IVVW vs YSPY

IVVWAiShares S&P 500 BuyWrite ETF

YSPYDGraniteShares YieldBOOST SPY 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.

YSPY Most S&P 500 income funds sell calls on stocks they own. YSPY sells puts on the 3x SPY ETF instead, aiming for triple the option premium, at 1.15% net of a waiver through December 31, 2026.

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.

YSPY The fund seeks to generate income through an options strategy, primarily by selling put options on leveraged ETFs that track the 3x Long SPY Daily ETF.

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.

• YSPY Aims for 3x the income of a plain SPY options-writing strategy by selling puts on ETFs that track 3x daily SPY, where bigger swings mean bigger premiums. Pays monthly.graniteshares.com
• Not a buy-write. Where IVVW and GPIX sell calls against an S&P 500 basket, YSPY writes puts on a leveraged proxy: a different engine aimed at the same income job.graniteshares.com
• Short-dated options cycles feed monthly distributions, so the payout rhythm stays regular even as the dollar amount moves with volatility and strike levels.graniteshares.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.

• YSPY Not cheap: 1.15% net of a waiver through December 31, 2026, against 5.88% gross, and above the category median. IVVW runs 0.25%, GPIX 0.29% net of a waiver through April 30, 2027.
• Short puts cut both ways: the fund takes the leveraged ETF's declines, while its secondary upside exposure is capped at preset strike levels.graniteshares.comgraniteshares.com 2
• A 2025 launch, still small and lightly traded, which can mean wider spreads than the household names in the S&P 500 income category.

Full IVVW profile⁠

Full YSPY profile⁠