IVVW vs WTPI

IVVWAiShares S&P 500 BuyWrite ETF

WTPIBWisdomTree Equity Premium Income Fund

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.

WTPI Most S&P 500 income ETFs own the stocks and sell calls. WTPI flips the trade: Treasury collateral plus put options written on the index twice a month, each sized to target a 2.5% premium.

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.

WTPI The fund seeks capital appreciation and current income through a put-writing strategy tied to U.S. large-cap equity exposure. It is designed to provide enhanced income and potentially lower volatility than traditional equity exposure.

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.

• WTPI The put-writer in a room full of covered-call funds. Income comes from selling S&P 500 puts against Treasury collateral, targeting a 2.5% premium per option, not from dividends.sec.govwisdomtree.com
• Trading since 2016 as the WisdomTree PutWrite Strategy Fund before its 2025 rename, it predates most of the option-income boom and has run through several volatility spikes.nasdaq.com
• 0.44% a year undercuts the typical fund in its S&P 500 options-income group, and distributions land monthly.wisdomtree.com
• It hews closely to its index, and among dozens of S&P 500 option-income funds it sits in the upper half of the pack.

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.

• WTPI The math is asymmetric by design: gains are capped at the premiums collected, while a written put can lose value down toward its strike if the market drops.businesswire.comsec.gov
• No stocks under the hood, so no underlying dividends, and WisdomTree flags that the strategy may distribute more capital gains than a typical ETF.businesswire.comsec.gov
• Cheaper than the peer median, not the cheapest on the shelf: IVVW runs 0.25%, RSPA 0.32%, BALI and GPIX 0.35%.

Full IVVW profile⁠

Full WTPI profile⁠