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BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETFZWB.TOSELLSep 21, 2018Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jun 19, 2026. Market Open.
Our favourite covered call ETFs involve underlying assets that have a history of appreciating over time. For that reason, we like is the BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF (ZWB). It has a 7.5% distribution yield, a higher AUM of $2.9B, and over the past 10 years it has returned 8.1% annually with distributions reinvested.
For investors seeking monthly income, covered calls can be a good approach, however, for the average investor we do not typically like the cap on price appreciation that covered call ETFs have, and for an uptrending market, we would prefer to own the underlying assets outright rather than covered calls.
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Banks now may not be star performers as in the last 30 years. Interest rates are rising now and could stay this way for a while. Loan loss provisions will increase in a weakening economy. But of this class, he likes ZEB and ZWB (a covered call one for income) which he prefers, because he expects banks to be sideways and the covered call will enhance returns. You could buy a combination of the two.
ZWU vs. ZWB? Be careful now. If interest rates rise, be sure you’re in the highest credit quality area, and he’s not sure this is the one. Has done incredibly well as interests rate have gone down. The back side is that interest rates start going up you won’t get any downside protection. If it’s in a TFSA, where you don’t have to worry about capital gains, you may want to bring it down a little bit.