CANQ vs JEPQ

CANQCCalamos Nasdaq Equity & Income ETF

JEPQAJPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF

In short

CANQ Most Nasdaq-100 income ETFs sell calls and cap your upside. CANQ flips it: about 90% in an actively managed bond portfolio, about 10% in long calls on the index's biggest names. Uncapped participation, monthly income funded by bonds.

JEPQ Most Nasdaq income funds bolt call options onto the index and call it a day. JEPQ picks its own roughly 110 US large-cap stocks, then writes out-of-the-money Nasdaq-100 calls on top, aiming for monthly income with less volatility than the index itself.

Stated mandate

CANQ Seeks Nasdaq-100 upside through FLEX options while using an actively managed fixed-income portfolio to mitigate downside risk and provide monthly income.

JEPQ The fund seeks current income while preserving potential for capital appreciation. It combines a data-science-driven portfolio of U.S. large-cap stocks with written out-of-the-money Nasdaq-100 Index call options and seeks lower volatility than the Nasdaq-100 Index.

Why people hold it

• CANQ Inverts the covered-call playbook. It buys calls rather than selling them, so upside participation in the Nasdaq-100 is uncapped by design.calamos.com
• The income engine is an actively managed multi-sector bond portfolio, not option premium, and the fund pays monthly.calamos.com
• Built to behave like a convertible bond: a fixed-income base plus cash-settled FLEX call options cleared by the Options Clearing Corporation.sec.gov
• Live since 2024 from Calamos, the house that built its name on pairing bonds with equity options.

• JEPQ Charges 0.35% a year, roughly half the typical fee among Nasdaq options-income funds and well under QYLD's 0.60%.
• Income is manufactured by writing out-of-the-money Nasdaq-100 calls and paid out monthly, rather than harvested from high-dividend stocks.jpmorgan.com
• One of the largest and most heavily traded funds in the Nasdaq options-income group, which generally means tight spreads and easy entry and exit.
• The calls are struck out of the money, so the mandate keeps room for capital appreciation in the stock sleeve alongside the payout.jpmorgan.com

Worth knowing

• CANQ At 0.94%, it runs above the category median fee. GPIQ charges 0.29% net of a waiver through April 30, 2027, and JEPQ 0.35%.
• The bond sleeve softens drawdowns rather than setting a defined floor, so a Nasdaq selloff still lands, just lighter than on the index itself.sec.gov
• Monthly payouts can include return of capital, disclosed in Calamos 19a notices. It is also a small, lightly traded fund, so limit orders earn their keep.calamos.com

• JEPQ The overlay clips the top off big Nasdaq rallies: premium comes in, but stock gains above the call strikes go to the option buyer.jpmorgan.com
• Monthly payouts float with option premiums, which move with market volatility. This is variable income, not a fixed coupon.
• About 110 US large-cap holdings paired with a Nasdaq-100 overlay: concentrated, tech-leaning exposure rather than a broad-market portfolio.jpmorgan.com

Full CANQ profile⁠

Full JEPQ profile⁠