John HoodBMO US High Dividend Covered Call ETFZWH.TOTOP PICKJun 13, 2025
Main thing is it's not leveraged. Holds all the big, household names. Dividends are small on US stocks, so most of the premium you're getting is from the covered calls which are capital gains. Hasn't come back from April because it doesn't have all the super-charged tech stocks. Yield is around 6-6.5%.
BMO has the biggest suite of covered call strategies around the world. For US high-dividend covered-call strategies, ZWS or ZWH are really good (one hedged, one not).
A good quality holding. Depends what you are holding out of an investment. Provides more income with the covered calls. In a high growth market, you do underperform. Good for income investors.
The yield is in the 5.5%-6% range. A covered call strategy that is pretty sustainable. A group of good quality high dividend paying companies with covered call for yield enhancement. If you are bullish, you could miss out on some returns but in a sideways to down market, a prudent choice.
There is space for these ETFs for yield seekers. One of the challenges in 2020 was that dividend paying stocks did terrible relative to technology that does not pay dividends. Still likes them for conservative investors.
They are both high dividend covered call ETFs. They have underperformed compared to tech and growth stocks. If you want good dividend paying stocks, it is a fine investment for buy and hold. They only write the options on half the positions to enhance yield.
ZWE-T vs. ZWH-T. With covered calls, when you are in a slightly up or down or sideways market, the call brings in a premium and dampens the volatility. But when it is in a very strong uptrend, the covered write lops off the top of the uptrend. The upside is capped. In a sharp declined followed by a snap-back rally, the same thing applies. You should have both for covered write portfolios to increase diversification if you are going to have them.
At market bottoms you don’t want ETFs with covered calls like ZWH-T because you are giving away some of the upside. You want ZDY-T or the currency hedged version of that. CYH-T is a benchmark for world dividends. It is a Canadian dollar currency hedged ETF. TDIV-Q is a technology dividend play.
High dividend covered call strategy. These ETFs are the way to go. They have slightly lower beta and you get a much better yield. You don’t want to own these after a big sell-off.
Main thing is it's not leveraged. Holds all the big, household names. Dividends are small on US stocks, so most of the premium you're getting is from the covered calls which are capital gains. Hasn't come back from April because it doesn't have all the super-charged tech stocks. Yield is around 6-6.5%.