Covered call strategies are a great way to generate high returns from your portfolio.
The JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPQ) combines exposure to the Nasdaq-100 with an options strategy that is currently yielding more than 11%.
Even modest initial investment amounts can generate hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in premium income.
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If you were to invest in one S&P 500 exchange traded fund (ETF) today, you would get a return of just 1%. Not too impressive. However, switch to a dividend ETF and you can find a yield in the 3% to 4% range. That’s better, but it still might not provide the income you’re hoping for.
Covered call ETFs are where you can start earning returns of 10% or more. To be clear, there are tradeoffs to owning a covered call ETF versus a simple stock fund. But pure income seekers like them because they can offer high and consistent returns and have a predictable profit structure. If you know what you’re buying, these can be great options.
One of the most popular options in this space is JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF(NASDAQ: JEPQ). As the name suggests, this one starts with exposure to the Nasdaq-100 index and writes call options against the securities to generate a high yield. As of November 30, it offers a yield of 11.5%.
Before you go to your brokerage account to load shares, it’s important to know how the fund works and what you’re buying. Once you do, you can understand how even a modest initial investment of $10,000 can generate hundreds of dollars in revenue over the course of a year.
Image source: Getty Images.
JEPQ is a bit unusual in that it doesn’t follow the traditional path of buying shares and then writing call options on those shares. Invest in equity-linked notes (ELNs), which are a combination of long equity and short call in one security.
The use of ELNs introduces some risks unique to JEPQ, namely counterparty risk. In simple terms, it means that the bank issuing the note could fail, taking the value of the note with it. For the most part, investors won’t notice any difference in performance or behavior when using ELNs, but there are some structural issues to consider.
These products, despite their complexity, are attracting interest because of their potential for double-digit returns. The option income generated by these strategies is highly correlated with the level of volatility of the underlying security or index. Because the Nasdaq-100 tends to be more volatile, earnings and returns tend to be higher. The ability to pay this monthly income was another selling point.
As mentioned earlier, JEPQ offers a current yield in the 11% to 12% range. This number fluctuates over time, but is a reasonable number to expect in the future given its history.
But let’s instead look at actual monthly distributions to see how we arrive at the $1,000 annual income number.
Ex-data
Registration date
Date of payment
Dividends paid
31.12.2024
31.12.2024
01/03/2025
$0.45584
02.03.2025
02.03.2025
02/05/2025
$0.45019
03.03.2025
03.03.2025
03/05/2025
$0.48238
04.01.2025
04.01.2025
03/04/2025
$0.54069
05/01/2025
05/01/2025
05/05/2025
$0.59786
06.02.2025
06.02.2025
04/06/2025
$0.62074
07/01/2025
07/01/2025
07.03.2025
$0.49416
08/01/2025
08/01/2025
08/05/2025
$0.44377
02/09/2025
02/09/2025
04/09/2025
$0.44195
10.01.2025
10.01.2025
10.03.2025
$0.44612
03.11.2025
11.03.2025
11/05/2025
$0.47553
12.01.2025
12.01.2025
12.03.2025
$0.55323
Source: JPMorgan Asset Management
Over the past 12 months, the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF has generated income of more than $6 per share (or about $0.50 per share each month).
At a share price of $59.05 (December 10), an investment of $10,000 would buy 169.35 shares.
Assuming JEPQ pays $6 per share in future distributions, that translates to $1,016 in income.
Note that these figures may fluctuate. The monthly distribution amount may be higher or lower depending on the conditions. The bigger point is that JEPQ is fully capable of delivering $1,000 per year in income based on that initial $10,000 investment.
It is important to note that the high returns offered by covered call strategies do not come for free.
When you sell a call option, you give the buyer the right to buy the security at a predetermined price. As the price of the security increases, the chances that the option will be canceled and you will have to sell at below market prices increases. This is the main disadvantage of a covered call strategy. You give up the potential for stock price appreciation in exchange for that high yield.
Returns may also vary over time. In general, returns on covered call strategies tend to decrease as market volatility decreases (and vice versa). If the stock markets are exceptionally calm, there is a chance that the initial investment of $10,000 will produce less than $1,000 per year.
Overall, JEPQ is still a solid choice for generating a double-digit return, just one that comes with some trade-offs. If you want to get hundreds, if not thousands, of income from your portfolio, covered call strategies are a great way to do it.
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