A yield of roughly 27% on a fund that has reportedly kept pace with the Nasdaq 100 since January 2025 should make any income investor lean in, then check the fine print. A payout that high usually means something is being given up, and the HHIS ETF is no exception.
The Harvest Diversified High Income Shares ETF (HHIS) trades in Toronto, is unhedged against the Canadian dollar, and holds about 20 of Harvest’s leveraged single-stock covered-call funds. It now manages more than CAD 2.1 billion, and Harvest launched a one-ticket sibling, HONE, on 1 October 2026.
The latest monthly distribution is CAD 0.27, with trailing yield at 27.55% per Harvest’s early October data.
How is HHIS built, and why does the structure matter?
On a screen, HHIS is a ticker with a 27% yield. Underneath, it is a fund of funds: layers of products that each change what you actually own.
Key figures from early October 2026:
- Price: CAD 11.78
- NAV (net asset value per unit): CAD 11.76
- Monthly distribution: CAD 0.27
- Trailing yield: 27.55%
- AUM: CAD 2,111.63 million, up from CAD 1,557.6 million at 30 April 2026
The three layers: fund, single-stock ETFs, calls and leverage
HHIS holds about 20 Harvest ETFs, each holding one stock, writing covered calls on it and applying roughly 25% leverage. Three levers follow: premium income, capped upside and magnified losses.
The fund is actively managed rather than equal-weighted. Harvest says the underlying ETFs write calls on up to 50% of holdings, but the presenter’s reported actual levels run closer to 30-41%.
The MER (management expense ratio) was 1.85% at 31 December 2025, with total expenses of 2.00%, and 1.72% in interim statements at 30 June 2026. Leverage financing costs are not separately disclosed, so the headline MER understates the true cost by an unknown amount.
The wider Harvest family
| Ticker | Focus | Note | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| HHIS.U | US-dollar class of HHIS | Variable monthly payout | Listed 7 October 2025 |
| HHIC | Canadian-focused | Extends HHIS approach | Launched 22 August 2025 |
| HHII | International equities | Limited detail | Available |
| HHIH | Unleveraged version | Limited detail | Available |
| HONE | 40% HHIS, 30% HHIC, 30% HHII | One-ticket global income | Listed 1 October 2026 |
The monthly payout has stepped from 25 to 26 to 27 cents. Roughly $5.23 per share has been paid since inception, though Harvest does not publish a cumulative figure.
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What does HHIS actually hold?
Twenty stocks sounds diversified. The weights tell a narrower story.
| Company | Weight (31 August 2026) |
|---|---|
| Microsoft | 7.03% |
| Apple | 7.02% |
| Nvidia | 6.94% |
| Eli Lilly | 6.72% |
| Amazon | 6.29% |
| Alphabet | 6.25% |
| Broadcom | 6.03% |
| CrowdStrike | 5.40% |
Weights above about 7% get trimmed and the floor sits near 2%, within a 20-stock cap. Newer Harvest ETFs on ASML, Berkshire, Intel and Micron cannot be added without removals or a bigger cap; the presenter would favour 25 stocks.
- Core mega-cap names: Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Tesla, Lilly, Costco
- Speculative or crypto-linked names: Coinbase, Circle, Strategy (MicroStrategy), Robinhood, SoFi, Reddit, SpaceX
The sector split is about 60% technology and 22% communication services. That is roughly 82% in two sectors, so a tech or communications shock would hit harder than it would a broad US benchmark. If you already hold an S&P 500 or Nasdaq 100 fund, you may be doubling up rather than diversifying.
Holding HHIS beside an S&P 500 or Nasdaq 100 fund risks the thematic overlap that quietly concentrates exposure in the same mega-cap names, so you should audit what the funds share before adding another.
How has it performed against its stocks, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100?
Since January 2025, the presenter’s analysis shows HHIS total return (distributions reinvested) well ahead of the S&P 500 and slightly ahead of the Nasdaq 100, with greater volatility. Harvest does not publish a since-inception benchmark comparison, so these claims rest on one analyst’s work.
