IVVW vs ZHDG

IVVWAiShares S&P 500 BuyWrite ETF

ZHDGDZega Buy & Hedge 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.

ZHDG Most S&P 500 options funds sell calls for income. ZHDG buys them: laddered long calls plus income assets and protective puts, aiming to hold equity-sleeve losses near 8-10% over any 12 months. Costs 0.95%.

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.

ZHDG The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation while mitigating overall market risk.

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.

• ZHDG Builds S&P 500 exposure from long calls and income-producing assets, with put options for protection, targeting 100% notional market exposure without owning the stocks.sec.gov
• The ladder spans at least two expiration rungs across a rolling 12 months, so hedges roll continuously instead of resetting on one fixed annual date like buffer funds.sec.gov
• Upside comes from owning options rather than writing them, so this is not the premium-selling engine behind most funds in the S&P 500 options-income group. Running since 2021.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.

• ZHDG At 0.95% with no waiver, it sits above the category median; peers such as IVVW at 0.25% and GPIX at 0.29% (net of a waiver through April 30, 2027) run far cheaper.
• The hedge has a price: option time decay. The prospectus notes shorter-period losses can exceed the 8-10% target, and the fixed income sleeve can fall at the same time.sec.gov
• A small fund that can trade thinly, and it distributes annually or semiannually rather than monthly like much of the options-income category.

Full IVVW profile⁠

Full ZHDG profile⁠