Covered Call ETF Performance: What Nine Months of 2026 Revealed

The 2026 YTD ranking

Total return from January 1 to September 30, 2026, sorted by YTD performance. The CoveredRank score is measured since inception and is independent of the YTD ranking.

Why the Nasdaq funds won

The Nasdaq-100 outperformed the S&P 500 by a wide margin through the first three quarters of 2026. Every covered call fund is structurally long its benchmark, minus the upside given away through call premiums. When the underlying is the best-performing major index, funds writing against it win.

That explains the top of the table, but not the differences within it. GPIQ returned 18.66%, QYLD returned 14.86%, and both write on the Nasdaq-100. The gap is the option strategy.

GPIQ covers its full portfolio but sells calls at strikes above the current price, leaving room for capital appreciation. QYLG takes a different route: it covers only half its position, letting the other half run with the index. Both approaches captured most of the Nasdaq move. QYLD, which sells at-the-money calls on its entire portfolio, gave away more upside in exchange for a higher premium.

QQA sits between them at 16.43%. Invesco fund uses a similar structure to QYLG but with a different strike selection. It delivered less raw return than GPIQ but the second-highest score in the universe (8.04), reflecting a better balance between upside capture and downside protection over its full history.

IQQQ returned 15.15%, ranking fourth YTD but 26th on score. The fund is recent and its short track record penalizes the inception calculation, which weighs consistency and NAV preservation heavily. That is not a flaw in the fund; it is a limitation of scoring a strategy that has only existed for two years.

QQQX is the extreme case. Ninth YTD, last on score. The fund is a closed-end fund managed by Nuveen, with a distribution policy that has historically been more aggressive than its peers. In 2026, that worked. Over its full history, the volatility of the distribution and the NAV erosion have weighed on its composite score.

Why BALI and GPIX stand out

Two S&P 500 funds broke into the top seven. BALI at 14.98% and GPIX at 14.75%. Both outperformed the S&P 500 itself, which returned around 12% over the same period.

BALI does this through a buy-write strategy on an equal-weight version of the S&P 500, with a 0.25% expense ratio, the lowest in the universe. GPIX is the S&P 500 twin of GPIQ, with the same strike-above-spot approach applied to a different index.

That both funds beat their benchmark is unusual for covered call strategies, which normally give up a small amount of upside. The explanation lies in the strike selection: selling calls above the current price captures premium without capping the rally at the current level.

Why JEPI and FTHI lagged

JEPI returned 3.65%, 27th out of 28. FTHI returned 6.78%, 26th. Both are long-established funds with solid track records and low fees relative to the category. Both are held widely by retail investors. Both have been mediocre this year.

The reason is the same in both cases: their underlying portfolios are defensive. JEPI holds a low-beta equity basket designed to generate income with less volatility than the S&P 500. FTHI holds large-cap value with a buy-write overlay. In a year driven by growth and mega-cap technology, defensive equity underperformed. The call overlay then removed what upside the portfolio did capture.

This is not a failure of management. It is the strategy working as designed in an environment it was not designed for. JEPI score of 6.90 still ranks 12th, because the score rewards consistency and downside protection, which the fund has delivered across its full history.

KLIP: when the underlying breaks

KLIP lost 12.76%, the only negative return in the universe. The fund writes calls on Chinese internet equities through KWEB, which fell sharply through the first half of 2026. The call overlay amplified the damage: when the underlying falls hard, the premium collected does not offset the losses, and the fund has no way to participate in the rebound.

KLIP is the only fund in the universe whose benchmark is a single sector. That concentration is the source of both its potential and its risk. In 2026, it was a liability. The fund score of 6.71 still ranks 16th, because the scoring system measures downside protection as a ratio against the fund own benchmark, and against KWEB the fund has held up reasonably well.

The divergence between YTD and score

The table above shows that the best YTD performer is not the highest-scored fund, and the highest-scored fund is not the best YTD performer.

IDVO ranks first on score (8.64) but 11th YTD. The fund writes on international developed equity through EFA, which lagged US markets this year.

QDVO ranks third on score but 16th YTD. Its YTD return of 11.74% is respectable but not exceptional.

RSPA ranks 23rd YTD and 17th on score. The fund lost 4.3% in September alone, after eight strong months.

SPYI at 17th YTD and 10th on score is the cleanest example of a fund that is neither exceptional nor weak in either dimension.

Frequently asked questions

Which covered call ETF performed best in the first nine months of 2026?

GPIQ, the Goldman Sachs Nasdaq-100 Premium Income ETF, returned 18.66% in total return from January 1 to September 30, 2026. It is followed by QYLG at 18.16% and QQA at 16.43%. Seven of the top ten funds write options on the Nasdaq-100.

Why did JEPI underperform in 2026?

JEPI returned 3.65%, ranking 27th out of 28 funds. The fund holds a defensive, low-beta equity portfolio, which underperformed in a year driven by growth and mega-cap technology. The covered call overlay removed what upside the portfolio did capture.

Why is a strong YTD return not the same as a strong long-term score?

YTD performance measures what happened over nine months. A long-term score measures characteristics like consistency, downside protection and NAV preservation over the full history of the fund. IQQQ ranks 4th YTD but 26th on score. IDVO ranks 1st on score but only 11th YTD.

Why did KLIP lose 12.76% while other covered call ETFs gained?

KLIP writes covered calls on Chinese internet equities through the KWEB index, which fell sharply through the first half of 2026. The call overlay amplified losses rather than offsetting them. It is the only fund in the universe with a negative return over the period.

What the 2026 data shows

Three conclusions.

The underlying index matters more than the option strategy. A well-executed covered call strategy on a weak index will underperform a mediocre strategy on a strong one.

Option structure determines how much of the rally you keep. GPIQ and QYLG, which leave room for appreciation, captured more of the Nasdaq move than QYLD, which sells at-the-money.

A strong YTD return does not predict a strong long-term score. IQQQ and QQQX both rank in the top ten YTD and in the bottom three on score.

The full rankings, with all four time windows and six criteria, are on the rankings page.