YLDE vs YLDW

YLDEAFranklin ClearBridge Enhanced Income ETF

YLDWBWestwood Enhanced Income Opportunity ETF

In short

YLDE A 2017 ClearBridge dividend portfolio that had an income engine bolted on in 2025: about 50 large-cap dividend payers, with index calls sold on top for premium. Pays monthly, charges 0.48%, no waiver, below the category median.

YLDW Most covered-call funds write options over a basket of stocks. YLDW writes over a mixed income portfolio (equities, investment grade and high yield bonds, convertibles, preferreds), stacking premium on top of coupons and dividends.

Stated mandate

YLDE The Fund seeks income and long-term capital appreciation through an actively managed enhanced equity-income strategy. It primarily invests in dividend-paying equities and writes U.S. exchange-traded calls on U.S. large-cap equity indices to enhance income.

YLDW The Fund seeks current income first and long-term capital appreciation second. It invests primarily in dividend-paying or interest-bearing securities and uses covered calls to generate realized gains and distributable cash flow.

Why people hold it

• YLDE The overlay sits on top of the stock picks, not inside them. Calls are written on U.S. large-cap indices such as the S&P 500, so no single holding has its own upside sold away.franklintempleton.com
• 0.48% with no fee waiver propping it up, below the median for active overlay funds. Cheaper than RDVI at 0.75%, though index-built rivals RECI (0.30%) and TCAL (0.34%) go lower.
• Two desks, two jobs: ClearBridge runs the roughly 50-stock dividend sleeve, while a separate options manager handles the call writing, an arrangement spelled out in the fund's filings.sec.gov
• Income arrives monthly and comes from two places, dividends from the equity sleeve plus premium from written calls, rather than from reaching for the highest-yielding names.franklintempleton.com

• YLDW The option overlay sits on a multi-asset income sleeve, not just dividend stocks, so premium layers on top of bond coupons, preferred payments and dividends.westwoodgroup.com
• 0.79% a year, below the median fee among actively managed options-income ETFs.
• Actively managed with no index to track: the team can rotate across bond sectors, hybrids and equity income as conditions shift. Income is set on a monthly schedule.westwoodgroup.com
• Lands in the upper half of its options-income peer group, with a wider spread of income sources than a single-sleeve covered-call fund.

Worth knowing

• YLDE The ticker dates to 2017, but it spent most of that life as a dividend ESG fund. The enhanced-income objective, options overlay and dividend policy changed on February 28, 2025.franklintempleton.com
• Selling index calls trades away part of a sharp market rally for premium collected up front, and that premium offsets losses only as far as it goes in a steep decline.franklintempleton.com
• A thinly traded fund with a smaller asset base than the category's giants, which can mean wider bid/ask spreads than the headline names in derivative income.

• YLDW Launched December 2025, so the operating record is short and the asset base small. Thin trading can mean wider spreads than in the category's household names.
• Cheaper overlays sit in the same cohort: PAPI charges 0.29% and DIVO 0.56%.
• Covered calls trade upside for premium: gains above the strike on written positions go to the option buyer, and premium income moves with option pricing.westwoodgroup.com

Full YLDE profile⁠

Full YLDW profile⁠