All funds Broad index

Index covered call ETFs in Canada

Index covered call ETFs hold a broad market or a broad dividend basket and write calls on part of it. They are the most diversified kind, with the lowest yields and the shallowest falls.

The main differences are how much of the portfolio is under calls and how far out of the money they are written: more coverage means more income now and less growth later.

On our Income Durability Score, the top 3 are GGEP (65), TUEX (67) and TUED (68), out of 55 funds from 18 providers.

Ranked by score, out of 100. Click a column heading to sort; funds marked “new” are too young to score and always come last. For more filters, use the full fund list.

Ticker ⇅	Fund	Type	Score ▲	Yield ⇅	1-yr return ⇅	Fee ⇅	Worst drop ⇅	Liquidity ⇅
GGEP	Guardian Directed Equity Path ETF	Index	65	4.1%	+2.9%	1.09%	-12.2%	Very low
TUEX	TD Active U.S. Enhanced Dividend CAD Hedged ETF	Index	67	3.0%	+1.7%	0.72%	-10.6%	Very low
TUED	TD Active U.S. Enhanced Dividend ETF	Index	68	2.8%	+4.6%	0.72%	-19.8%	High
GGPY	Guardian Directed Premium Yield ETF	Index	68	7.2%	+5.7%	1.02%	-18.7%	Low
RSCC	Global X Russell 2000 Covered Call ETF	Index	68	13.7%	+13.9%	0.78%	-18.1%	Low
CUDC	CIBC US High Dividend Covered Call ETF	Index	69	7.7%	+2.1%	0.55%	-7.3%	Very low
JEPI	JPMorgan US Equity Premium Income Active ETF	Index	71	6.6%	+5.1%	0.39%	-9.9%	High
PYF	Purpose Premium Yield Fund	Index	71	6.5%	+3.8%	0.72%	-13.8%	Medium
EDGF	Brompton European Dividend Growth ETF	Index	72	7.7%	+1.2%	0.86%	-27.8%	Very low
TGED	TD Active Global Enhanced Dividend ETF	Index	72	3.8%	+5.8%	0.72%	-21.4%	Very high
HVOI	Harvest Low Volatility Canadian Equity Income ETF	Index	73	6.7%	+14.1%	0.89%	-4.3%	Low
ZWA	BMO Covered Call Dow Jones Industrial Average Hedged to CAD ETF	Index	73	6.6%	+5.8%	0.72%	-23.2%	Low
ZWS	BMO US High Dividend Covered Call Hedged to CAD ETF	Index	73	6.7%	+9.6%	0.71%	-27.6%	Low
MPY	Mulvihill Premium Yield Fund	Index	74	8.3%	+6.4%	0.70%	-6.5%	Very low
EACC	Global X MSCI EAFE Covered Call ETF	Index	74	9.4%	+11.5%	0.60%	-5.3%	Very low
BLOV	Brompton North American Low Volatility Dividend ETF	Index	75	4.2%	+12.6%	0.76%	-16.0%	Very low
HHIH	Harvest High Income Equity Shares ETF	Index	75	20.8%	+4.8%	0.99%	-15.9%	Medium
ZWE	BMO Europe High Dividend Covered Call Hedged to CAD ETF	Index	75	6.8%	+7.1%	0.72%	-24.7%	Medium
RUDC	RBC U.S. Dividend Covered Call ETF	Index	75	6.7%	+15.2%	0.73%	-9.6%	Very low
BDIV	Brompton Global Dividend Growth ETF	Index	76	7.0%	+4.1%	0.96%	-22.8%	Very low
ZPH	BMO US Put Write Hedged to CAD ETF	Index	76	10.3%	+8.3%	0.72%	-20.8%	Low
CNCC	Global X S&P/TSX 60 Covered Call ETF	Index	76	6.8%	+14.4%	0.50%	-25.4%	Medium
ZWQT	BMO Global Enhanced Income Fund (ETF Series)	Index	76	5.0%	+15.8%	0.72%	-8.3%	Low
CCDC	CIBC Canadian High Dividend Covered Call ETF	Index	77	7.9%	+16.5%	0.55%	-4.3%	Low
ZWP	BMO Europe High Dividend Covered Call ETF	Index	77	6.6%	+5.1%	0.73%	-18.2%	Medium
PAYF	Purpose Enhanced Premium Yield Fund	Index	77	9.0%	+6.6%	0.94%	-12.6%	Low
ZWH	BMO US High Dividend Covered Call ETF	Index	77	6.3%	+12.0%	0.72%	-21.8%	High
ZPW	BMO US Put Write ETF	Index	78	9.4%	+9.7%	0.72%	-13.5%	Low
ZWG	BMO Global High Dividend Covered Call ETF	Index	78	6.3%	+12.2%	0.72%	-13.8%	Medium
EMCC	Global X MSCI Emerging Markets Covered Call ETF	Index	78	10.7%	+13.5%	0.78%	-9.3%	Medium
EQLI	Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Income Advantage ETF	Index	78	8.8%	+14.3%	0.20%	-10.3%	Medium
HBF	Harvest US Equity Leaders Income ETF	Index	79	8.5%	+6.5%	0.88%	-22.4%	Medium
ZWC	BMO Canadian High Dividend Covered Call ETF	Index	80	6.4%	+17.5%	0.72%	-24.4%	Very high
ESPX	Evolve S&P 500® Enhanced Yield Fund	Index	80	10.7%	+7.8%	0.66%	-9.0%	Low
QQCI	Invesco NASDAQ 100 Income Advantage ETF	Index	80	10.3%	+10.6%	0.21%	-12.5%	Medium
RCDC	RBC Canadian Dividend Covered Call ETF	Index	80	6.8%	+20.3%	0.73%	-8.5%	Low
HLIF	Harvest Canadian Dividend Leaders Income ETF	Index	81	6.6%	+22.8%	0.79%	-10.1%	Medium
ZPAY	BMO Premium Yield ETF	Index	81	7.0%	+11.5%	0.71%	-11.5%	Medium
USCC	Global X S&P 500 Covered Call ETF	Index	82	9.8%	+11.4%	0.47%	-15.8%	Medium
ETSX	Evolve S&P/TSX 60 Enhanced Yield Fund	Index	82	9.2%	+13.4%	0.68%	-7.9%	Low
PDIV	Purpose Enhanced Dividend Fund	Index	82	11.8%	+12.4%	0.79%	-26.0%	Medium
JEPQ	JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income Active ETF	Index	83	12.2%	+6.8%	0.39%	-13.0%	Very high
FEPY	Fidelity Equity Premium Yield ETF	Index	83	9.9%	+12.2%	0.44%	-12.2%	Medium
SMAX	Hamilton U.S. Equity YIELD MAXIMIZER™ ETF	Index	83	11.2%	+13.2%	0.76%	-13.6%	Medium
DXQ	Dynamic Active Enhanced Yield Covered Options ETF	Index	85	8.4%	+6.9%	0.71%	-8.3%	High
QQCC	Global X Nasdaq-100 Covered Call ETF	Index	85	11.8%	+9.9%	0.86%	-26.6%	High
GIDY	Guardian i3 Global Dividend Premium Yield Fund	Index new	n/a	4.6%	–	0.89%	-1.4%	Very low
HPYE	Harvest Premium Yield Enhanced ETF	Index new	n/a	14.1%	–	0.65%	-3.5%	Medium
IMAX	Hamilton International Equity YIELD MAXIMIZER™ ETF	Index new	n/a	10.1%	–	0.65%	-2.3%	Medium
JEPH	JPMorgan US Equity Premium Income Active ETF CAD Hedged	Index new	n/a	7.4%	–	0.35%	-1.8%	Very low
JPQH	JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income Active ETF CAD Hedged	Index new	n/a	13.3%	–	0.35%	-6.2%	Low
MOAT	Moat Active Premium Yield ETF	Index new	n/a	13.5%	–	1.47%	-0.9%	Medium
NICC	NBI SmartData International Equity Covered Call Fund - ETF Series	Index new	n/a	–	–	0.50%	–	Very low
NSUY	NBI SmartData Enhanced Yield U.S. Equity Fund - ETF Series	Index new	n/a	–	–	0.55%	–	Very low
NUCC	NBI SmartData U.S. Equity Covered Call Fund - ETF Series	Index new	n/a	–	–	0.40%	–	n/a

