50% off Premium Yearly
BMO Covered Call Utilities ETFZWU.TOBUY ON WEAKNESSApr 03, 2023Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jun 19, 2026. Market Open.
Nice income on this strategy. Yields about 8.25%. Interest rates are starting to steady and potentially pivot lower. As rates start to move lower, some of these dividend stocks, like pipelines or telecoms or banks, will look very attractive as they start to recover.
If you don't need the income, he prefers the underlying securities. Covered calls mean you lose out on some upside. Plus, these ETFs tend to charge higher expense ratios.
Dividend stocks should start to recover a bit once the 10 year bond yields start to back down. This ETF has a return of 5.6% so you can hold for when rates start to come down.
Also part of the question was on covered call strategies. Unless the underlying security is flat or falling you may see some under-performance related to the security itself
With the ROC component, the after-tax yield compares very well to alternatives, but it is hard to say whether it fully compensates, as investors have different tax brackets. If we look shorter term, its five year return is better, at 3.1%. But over ten years, it is down 26%, but with distributions 10-year net is 4.08%. Considering the very weak performance of the last year as interest rates spiked, we would still consider this 'OK' all things considered.
Unlock Premium - Try 5i Free
Not sure why in this particular case, but it could be because the premiums from the covered calls were not as good. Or it could be that the prices of some of these utilities have gone up.
You buy this for yield. Utilities are very susceptible to changes in yield. They pay high yields, but it can come back and bite you. This is a pretty solid performer, and the covered calls give a really good boost. He's very much in favour of covered calls.
Utilities are a safe-haven asset with stable, government-set revenues. But the challenge is that during high inflation, these stocks are like a long-duration bond. So, when rates rise, these stocks struggle. ZUT is BMO's equal-weight utilities ETF without calls, but that outperformed ZWU in recent years. Don't be fooled by the covered calls, which outperform in sideways or down markets, but less so in better markets. Utilities at 20-30% of a portfolio--be cautious. If you're bearish, seek utilities. If bullish, maybe not.
Covered call utilities (will limit upside potential).
Good defensive name.