Stockchase Opinions

Larry Berman CFA, CMT, CTABMO Premium Yield ETFZPAY.TOSTRONG BUYJun 26, 2020

On average he expects to have half the portfolio long and half looking to buy great stock at a lower price and writing puts to do so. It is the biggest holding in all of his portfolios.
$30.49

Stock price when the opinion was issued

$33.69

As of Aug 14, 2026. Market Open.

E.T.F.'s
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BUY ON WEAKNESS
Yield is ~7%.

You can't get away from the drawdowns, but it provides a nice yield and writes some covered calls as well. Right in the middle between income and equity. Doesn't mind it at all.

Disclosure:  His firm's founder and CIO, Richard Croft, has held this for a long time.

PARTIAL BUY
Selling condo for $500k, investing proceeds to pay for monthly cost of seniors home. At 7% yield, safe?

This is where you have to think about working with a financial planner. If that's all the $$ you have, and you're talking about putting it in one thing, it's a bad idea.

That said, he was involved in the development of this ETF and he likes it :)  Gives you exposure to 30-40 big US companies, so you're not running the risk of ruin and going to $0. Great income earner, tax-efficient. Makes sense in a lot of ways. But you're only in US equities.

You probably want to be diversified. Otherwise, you run the risk of needing to pull capital out at the wrong time.

COMMENT
ZPAY vs. TPRF as a safe haven for liquid funds.

Can't compare ZPAY vs. TPRF because they're in very different risk buckets. He likes ZPAY, but doesn't recommend it be a safe haven for liquid funds.

BUY

 Loves it. He helped create this ETF. Half this is long with a covered call and the other half is selling puts to buy stocks at lower prices. It targets 6% returns or more. Is tax-efficient to get exposure to foreign stocks. There are currency-hedged and non versions. 

COMMENT
ZPAY has outperformed the hedged ZPAY.F for 4 years. How much does the USD need to weaken to reverse this trend?

Will the CAD be 150 basis points stronger in 1 year? If yes, buy the hedged version. If not, buy the unhedged.  Given the weak enonomy, the BOC wil hold interest rates or even cut.

BUY ON WEAKNESS

Downside protection, in the sense that it writes puts to acquire stocks. But there's also short volatility. When markets go down this typically goes down somewhat less, but it's not as protected as a buffer ETF.

Loves the strategy for income-focused investors, though you still want to wait for a correction to add. But after that, if you're wildly bullish, this is not the vehicle to generate massive capital gains for you. It's defensive, and great for those who want higher, tax-efficient income.

That said, good one to average in on dips.

COMMENT

No, it doesn't use leverage. Is cash-covered and T-bills which covers the naked puts they're writing to acquire other securities.

COMMENT

No, it doesn't use leverage. Is cash-covered and T-bills which covers the naked puts they're writing to acquire other securities.

COMMENT

No, it doesn't use leverage. Is cash-covered and T-bills which covers the naked puts they're writing to acquire other securities.

COMMENT

No, it doesn't use leverage. Is cash-covered and T-bills which covers the naked puts they're writing to acquire other securities.

COMMENT

No, it doesn't use leverage. Is cash-covered and T-bills which covers the naked puts they're writing to acquire other securities.

WEAK BUY
ZPAY vs. ZWU -- for a more defensive income focus.

All US exposure. Uses optionality to generate significant income. There's a lot less risk to the overall market. However, it's all equity risk and it's US large-cap stocks. So if you're taking profits on riskier, growth-oriented investments, you're getting back into the same thing albeit with a better yield and risk/reward profile.

ZWU is utilities, mostly in Canada -- 30% US, 70% Canada. Pipelines and telcos. A lot less market sensitive. More defensive in theory; unless oil prices collapse, pipelines go down, and telcos go down further. If interest rates shoot up, utilities go down. He doesn't think any of those things are going to happen. So he'd pick this one as a more defensive way to make the shift to defense.

You don't need both. Pick one or the other.

DON'T BUY

It's equity risk and is about yield-income, so you will a lot of downside volatility in a correction.

BUY

Large-cap US companies, and does covered writing as well as put writing. About 55% of the portfolio is in cash. They use the premiums collected to purchase stocks at the put price. An active strategy, thinks they're pretty good at it. If you're looking for covered writing, it's a good choice.

Exact same as buying a stock, writing a call; exact same as a cash-secured put.

BUY

Has a US dollar unit. So the distribution is in USD. Attractive, risk-adjusted, tax-efficient distribution for the snowbirds out there.