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The Federal Reserve has taken its target rate from 4.5% to 3.75% over the past year, and reinvestment risk has arrived for anyone in money market funds.
Three little-known exchange-traded funds from BlackRock's iShares lineup distribute double-digit annual yields to shareholders monthly.
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond Buywrite Strategy ETF is a covered call long-term treasury ETF. The fund's covered calls boost its distribution yield to 11.2%, while capping upside potential. Downside remains unchanged, and for a long-term treasury ETF, rate downside is sky-high. Avoiding the fund while rate hikes are a possibility seems wise.
The iShares 20+ Year Treasury BuyWrite Strategy ETF is rated a strong buy, offering attractive yield and downside protection versus traditional long-duration Treasury ETFs. TLTW's covered call strategy enhances income and cushions against rising yields, outperforming AGG and BND on a total return basis since July 2024. Current long-term Treasury yields provide a much healthier margin of safety than in 2021, with breakeven yield now nearly four times higher.
Over the past year, TLTW delivered a total return of roughly +10% compared to just under +5% for unhedged TLT. Newly appointed Fed Chair Kevin Warsh shocked markets with a hawkish tone on price stability and a simplified, data-dependent policy statement. The lack of explicit forward guidance and emerging market probabilities for 2026 rate hikes means fixed-income volatility is structural.
Prior to the start of the Iran War, President Donald Trump had been feuding with Jerome Powell about cutting interest rates.
The past two months have changed the calculus significantly for interest rate cuts this year, and we could even be looking at interest rate hikes.
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond BuyWrite Strategy ETF is rated HOLD due to increased market uncertainty and capped upside potential. TLTW's buy-write structure limits gains to 2% monthly, making it (IMO) less attractive if TLT rallies sharply amid changing macro conditions. Current low implied volatility and shifting inflation expectations reduce (IMO) the competitiveness of option premiums at monthly roll.
SEC filings for TLTW aren't indexed yet — common for recently launched funds. Browse the issuer's filings on SEC EDGAR directly.