TLTW vs USDX

TLTWAiShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond BuyWrite Strategy ETF

USDXCSGI Enhanced Core ETF

In short

TLTW Owns the long Treasury ETF, sells calls against it monthly, and passes the premium out as income. A 2022 launch that brought the covered-call playbook to 20+ year bonds, priced below the niche's usual fee.

USDX Most of this peer group writes options on long Treasury bonds. USDX keeps the money in government money market funds and sells very short-dated, far out-of-the-money S&P 500 puts and calls.

Stated mandate

TLTW The Fund tracks an index that holds the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF and writes monthly covered calls to generate income, while offering income in addition to dividends.

USDX The Fund seeks income through an actively managed combination of higher-yielding, high-quality short-term money-market investments and a frequently traded short-dated put-and-call options strategy. The options strategy seeks income from exposure to the S&P 500 Index or other broad benchmark indices.

Why people hold it

• TLTW Fee runs 0.35% a year, under the going rate in its options-income Treasury niche, and no higher-graded peer here undercuts it.
• Plumbing is refreshingly simple: hold TLT, write monthly covered calls on it, send the premium out monthly.
• Follows its index closely, and it is an actively traded, multi-billion-dollar fund rather than a thin novelty.
• One of the stronger implementations in a small peer group of Treasury option-overlay funds.

• USDX The collateral is government and Treasury money market funds, so no long-bond duration. Option premium, not coupons, does the income work.sgiam.com
• Prospectus terms: deep out-of-the-money strikes, generally expiring in one to seven days. Positions reset constantly instead of riding one long contract.sec.gov
• Actively managed with no index to replicate, and it pays monthly. The manager sets strikes and sizing as conditions change.sec.gov
• Built as described: a money-market sleeve dominates the portfolio and the options sit on top of it, matching the filed strategy.sgiam.com

Worth knowing

• TLTW The written calls cap upside: in a sharp long-bond rally, gains above the strike belong to the option buyer.
• Duration still rules underneath. This is a 20+ year Treasury position, so rate moves drive the price whatever the income does.
• Payouts track option premiums and may include return of capital, so the monthly distribution is not a fixed coupon.

• USDX Fee is 1.08%, above the median of its 14-fund category and above Treasury buy-write peers like TLTX (0.29%) and BUCK (0.35%).
• Income comes from selling S&P 500 options, so equity swings, not the cash sleeve, drive surprises. Sold out-of-the-money options cap participation in index moves.sec.gov
• Opened in 2024, so the record is short, and it is not among the busiest tickers in its category.

Full TLTW profile⁠

Full USDX profile⁠