Type

What the fund sells calls on.

The fund owns stocks and sells the right to buy them at a set price. It collects a fee (premium) for that right, which is paid out as income. In exchange, big rises in the stocks are partly given up. A tag such as 1.25x marks leverage; "new" means under 12 months of history, too short to score.

Full definition in the glossary →

Income Durability Score

Out of 100, coloured from red (0) to green (100).

How well the fund has turned its yield into something you could actually keep. It is built from income, capital, risk and cost measures with fixed, published weights.

How we score →

Yield

A year of distributions divided by today's unit price. A high yield is not a high return: if the price falls as much as you were paid, you have gained nothing.

Full definition in the glossary →

Total return

This column is the total return over the last 12 months.

Price change plus all distributions, assuming distributions are reinvested. This is the number that tells you whether the payout was earned.

Full definition in the glossary →

MER

Management expense ratio: the fund's yearly management fee and operating costs as a share of its value, already taken out of returns. Trading costs come on top, as the trading expense ratio (TER) in the fund's ETF Facts; the score's fee measure adds the two.

Full definition in the glossary →

Worst drop (maximum drawdown)

The biggest fall from a high to a later low, in total return, so paying out a distribution does not count as a fall. A fund that fell 30% needs a 43% gain to get back.

Full definition in the glossary →

Liquidity

How easily you can buy or sell without moving the price, rated Very high to Very low by the average dollars traded per day. Thinly traded funds can have wide gaps between the buying and selling price; use limit orders.

Full definition in the glossary →

Volatility

Over the last 36 months.

How much returns bounce around, measured as an annualized standard deviation. Higher means a bumpier ride. It counts rises as well as falls, so the score uses downside deviation instead.

Full definition in the glossary →

Beta

How far the fund tends to move when the S&P 500 moves, over the last 36 months. A beta of 0.7 means it moved about 0.7% for each 1% move in the index.

Full definition in the glossary →

Up and down capture

This column is up capture: the share of its own benchmark's gains the fund took in rising months. The fund's page names the benchmark.

How much of its own benchmark's gains (up) and losses (down) the fund took over the last 36 months. Down capture under 100% means the calls cushioned the falls; leverage pushes both above 100%.

Full definition in the glossary →

Up and down capture

This column is down capture: the share of its own benchmark's losses the fund took in falling months. The fund's page names the benchmark.

How much of its own benchmark's gains (up) and losses (down) the fund took over the last 36 months. Down capture under 100% means the calls cushioned the falls; leverage pushes both above 100%.

Full definition in the glossary →

Total return

This column is the total return per year over the last 3 years.

Price change plus all distributions, assuming distributions are reinvested. This is the number that tells you whether the payout was earned.

Full definition in the glossary →

Return of capital (ROC)

The share of last year's payout classed as return of capital.

A part of the payout that is treated as your own money coming back. It is not taxed right away, but it lowers your cost base, so you may owe more tax when you sell.

Full definition in the glossary →

Rankings are information, not a recommendation to buy or sell any fund. How we score.