Investing · ETF deep dive
HTA Harvest Tech Leaders Income ETF
The growth-leaning take on covered calls: 20 equal-weighted global tech leaders with call writing capped at a third of the book — 8.85% income from stocks that mostly pay no dividends at all.
Best for: Investors who want tech exposure to fund retirement income without selling shares themselves
Pros
- Harvest caps option writing at 33% of holdings — two-thirds of the book keeps full tech upside
- 8.85% distribution manufactured almost entirely from option premium on volatile (premium-rich) stocks
- Equal-weight 20 avoids the mega-cap concentration of an index tech fund; running since 2015
Cons
- The priciest fund on this list: 0.85% management fee, 0.99% MER
- Tech drawdowns arrive fast — the 33% written sleeve cushions little of a 2022-style fall
- Renamed April 2026 (formerly “Tech Achievers Growth & Income”) — older research refers to the old name
What's inside HTA
| Underlying fund | Weight |
|---|---|
| Advanced Micro DevicesAMD | 6.8% |
| Palo Alto NetworksPANW | 6.7% |
| Micron TechnologyMU | 6.1% |
| ServiceNowNOW | 6.1% |
| Cisco SystemsCSCO | 5.9% |
| OracleORCL | 5.9% |
20 large-cap technology companies, equally weighted — predominantly US-listed, CAD-hedged (Class A) (Provider holdings table, May 29, 2026) · holdings as of May 29, 2026 (20 equal-weighted holdings)
The deep dive
HTA — renamed the Harvest Tech Leaders Income ETF in April 2026 — holds 20 large technology companies at roughly equal weight and writes calls on at most 33% of the portfolio, Harvest’s stated cap across its income suite, “to retain growth potential.” Tech is the most fertile ground there is for this strategy: implied volatility keeps option premiums fat, so a third of the book generates an 8.85% distribution while the other two-thirds rides. It’s the structural opposite of a yield-maximizer — less income per dollar of assets, far more upside kept.
What you’re buying is an income translation layer on growth stocks: AMD, Palo Alto, ServiceNow and Micron pay little or no dividend, yet HTA pays $0.16/unit monthly. Harvest states the tax framing — “income generated with covered call options is taxed as capital gains,” with any shortfall versus distributions paid as return of capital. The toll is the highest here (0.99% MER), and equal weight means owning the 20th-best idea at the same size as the first. Note the class menu: HTA (CAD-hedged), HTA.B (unhedged), HTA.U (USD) — same book, different currency treatment.
The rest of the field
The rest of the field, one line each:
- ZWC — the broad-Canada book — 72 dividend payers at 6.48%
- ZWB — the $4.4B Canadian-banks fund, running since 2011
- ZWU — utilities, telecoms and pipelines at 7.09%, US sleeve CAD-hedged
- HMAX — Canadian financials yield-maximized to 11.71%
- UMAX — utilities-plus (rails, pipes, telecoms) at 13.40%
- HHL — US healthcare income at 10.24%, since 2014
Frequently asked questions
What does HTA hold?
HTA holds 20 equal-weighted global tech leaders; calls written on at most 33% of holdings — led by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) at 6.8%, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) at 6.7%, Micron Technology (MU) at 6.1% (as of May 29, 2026 (20 equal-weighted holdings)). Sector mix: 20 large-cap technology companies, equally weighted — predominantly US-listed, CAD-hedged (Class A) (provider holdings table, may 29, 2026). Weights drift between rebalances — active covered calls capped at 33% of holdings (harvest suite-wide); class a is cad-hedged (hta.b unhedged, hta.u in usd).
What does HTA cost?
Currently 0.85% management fee; 0.99% published MER (MER as at Dec 31, 2025). Covered-call ETFs are the most expensive mainstream category in Canada — the major funds run 0.71%–0.99% MER, versus 0.11%–0.66% for plain dividend ETFs, because you're paying for an active options program. See the full comparison, and what a ~0.8% fee compounds into with the MER calculator.
Is HTA's distribution yield the same as a dividend yield?
No — and this is the single most important thing to understand about covered-call funds. HTA's distribution is the underlying stocks' dividends plus option premium, the cash received for selling away part of the portfolio's upside. The yield is real monthly cash flow, but it is not "income the businesses earned" — part of it is the market paying you today for growth you won't receive later. Providers state the trade plainly (Hamilton: "writing options caps the upside growth potential of the portfolio that is covered, in exchange for a higher yield"). Tax-wise, providers state that option premiums are generally treated initially as capital gains, and distributions often include return of capital, which reduces your adjusted cost base — check the fund's annual tax-character breakdown and consider professional advice for large non-registered positions. The covered-call guide walks the full mechanics.
The bottom line
The covered-call fund for people who still want the growth: a 33% write cap is a fundamentally different bargain from writing over half or most of the book. You pay 0.99% for it — decide whether the income layer is worth what a plain tech fund charges 0.20% to skip.
This page is for educational purposes only and is not investment advice. Fund facts were verified at Harvest ETFs's published fact sheets and product pages on June 10, 2026; holdings and weights are point-in-time and drift between rebalances; published MERs may lag recent fee changes (MER as at Dec 31, 2025). We deliberately do not compare or project returns. Read the fund facts document before buying. See our methodology.