Larry Berman CFA, CMT, CTABMO US Hi Div Cov Call Hdgd to CAD ETFZWS.TOBUYFeb 02, 2026

Dividend-paying stocks tend to do well over long time horizons, and this adds the covered call. Good one if you're still nervous about the markets here. Distribution comes from dividends and covered calls. Not a tax-preferred dividend, but taps into the vast breadth of the US market. MER is 0.71%. 

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).

Do you recommend ZWS as a hedged covered call or prefer something else, and would you hold it at the only US equity in a portfolio? To answer the latter, no. And he prefers SPY-N as your core holding; it pays you yield and cash flow, becuase it holds high-dividend stocks and sells covered calls against them. Also, US dividends are taxed in Canada and don't benefit from the dividend tax credit.

Contains many good companies including utilities and consumer staples. Just collect the dividend, though you don't need the covered call portion on this. Look for a BMO ETF that's unhedged without the covered call aspect, instead.