BALI vs XISE: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

iShares U.S. Large Cap Premium Income Active ETF

BALIACboe

FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer & Premium Income ETF - September

XISECCboe

Overlap

0.0%by weight

Expense ratio

BALI −0.50pt a year

BALI0.35%XISE0.85%

Avg volume · 30D

BALI 53.9×the volume

BALI337KXISE6.26K

3Y return · a year

BALI +14.3pt

BALI+21.2%XISE+6.9%

BALI vs XISE Performance

Oct 31, 2025 – Oct 30, 2026

+15.6%BALI+6.2%XISE

Expense ratio: BALI 0.35%, better; XISE 0.85%
Fund size: BALI $1.54B; XISE $33M
1Y total return: BALI +15.6%, better; XISE +6.2%
Yield (12M): BALI 7.84%, better; XISE 6.00%
Holdings: BALI 193; XISE 14
Avg volume (30D): BALI 337K sh, better; XISE 6.26K sh
NAV per share: BALI $34.08; XISE $30.41
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for BALI, XISE, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	BALI	XISE
Cost30% weight	A77Higher	D25
Mission25% weight	A100Higher	D39
Risk15% weight	B56	A72Higher
Tradability15% weight	A83Higher	C42
Holdings10% weight	A83Higher	C40
Durability5% weight	A85Higher	B55

Rank among S&P 500 Option Income funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. BALI and XISE are both graded against the same 51 S&P 500 Option Income funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

S&P 500 Option Income⁠

Category · 51 funds

See all 51 ›

BALI ranks 2nd and XISE 39th of 51 funds in the S&P 500 Option Income Category.

Rank 1ACSHINeos Enhanced Income Cash Alternative ETFScore 83
Rank 2ABALIiShares U.S. Large Cap Premium Income Active ETFScore 81
Rank 3AIVVWiShares S&P 500 BuyWrite ETFScore 80
Rank 39CSPYCSimplify US Equity PLUS Convexity ETFScore 41
Rank 39CXISEFT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer & Premium Income ETF - SeptemberScore 41
Rank 42CKSPYKraneShares Hedgeye Hedged Equity Index ETFScore 40

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

BALIAiShares U.S. Large Cap Premium Income Active ETF

XISECFT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer & Premium Income ETF - September

In short

BALI BlackRock's active answer to the covered-call crowd: roughly 200 hand-picked U.S. large caps, calls written on the S&P 500 itself rather than single stocks, monthly payouts, at well under the typical fee in its peer group.

XISE A buffered S&P 500 fund that swaps the rally for a paycheck: XISE targets a stated income rate for the year and cushions the first 10% of the underlying ETF's losses, with the terms reset every September.

Stated mandate

BALI BALI seeks consistent income with lower volatility than the broader U.S. equity market. It primarily holds U.S. large-cap equities, sells calls on a large-cap equity index, and uses related index futures to pursue premium income and capital appreciation.

XISE The Fund seeks to provide approximately 6.88% annualized income before fees and expenses while buffering the first 10% of losses of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust during the current target outcome period. It uses FLEX Options and short-term U.S. Treasury securities.

Why people hold it

BALI 0.35% a year against a 0.60% median for S&P 500 option-income funds, and below what XYLD (0.60%) or SPYI (0.68%) charge for similar work.
Actively run, not a mechanical buy-write: about 200 large caps picked by the manager, index calls sold on top, index futures used alongside.ishares.com
Pays monthly, and the mandate chases capital appreciation as well as premium, so the stock sleeve is not just collateral for the options.
Does what its documents say it does, and stands among the stronger implementations in the S&P 500 option-income group.

XISE The 10% buffer is contractual, not a manager's judgment call. FLEX options lock it in at the start of each one-year outcome period beginning in September.ftportfolios.com
Income is the whole point: the fund publishes a target annualized income level for each outcome period and distributes monthly.ftportfolios.com
September is just the start month. First Trust runs sibling buffer-and-income funds dated to other months, so the calendar entry point is a choice, not a constraint.businesswire.com businesswire.com 2 businesswire.com 3

Worth knowing

BALI Selling index calls swaps part of a big rally for premium. The design targets lower volatility than the broad market, not maximum upside.
Distributions can include return of capital, meaning part of a payout may be your own money coming back rather than fund earnings.ishares.com
Launched in 2023, so the track record is short, and it trades at moderate volume rather than with the tightest spreads in the category.

XISE The 0.85% fee sits above the 0.60% median for S&P 500 options-income funds, and well above cheaper peers such as IVVW (0.25%) and GPIX (0.35%).
One of the smaller, thinly traded names in its group, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than at the category's heavyweights.
Upside is surrendered by design, and the stated buffer and income terms apply to a full outcome period. Buying mid-period means different math than the headline numbers.businesswire.com ftportfolios.com

Full BALI profile⁠

Full XISE profile⁠

BALI vs XISE Holdings

How BALI and XISE differ

Overlap by weight

0.0%

Shared holdings make up 0.0% of BALI and 0.0% of XISE.

