First Trust Nasdaq BuyWrite Income ETF
$22.46−0.01 (−0.07%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.75%
- Fund size
- $985M
- 1Y return
- +21.6%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 11.00%
- Holdings
- 178
- Volume · 30D
- 0.3M sh
- NAV per share
- $22.49
- 52W range
The ETF.net FTQI Grade
Score 72 of 100 sits in the A 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.CScore 42Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.AScore 99Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.AScore 74Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.BScore 69Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.AScore 90Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.AScore 90Category rank
Our read on FTQI
AMost Nasdaq-100 income funds sell calls on everything, all the time. FTQI works a dial: a hand-picked stock basket with index calls written on 50% to 100% of assets, so managers choose how much upside gets sold. Running since 2014, pays monthly.
The fund seeks current income by investing primarily in U.S.-listed equities and writing exchange-traded covered calls on the Nasdaq-100 Index to obtain option-premium cash flow.
Why people hold it
- The overlay is adjustable by design. The prospectus sets call notional at 50% to 100% of assets, so coverage can flex rather than run wide open every cycle.sec.gov
- Managers may also buy a higher-strike Nasdaq-100 call against the ones they sell, a spread built to keep some index upside above the short strike.sec.gov
- The equity sleeve is actively chosen (roughly 230 US-listed stocks) instead of a straight index clone, with the option premium paid out monthly.ftportfolios.com
- Trading since 2014, it predates most of the Nasdaq-100 premium-income wave and stands in the upper tier of a now-crowded peer group.
Worth knowing
- At 0.75%, it prices above the category median, and Nasdaq-100 income rivals such as QQA, GPIQ and JEPQ sit meaningfully lower.
- The Nasdaq mandate dates to a 2022 rename. Before that it ran a hedged S&P 500 buywrite, so the longest stretch of its record reflects a different strategy.cbonds.com
- Selling index calls trades away part of a Nasdaq rally for premium, and the monthly payout can include return of capital, which reduces your cost basis.sec.gov
FTQI Holdings
- Stocks
- 178
- 44%
- AAPL
Sectors
- Technology46.2%
- Consumer Discr.12.0%
- Health Care8.6%
- Communication8.1%
- Cons. Staples7.5%
- Financials5.8%
- Industrials5.4%
- Energy2.7%
- Utilities1.4%
- Materials1.2%
- Real Estate1.1%
Geography
- United States96.92%
- United Kingdom0.63%
- Netherlands0.54%
- Ireland0.36%
- Israel0.31%
- France0.30%
- Bermuda0.25%
- Denmark0.25%
- 0.43%
FTQI 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 | FTQI |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +16.8% |
| 1 month | +2.5% |
| 3 months | +4.5% |
| 1 year | +21.6% |
| 3 years | +18.9% |
| 5 years | +12.6% |
| 10 years | +8.3% |
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 | FTQI |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +16.8% | |
| 2025 | +12.7% | |
| 2024 | +18.3% | |
| 2023 | +23.6% | |
| 2022 | −8.8% | |
| 2021 | +10.5% | |
| 2020 | −6.6% |
FTQI in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on FTQI yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
FTQI Dividends
- 11.00%
- $2.47
- $0.22 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 2026 | Aug 31, 2026 | $0.22 |
| Jul 21, 2026 | Jul 31, 2026 | $0.22 |
| Jun 25, 2026 | Jun 30, 2026 | $0.20 |
| May 21, 2026 | May 29, 2026 | $0.20 |
| Apr 21, 2026 | Apr 30, 2026 | $0.20 |
| Mar 26, 2026 | Mar 31, 2026 | $0.21 |
| Feb 20, 2026 | Feb 27, 2026 | $0.21 |
| Jan 21, 2026 | Jan 30, 2026 | $0.21 |
| Dec 12, 2025 | Dec 31, 2025 | $0.21 |
| Nov 21, 2025 | Nov 28, 2025 | $0.21 |
| Oct 21, 2025 | Oct 31, 2025 | $0.21 |
| Sep 25, 2025 | Sep 30, 2025 | $0.20 |
FTQI Risk
- 9.4%
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.
- 1.23
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.
- −19.4%
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.
- 0.63
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FTQI Cost
- The middle half of Nasdaq-100 Option Income funds
- Median 0.74%
17 of the 31 Nasdaq-100 Option Income funds charge less.