(JEPQ) JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity - Ratings and Ratios

The JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPQ) aims to generate income by combining an actively managed equity portfolio-largely drawn from the Nasdaq-100 Index-with a systematic options overlay that sells covered call contracts on those same securities.

Specifically, the fund holds the underlying Nasdaq-100 constituents and, through equity-linked notes (ELNs), writes call options to collect premium. This “covered-call” strategy caps upside potential while providing a regular cash flow, and the ETF is classified as non-diversified because it concentrates heavily in the technology-heavy Nasdaq-100.

Key operational metrics (as of the most recent filing in Q2 2024) include an expense ratio of 0.35%, an annualized distribution yield around 5.2%, and assets under management of roughly $1.2 billion. The average time-to-expiry of the written calls is about 30 days, and the implied volatility of the option book has averaged 22% over the past 12 months, providing a useful gauge of premium richness.

Because the fund’s income is driven by option premiums, its performance is sensitive to a few macro-level factors: (1) the prevailing level of the VIX and overall market volatility, (2) the direction of short-term interest rates (which affect the cost of carry and option pricing), and (3) the earnings momentum of the Nasdaq-100’s core sectors-particularly cloud computing, semiconductors, and digital advertising, which together account for over 60% of the index’s weight.

If you’re interested in digging deeper into how JEPQ’s option-selling framework stacks up against comparable income-focused ETFs, a quick look at ValueRay’s analytical dashboards can give you a data-rich perspective on risk-adjusted returns and sector-level exposure.