XYLD offers a new twist on an old strategy, writing calls against the S&P 500 stocks in its plain-vanilla basket in order to earn the premium. Holding the various positions and writing index call options inside an ETF wrapper is a more efficient way to access the strategy. The fund holds the underlying stock positions and writes one-month, at-the-money call options on the Index. The strategy should help to generate some income, but it also places a drag on the upside potential. As such, the returns will differ greatly from our benchmark. Prior to Dec. 15, 2017, XYLD tracked the S&P 500 Stock Covered Call Index. From Dec. 15, 2017 thru Aug. 20, 2020, the fund tracked the CBOE S&P 500 2% OTM BuyWrite Index.
