So far this year, the U.S. stock market has experienced a bear market, followed by a recovery. As I write this, the S&P 500 is right at breakeven for the year to date. It makes for an interesting time to see how the ETFs using covered call/option strategies to generate income have fared.

Of the 113 ETFs in my tracking spreadsheets, 95 have been in existence since at least the start of 2025. Thirty-three put up year-to-date positive returns through May 25. What I find more telling is that 45 have returns between -3% and 3%. The bulk of the fund returns are centered around the results from the broader stock market.

However, specific categories of ETFs both outperformed and underperformed stocks. Let’s take a look at the winners and losers, starting with the losers.

First up, as the worst performer, is the Roundhill Ether Covered Call Strategy ETF (YETH), which has a negative 48% return for the year. YETH’s problem is that the underlying security, the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF (ETH), dropped by 56% from the start of the year through the first week of April. ETH has recovered about half of its losses, but the YETH returns have not followed the recovery. However, YETH yields 54%, so if Ethereum continues to increase, YETH could be a much better performer in the second half of 2025.

A sharp drop caused by a volatility spike caught investors in the SoFi Enhanced Yield ETF (THTA) by surprise. The THTA portfolio consists of balanced positions in Treasury bills, Treasury notes, and Treasury bonds. Credit spreads using puts and calls on S&P 500 futures generate cash, allowing THTA to reach its target 12% yield. THTA should, and historically has, exhibited a stable share price. The portfolio does consist of Treasury securities. However, the volatility spike in early April produced massive losses for the option trading strategy. Here is the year-to-date chart for THTA.

THTA has a year-to-date total return of minus 18%.

The winning ETFs came from three types of underlying assets: gold, Bitcoin, and international equities.

The Simplify Gold Strategy PLUS Income ETF (YGLD) was the top gold-based ETF, returning 48.6%. Besides employing a non-correlated options strategy, YGLD managed to give 150% exposure to the price of gold. 

The Simplify Bitcoin Strategy PLUS Income ETF (MAXI) was the top Bitcoin fund, returning 26.9%. MAXI and YGLD employ the same uncorrelated options strategy, which allows them to capture more upside gains of the underlying assets.

The Amplify CWP International Enhanced Dividend Income ETF (IDVO) was the best international equities fund, returning 14.25%. Foreign stocks have experienced a strong rebound following the April bear market.

For my ETF Income Edge service, I monitor over 100 covered call ETFs to identify the most attractive prospects and add them to the recommended portfolio. We have done very well with the Bitcoin and gold ETFs.

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