MRSK vs PEPS

MRSKFToews Agility Shares Managed Risk ETF

PEPSBParametric Equity Plus ETF

In short

MRSK Most options-income funds just sell calls on stocks. MRSK runs two engines: S&P 500 exposure plus options on one side, Treasuries and Treasury futures on the other, chasing income and growth while trying to limit the damage.

PEPS Active management at index-fund pricing. PEPS holds a U.S. large-cap base, then writes S&P 500 calls against offsetting long exposure: a beta-neutral overlay built to add return rather than swap upside for income.

Stated mandate

MRSK The Fund seeks income and long-term capital growth while limiting risk. It combines an equity-market strategy using S&P 500 exposure and options with a fixed-income strategy using U.S. Treasury securities and related futures.

PEPS The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. It is actively managed, using a U.S. large-cap equity base and beta-neutral call overwriting on the S&P 500 with offsetting long exposure to seek incremental total return.

Why people hold it

• MRSK Two sleeves, one ticker: an S&P 500 equity-and-options book paired with U.S. Treasuries and Treasury futures, aimed at income and long-term growth while limiting risk.
• Live since 2020, so there's a multi-year record across real market stress to examine, not a backtest.
• Actively run with the S&P 500 as its reference point, so the manager sets the stock, options and bond mix instead of following a fixed overlay rule.

• PEPS 0.10% is index-fund pricing for an actively managed strategy. Even the cheap, well-regarded active peers cost more: DFAU at 0.12%, FELC at 0.18%.
• Not a covered-call fund. The sold S&P 500 calls are paired with offsetting long exposure, so the overlay seeks incremental total return instead of capping upside.
• Ordinary 1940 Act ETF wrapper, U.S. large-cap equity, distributions paid quarterly. The complexity lives in the overlay, not the tax paperwork.
• Cost is the standout: the typical active U.S. equity ETF in this group charges several times what PEPS does, and fee drag is the one input you know in advance.

Worth knowing

• MRSK At 0.98%, it costs more than the typical fund in its options-income group, and more than same-benchmark peers such as NBOS (0.59%) and SIXH (0.73%).
• Thinly traded next to the category's heavyweights, so spreads can be wider and larger orders need more care at the point of execution.
• Distributions land annually or semiannually rather than monthly, so the cash flow is lumpier than in most income-focused peers.

• PEPS Launched in November 2024. The overlay has not yet run through a full market cycle, so there is limited history to judge it on.
• A small, thinly traded fund. Bid-ask spreads can run wider than a mega-cap index ETF's, which shows up most on larger orders.
• The options leg adds moving parts: short index calls lose value in a sharp rally, and the offsetting long exposure is what has to make that back.

Full MRSK profile⁠

Full PEPS profile⁠