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Best of Both Worlds: 3 ETFs With High Dividend Yields, Low Fees

Best of Both Worlds: 3 ETFs With High Dividend Yields, Low Fees

Key Points

  • ETFs often appeal to investors with low annual fees, but a high dividend yield can be even more important.
  • Three funds combine exceptionally high dividend yields with annual fees that remain reasonable, given the benefits.
  • Investors looking for passive income might consider ULTY, CRSH, and BITO.
  • Five stocks we like better than YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF.
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Many exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offer competitive annual fees—the influx of hundreds of new products to the space in recent years has driven expense ratios for many types of funds downward in a bid to attract investors.

Most investors looking at the ETF market will not settle for a moderately high expense ratio unless that ETF provides substantial returns, an unusually complex or unique investment strategy, or a niche focus unavailable elsewhere.

Increasingly, investors are expecting even more from their ETF investments. Besides low cost—and the potential for compelling returns—ETFs that offer a strong dividend yield further distinguish themselves from the rest of the market.

These funds provide the best of both worlds: a low annual fee to keep investor costs down, plus a history of distributions that can help to facilitate a steady passive income stream, regardless of returns.

Covered Call Approach for Massive Yields

YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF Today

YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF stock logo
ULTYULTY 90-day performance
YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF
$6.06 -0.06 (-1.01%)
As of 03:59 PM Eastern
This is a fair market value price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more.
52-Week Range
$5.88
$18.71
Dividend Yield
175.47%
Assets Under Management
$225.15 million

The YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF NYSEARCA: ULTY is an example of a fund providing an especially compelling and complex strategy that may make its higher expense ratio worthwhile for investors seeking passive income.

ULTY uses an active management approach to generate a covered call strategy on U.S.-listed securities. Though it provides indirect exposure to some 15 to 30 securities, its strategy caps gains to the share price returns of those companies.

The net expense ratio for ULTY is 1.14%, thanks to an ongoing fee waiver of 0.1% from the fund provider. But where ULTY shines is in meeting its goal of providing option income. As of March 21, 2025, the fund has a dividend yield of an astonishing 162.4%.

While it typically makes one distribution per month, as of that date it has offered three distributions for the month of March alone. In highly volatile periods, when the potential (and risk) for covered calls is greater, ULTY can thrive.

Betting on Tesla's Decline, With Major Distribution Implications

YieldMax Short TSLA Option Income Strategy ETF Today

CRSHCRSH 90-day performance
YieldMax Short TSLA Option Income Strategy ETF
$6.97 +0.02 (+0.29%)
As of 03:59 PM Eastern
This is a fair market value price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more.
52-Week Range
$5.67
$22.06
Dividend Yield
92.40%
Assets Under Management
$25.90 million

Another fund by provider YieldMax, the YieldMax Short TSLA Option Income Strategy ETF NYSEARCA: CRSH, may be particularly attractive for investors bearish on Tesla Inc. NASDAQ: TSLA. Also actively managed, CRSH utilizes a complex synthetic covered put strategy while also offering indirect short exposure to the share price of TSLA.

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The result is that CRSH aims for limited returns when the price of TSLA shares drops. It also aims to cap losses if TSLA shares increase in value, although the extent of the loss protection depends on whether TSLA stock rises to the strike price of CRSH's call options.

Given Tesla's recent significant challenges, investors expecting more of the same might consider CRSH as a way of benefiting, indirectly, from this ongoing saga in the electric vehicle space. Indeed, CRSH is up nearly 50% year-to-date as of March 21. However, the real draw for most investors is CRSH's history of distributions.

The fund pays an annual dividend yield of 86.2% based on its monthly distribution schedule. Like ULTY above, given the complex nature of CRSH it is a highly risky investment, though the potential for passive income on a moderate expense ratio of 0.99% is great.

A Bitcoin-Linked Dividend Play

ProShares Bitcoin ETF Today

ProShares Bitcoin ETF stock logo
BITOBITO 90-day performance
ProShares Bitcoin ETF
$18.33 -0.33 (-1.78%)
As of 03:59 PM Eastern
This is a fair market value price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more.
52-Week Range
$16.11
$31.73
Dividend Yield
79.72%
Assets Under Management
$2.28 billion

For a different strategy that nonetheless provides a compelling distribution, consider the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF NYSEARCA: BITO. Although BITO was the first ETF linked to Bitcoin, it does not invest directly in BTC. Rather, it uses a futures and swap strategy to produce results corresponding to Bitcoin's performance.

At an expense ratio of 0.95%, BITO is not the cheapest fund targeting Bitcoin. However, its monthly distributions and an annual dividend yield of 76.7% make it particularly compelling for investors looking to track the price of Bitcoin while enjoying passive income in the process.

Of course, given the extreme volatility that still impacts the cryptocurrency space, BITO remains a risky investment. However, the focus on dividends may appeal to investors seeking some assurance of income beyond a direct play on Bitcoin itself.

Although BITO is down more than 11% alongside Bitcoin's slump early in 2025, it remains up more than 18% in the last year as of March 21.

Should You Invest $1,000 in YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF Right Now?

Before you consider YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF wasn't on the list.

While YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The Five Stocks Here

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Nathan Reiff
About The Author

Nathan Reiff

Contributing Author

Fundamental analysis, ETFs, Consumer Staples

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Companies Mentioned in This Article

CompanyMarketRank™Current PricePrice ChangeDividend YieldP/E RatioConsensus RatingConsensus Price Target
YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF (ULTY)N/A$6.06-1.1%175.56%24.39Moderate Buy$6.07
Tesla (TSLA)
4.8088 of 5 stars
$258.68-1.8%N/A127.17Hold$317.75
YieldMax Short TSLA Option Income Strategy ETF (CRSH)N/A$6.99+0.6%92.13%N/AN/AN/A
ProShares Bitcoin ETF (BITO)N/A$18.38-1.5%79.50%N/AN/AN/A
Compare These Stocks  Add These Stocks to My Watchlist 

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