FTHI vs GPIX

FTHIBFirst Trust BuyWrite Income ETF

GPIXAGoldman Sachs S&P 500 Premium Income ETF

In short

FTHI One 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.

GPIX Most option-income funds sell the whole rally for yield. GPIX is written to ask for both: current income and preserved prospects for capital appreciation, on a roughly 500-stock S&P 500 core, at 0.35%, paid monthly.

Stated mandate

FTHI 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.

GPIX The Fund seeks current income while preserving prospects for capital appreciation. It invests primarily in benchmark-related stocks and sells call options providing exposure to the benchmark to generate premium income.

Why people hold it

• FTHI 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.

• GPIX The mandate is income without giving up on growth: hold benchmark stocks, sell calls tied to the S&P 500 for premium, and keep prospects for capital appreciation.
• The 0.35% fee sits below the typical charge among S&P 500 option-income peers, including older buy-write names like XYLD.
• Roughly 500 stocks underneath and cash out the door monthly, so the equity engine is the index itself rather than a synthetic stand-in.
• A multi-billion-dollar, actively traded fund launched in 2023, and one of the tighter implementations of this strategy in its peer group.

Worth knowing

• FTHI 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

• GPIX Premium income comes from selling upside. Where calls are written, gains are capped, so a fast melt-up in the S&P 500 leaves some return on the table.
• Distributions can include return of capital, meaning part of a payout may be your own money coming back. The fund's tax disclosures show the split.
• This is an equity fund, not a hedge. Option premium softens the ride; it does not put a floor under a market drop.

Full FTHI profile⁠

Full GPIX profile⁠