ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). What is a synthetic covered call ETF?. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/questions/what-is-a-synthetic-covered-call-etf Markdown [What is a synthetic covered call ETF? (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/questions/what-is-a-synthetic-covered-call-etf)","source":"ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","license_text":"Data ETFIQ computes is free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.","citation":"ETFIQ, What is a synthetic covered call ETF?, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/questions/what-is-a-synthetic-covered-call-etf"}