IVVW vs SPYT

IVVWAiShares S&P 500 BuyWrite ETF

SPYTCDefiance S&P 500 Target Income ETF

In short

IVVW BlackRock's version of the covered call: hold the whole S&P 500 through the iShares Core fund, sell one-month index calls struck 1% out of the money, pay the premium out monthly. All for a quarter-point fee.

SPYT Most S&P 500 income funds sell a call and stop there. SPYT sells a daily call spread, buying a higher strike back, so above that upper strike it can track index gains again. Stated aim: a 20% annualized payout, paid monthly.

Stated mandate

IVVW The fund seeks to track an index strategy that holds the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF and sells one-month call options primarily on the S&P 500 Index to generate income. The short option position is intended to be offset by the fund’s long position in the underlying ETF.

SPYT The Fund primarily seeks current income and secondarily seeks exposure to the performance of the S&P 500 Index through an actively managed strategy that holds index-tracking ETFs and sells daily credit call spreads.

Why people hold it

• IVVW Costs 0.25% a year against a category median near 0.60%. On an income strategy, that is less of the option premium quietly leaking out the door.
• The calls sit 1% out of the money, so a slice of each month's rally still belongs to shareholders before the cap bites. At-the-money writers give that up.cboe.com
• Rules over hunches: it tracks a Cboe index that pairs a long position in the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF with a short monthly S&P 500 call, rolled on a set schedule.cboe.com
• Inside a crowded covered-call field where fat fees are the norm, this is one of the tighter builds in its peer group.

• SPYT The spread is the whole idea: sell a call at or near the money, buy one at a higher strike, so above that upper strike the fund can participate in index gains again.defianceetfs.comdefianceetfs.com 2
• The income goal is written down, not implied: a 20% annual target paid monthly, and the fund has run the daily credit-spread strategy on its label since launching in 2024.defianceetfs.com
• The equity sleeve is plain vanilla: unaffiliated ETFs that track the S&P 500 do the index work, with the options overlay bolted on top rather than replacing the stocks.defianceetfs.com

Worth knowing

• IVVW Covered calls trade upside for income. Above the strike, the month's gain is capped, and the premium cushions losses rather than blocking them.cboe.com
• Monthly payouts come from option premium, so they move with volatility instead of arriving as a fixed amount.
• Launched in 2024 and moderately traded, so the live record is short and spreads can run wider than the category's biggest names.

• SPYT Fee is 0.92%, above the typical S&P 500 income fund, and well above cheaper peers like IVVW at 0.25%, RSPA at 0.32% and GPIX at 0.35%.
• Distributions can include return of capital, which Defiance discloses. Return of capital hands back your own money and reduces NAV per share rather than adding to it.defianceetfs.com
• Writing near-the-money calls every day trades away index gains inside the spread band, so the payout and the S&P's move are pulling in opposite directions.defianceetfs.com

Full IVVW profile⁠

Full SPYT profile⁠