BetaShares S&P 500 Yield Maximiser ETF (UMAX) — Review & Analysis

UMAX holds the S&P 500 and sells call options against the portfolio to generate enhanced income. AUM is $288.79 million as at May 2026 with a 0.79% p.a. management fee — the highest fee in BetaShares' covered-call series, reflecting the size and complexity of running the strategy on the broader S&P 500. Distributions are paid quarterly. Compare UMAX across the dividend cohort on our high dividend yield ETF page or use the Compare ETFs tool to evaluate against UYLD.

The income methodology is identical in concept to YMAX (ASX Top 20 version) and QMAX (Nasdaq 100 version) — own the underlying, sell calls, distribute the option premium as enhanced income. The S&P 500 benchmark exposes UMAX to the broader US market rather than concentrated tech (QMAX) or ASX top 20 (YMAX). Historical yield has been 4-7%, well above plain S&P 500 dividend yield of ~1.5%.

UMAX competes most directly with UYLD (Global X S&P 500 Covered Call, 0.60% — 19bp cheaper, $13.96M AUM). The fee differential is meaningful, though UMAX's $288.79M AUM versus UYLD's $14M provides better execution. The covered-call category as a whole carries the same trade-off — capped upside in exchange for enhanced current income.

UMAX is unhedged for currency. Over multi-year periods, the covered-call structure has typically underperformed plain S&P 500 exposure (IVV at 0.04%) on total return, while delivering substantially more current income. Our covered call ETFs exposed guide covers the structural total-return cost of covered-call income.