Level by level

Holdings0 in both0.0%
Sector11 Sectors93.1%
Countryby domicile99.4%

Sector

Sector weights in BALI and XISE, widest gap first
Sector	More in BALIMore in XISE	BALI	XISE
Technology	XISE +3.1 points	37.0%	40.1%
Health Care	BALI +1.9 points	11.3%	9.4%
Communication	XISE +1.9 points	8.0%	9.9%
Consumer Staples	BALI +1.9 points	6.3%	4.4%
Energy	BALI +1.8 points	5.2%	3.4%
Real Estate	XISE +1.0 points	0.7%	1.7%
Financials	XISE +0.8 points	10.5%	11.3%
Utilities	BALI +0.7 points	2.6%	1.9%
Industrials	BALI +0.7 points	8.3%	7.6%
Materials	XISE +0.1 points	1.5%	1.6%
Consumer Discretionary	Same weight	8.7%	8.7%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in BALI and XISE, widest gap first
Country	More in BALIMore in XISE	BALI	XISE
United States	XISE +0.1 points	99.4%	99.5%
Netherlands	BALI +0.4 points	0.4%	0.0%
Switzerland	XISE +0.3 points	0.0%	0.3%
United Kingdom	BALI +0.2 points	0.2%	0.0%
China	XISE +0.1 points	0.0%	0.1%
Brazil	BALI +0.1 points	0.1%	0.0%
Mexico	XISE +0.1 points	0.0%	0.1%
Ireland	Same weight	0.0%	0.0%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

BALI35.0%
XISE108.6%

Securities held

BALI190
XISE13

Asset class

BALI: Equity
XISE: Multi-Asset

Holdings

Only in BALI190
In both0
Only in XISE13

Only in BALI

190 securities, 96.1% of BALI by weight

NVIDIA6.82%
Apple6.35%
Microsoft5.41%
Amazon.com Inc3.16%
Broadcom Inc2.07%
Alphabet Class A2.06%
Exxonmobil Holdings Corp2.01%
Alphabet Class C1.93%
Chevron1.87%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B1.81%
Costco Wholesale Corp1.75%
Procter & Gamble1.63%
Visa Class A1.62%
Meta Platforms Class A1.60%
Eli Lilly1.37%
Micron Technology1.32%
Pfizer1.29%
United Parcel Service Inc Class B1.24%
Tjx1.24%
Advanced Micro Devices1.23%
JPMorgan Chase & Co1.17%
UnitedHealth Group1.07%
Lockheed Martin1.00%
Merck & Co Inc0.97%
Cisco Systems Inc0.96%
Abbott Laboratories0.95%
Verizon Communications Inc0.93%
Wec Energy Group0.88%
Gilead Sciences0.87%
Applied Material Inc0.82%
AbbVie0.81%
Tesla Inc0.79%
Cardinal Health0.75%
Lam Research0.75%
Bank of America0.75%
Caterpillar Inc0.73%
Phillips 660.69%
Pepsico0.68%
Ametek Inc0.68%
Airbnb Class A0.65%
3M0.61%
Vulcan Materials0.60%
Texas Instrument0.59%
Valero Energy Corp0.57%
Amgen Inc0.56%
Nextera Energy0.55%
Citizens Financial Group Inc0.54%
Medtronic PLC0.53%
Oreilly Automotive Inc0.53%
International Business Machines Co0.51%

Only in XISE

13 securities, 100% of XISE by weight

2027-09-17 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust C 0.0897.94%
2027-09-17 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust P 761.615.15%
U.S. Treasury Bill, 0%, due 12/01/20260.55%
U.S. Treasury Bill, 0%, due 12/31/20260.55%
U.S. Treasury Bill, 0%, due 01/28/20270.55%
U.S. Treasury Bill, 0%, due 02/25/20270.55%
U.S. Treasury Bill, 0%, due 03/18/20270.54%
U.S. Treasury Bill, 0%, due 04/15/20270.54%
U.S. Treasury Bill, 0%, due 05/13/20270.54%
U.S. Treasury Bill, 0%, due 06/10/20270.54%
U.S. Treasury Bill, 0%, due 07/08/20270.54%
U.S. Treasury Bill, 0%, due 08/05/20270.53%
U.S. Treasury Bill, 0%, due 09/02/20270.53%

Weight gaps

BALI and XISE share no securities.

All 190 BALI holdings⁠All 15 XISE holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

BALI vs XISE Cost

Overpaying XISE vs BALI

$9,073

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

BALI 0.35%
$7,126
XISE 0.85%
$16,199

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

BALI 0.35%
XISE 0.85%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	BALI	XISE	Overpaying
10	$634	$1,508	$874
20	$2,454	$5,706	$3,252
30	$7,126	$16,199	$9,073

Expense ratio

0.35%BALI, cheaper
0.85%XISE

BALI0.35%XISE0.85%

0.10%1.18%

Middle half of S&P 500 Option Income funds
Median 0.60%

BALI 11th cheapest of 51 funds

XISE 38th cheapest of 51 funds

BALI vs XISE Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): BALI 7.84%, better; XISE 6.00%
Payout (12M): BALI $2.67; XISE $1.82
Last payment: BALI $0.18; XISE $0.15
Ex-dividend: BALI Oct 1, 2026; XISE Sep 18, 2026
Paid on: BALI Oct 6, 2026; XISE Sep 21, 2026
Frequency: BALI Monthly; XISE Irregular

Distribution history

Per share, 2023 to 2026, same scale for both

BALIMonthly · 36 paymentsAll BALI payments⁠

XISEIrregular · 36 paymentsAll XISE payments⁠

BALI vs XISE Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

This chart needs five years of history for both funds.

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: BALI 10.2%XISE 2.2%, better
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: BALI 1.52, betterXISE 1.04
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: BALI −16.6%since Sep 2023XISE −6.2%since Sep 2023
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: BALI 0.79XISE 0.14; Market = 1

BALI and XISE in the news

All news⁠

Income Watch
BlackRock estimates 86% of the iShares Nasdaq Premium Income Active ETF's October check was return of capital
Oct 11, 2026BALI

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