IVVW vs TPUT

IVVWAiShares S&P 500 BuyWrite ETF

TPUTAT. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Market Opportunities 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.

TPUT Most S&P 500 income ETFs sell calls on stocks they own. This one sells puts instead: premiums up front, equity exposure only if the market falls to the strike. Giroux's Capital Appreciation team runs it for 0.25%.

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.

TPUT The fund seeks current income while retaining the potential for capital appreciation.

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.

• TPUT Writes out-of-the-money put options on the S&P 500 or SPY rather than calls on a stock portfolio, a different income engine from the covered-call funds that fill this cohort.sec.gov
• At 0.25%, it sits in the cheapest tier of S&P 500 options-income ETFs, level with IVVW and materially under XYLD and SPYI.troweprice.com
• Seven T. Rowe Price managers run it, including David Giroux, using the Capital Appreciation strategy's dynamic asset allocation model to time the writing.troweprice.com
• Stated goal is current income while retaining the potential for capital appreciation, with the written puts as the on-ramp into stocks at lower prices.sec.gov

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.

• TPUT Put writing trades away the melt-up: if the index keeps climbing, the fund keeps the premium, not the rally.sec.gov
• If the index settles below the strike, the fund owes the shortfall less the premium collected, the same math as owning at that price.troweprice.com
• A 2026 launch, small and thinly traded so far, which can mean wider spreads. Distributions may include return of capital.

Full IVVW profile⁠

Full TPUT profile⁠