First Trust BuyWrite Income ETF
$23.84−0.07 (−0.31%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.75%
- Fund size
- $2.5B
- 1Y return
- +9.3%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 8.81%
- Holdings
- 192
- Volume · 30D
- 0.7M sh
- NAV per share
- $23.95
- 52W range
The ETF.net FTHI Grade
Score 62 of 100 sits in the B band. Bands: A ≥ 70, B ≥ 55, C ≥ 40, D ≥ 25, F < 25; the scale skips E.
Cost
What you pay to own it — the expense ratio plus trading frictions, ranked within its category.DScore 35Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.AScore 82Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.CScore 46Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.AScore 78Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.AScore 84Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.AScore 95Category rank
Our read on FTHI
BOne of the original covered call income ETFs (2014): an actively picked US stock portfolio with S&P 500 calls sold over the top on 25% to 75% of the fund, so part of the upside stays unsold. Pays monthly.
The Fund seeks current income and, secondarily, capital appreciation. It invests in U.S.-listed equities across market capitalizations and writes covered call options on the S&P 500 Index to generate additional cash flow.
Why people hold it
- The overlay is a dial, not a switch. The prospectus sets call notional generally between 25% and 75% of the fund, so managers can sell less premium and leave more equity upside open.sec.gov
- Underneath the options sits a real stock portfolio, roughly 190 US-listed names across market caps chosen by the manager, not a copy of the index it writes calls on.ftportfolios.com
- Calls are laddered across expirations under one year, struck at-the-money to slightly out-of-the-money, and premiums feed a monthly distribution.sec.gov
- Live since January 2014, well before the derivative income boom, and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively. One of the stronger builds in a crowded S&P 500 income group.
Worth knowing
- At 0.75% a year it sits above the 0.60% typical for its peer group, and index-rules rivals like IVVW (0.25%) and GPIX (0.35%) charge far less for S&P 500 call income.
- The calls are on the S&P 500 while the stock sleeve is its own selection, so the two can drift apart. The prospectus notes those index calls are technically uncovered.sec.gov
- Selling calls trades away part of a rally for cash today, and the filings flag active trading that can push portfolio turnover past 100% a year.sec.gov
FTHI Holdings
- Stocks
- 192
- 38%
- AAPL
Sectors
- Technology31.9%
- Financials12.5%
- Industrials10.5%
- Health Care9.0%
- Cons. Staples8.5%
- Communication8.3%
- Consumer Discr.6.6%
- Energy5.8%
- Materials2.7%
- Utilities2.5%
- Real Estate1.8%
Geography
- United States88.44%
- Netherlands3.39%
- United Kingdom3.02%
- Canada1.36%
- Switzerland1.12%
- Brazil0.38%
- Bermuda0.28%
- Taiwan0.28%
- 1.72%
FTHI Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Returns run to the Sep 22, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | FTHI |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +7.5% |
| 1 month | +0.4% |
| 3 months | +1.7% |
| 1 year | +9.3% |
| 3 years | +14.8% |
| 5 years | +11.2% |
| 10 years | +8.4% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | FTHI |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +7.5% | |
| 2025 | +11.0% | |
| 2024 | +19.0% | |
| 2023 | +20.7% | |
| 2022 | −4.4% | |
| 2021 | +13.9% | |
| 2020 | −7.2% |
FTHI in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on FTHI yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
FTHI Dividends
- 8.81%
- $2.11
- $0.18 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 2026 | Aug 31, 2026 | $0.18 |
| Jul 21, 2026 | Jul 31, 2026 | $0.18 |
| Jun 25, 2026 | Jun 30, 2026 | $0.17 |
| May 21, 2026 | May 29, 2026 | $0.17 |
| Apr 21, 2026 | Apr 30, 2026 | $0.17 |
| Mar 26, 2026 | Mar 31, 2026 | $0.18 |
| Feb 20, 2026 | Feb 27, 2026 | $0.18 |
| Jan 21, 2026 | Jan 30, 2026 | $0.18 |
| Dec 12, 2025 | Dec 31, 2025 | $0.18 |
| Nov 21, 2025 | Nov 28, 2025 | $0.18 |
| Oct 21, 2025 | Oct 31, 2025 | $0.18 |
| Sep 25, 2025 | Sep 30, 2025 | $0.17 |
FTHI Risk
- 7.7%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 1.13
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −16.7%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.56
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FTHI Cost
- The middle half of S&P 500 Option Income funds
- Median 0.60%
31 of the 51 S&P 500 Option Income funds charge less.