IVVW vs TPAY

IVVWAiShares S&P 500 BuyWrite ETF

TPAYCRoundhill S&P 500 Target 10 Managed Distribution 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.

TPAY Most S&P 500 income funds pay out whatever the options market hands them. TPAY works backwards: set the number first (a 10% annualized distribution rate, paid monthly), then run the S&P 500 sleeve to fund it.

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.

TPAY The Fund seeks exposure to the return of the S&P 500® Index while pursuing tax-efficient monthly distributions.

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.

• TPAY The payout is a stated formula, not a leftover: a 10% annualized distribution rate on a monthly schedule, written into the fund's own income policy.roundhillinvestments.com
• Fee of 0.49% a year, below the median for S&P 500 options-income funds.
• Actively managed around roughly 60 US positions rather than a fixed buy-write recipe, aiming at S&P 500 return plus tax-aware monthly cash.
• The tax angle is the point: the fund is built to make distributions tax-efficient, not just large.roundhillinvestments.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.

• TPAY A target rate is a payment schedule, not a return engine. When the portfolio earns less than it pays, the distribution comes partly out of the fund's own capital.
• The fund discloses that payouts can include return of capital, which trims your cost basis instead of arriving as income. Your year-end tax form is the real scorecard.
• A 2026 launch in a crowded cohort: small and thinly traded so far, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads than the category's giants.

Full IVVW profile⁠

Full TPAY profile⁠