Of the 20 underlying ETFs, 11 beat their stocks and 9 lagged. The logic is consistent: calls cap the upside, leverage offsets that in rallies, and leverage magnifies losses when a single stock falls sharply.
| Outcome vs stock | Examples |
|---|---|
| Outperformed | Apple, Nvidia, Lilly, Amazon, Alphabet, Broadcom, Palantir, CrowdStrike, SoFi, Reddit, Tesla (slightly) |
| Underperformed | AMD, Costco, Meta (sizable), Robinhood, Coinbase, SpaceX, Circle, MSTR, Microsoft (slightly) |
The presenter attributes differences largely to luck in strike timing. SpaceX ETF data covers only a month or two, and results are in CAD, so currency effects are mixed in.
Harvest’s founder confirmed in an interview that holding the same stocks at the same weights, without leverage or calls, would roughly mimic HHIS performance.
Matching the Nasdaq 100 with extra volatility means you take more risk for about the same return. The 27% yield is how that return is delivered, not a bonus on top, and the track record is under two years in a strong market.
Covered calls, leverage and yield: how do the mechanics behave in different markets?
A covered call means owning a stock and selling someone the right to buy it at a set price. You collect cash now and give up gains above that price.
Why single-stock calls pay more
Volatile stocks command richer option premiums than broad indices. The presenter contrasts QQCL, an index-based covered-call fund, at a 13-14% yield with HHIS at 25-30%. No comparative data turned up for YieldMax or Canadian index covered-call ETFs versus HHIS, so that gap is the only yardstick available.
Index-based leveraged covered call ETFs combine roughly 1.25x exposure with a call overlay, producing near-index participation at lower yields than HHIS, which is the cleanest comparison for the single-stock approach.
| Market | Income | NAV | Relative return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strong rally | Strong | Rises, capped | Lags stocks; leverage offsets much of it |
| Flat or choppy | Attractive | Broadly stable | Reasonable |
| Sharp selloff | Pressured | Deeper falls | Leverage magnifies losses |
Where the yield can break
Distributions are funded by dividends, option premium and potentially return of capital (ROC), which means handing investors back their own money. If underlying returns fall short of the payout, the fund must cut distributions or lean harder on ROC, eroding NAV.
The yield crossed 30% a few months ago when stocks fell, but that reflected a falling price as well as the payout. A long selloff would test the 27-cent distribution first and the NAV second.
Can a US investor treat HHIS as a core holding? Currency, tax and portfolio fit
The case for core
The presenter calls HHIS a boosted, more concentrated Nasdaq 100: 20 leading companies with similar returns. He holds it as his largest position, and in his parents’ TFSA and grandparents’ portfolios, suggesting a pairing with S&P 500 or Nasdaq 100 funds.
The case for a satellite sleeve
General income-investing practice treats concentrated, leveraged, covered-call products as satellite strategies. No named third-party analyst commentary on this fund was found, so independent scrutiny is thin.
ETF Facts warning: “You could lose money.”
Risks include leverage, the tech and communications tilt, and crypto-linked names such as MicroStrategy, Coinbase and Circle.
Frictions specific to US investors
HHIS is CAD-unhedged: a weaker Canadian dollar helps and a stronger one hurts, regardless of stock moves. Distributions arrive in CAD.
Canadian-domiciled funds are typically treated as PFICs (passive foreign investment companies) for US residents, which brings complex reporting, and layered withholding on US dividends can reduce tax efficiency. This is general information, not individual advice.
For most US investors, that friction makes HHIS better sized as a deliberate, limited income position. Price it in before comparing yields with US-domiciled funds. Before allocating, ask:
- How much income do I actually need?
- Can I tolerate a deep drawdown with leverage?
- How much tech overlap do I already hold?
- Can I handle the tax and reporting load?
- What is my view on the Canadian dollar?
What to weigh before sizing a position in a 27% yield fund
The trade is clear: a 27.55% trailing yield, CAD 0.27 monthly payout and CAD 2.11 billion in assets, against capped upside, amplified drawdowns and cross-border friction. The benchmark-matching results rest on a presenter’s analysis, not Harvest-published data.
Checking mandate, holdings, costs and distributions side by side is the core of any ETF due diligence framework, and a fund of leveraged single-stock products like HHIS stretches every one of those checks.
Watch the distribution against its 25-27% range, the NAV trend, CAD/USD, any change to the 20-stock cap, and how HONE affects the family.
This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Investors should conduct their own research and consult with financial professionals before making investment decisions. Past performance does not guarantee future results, and tax matters should be reviewed with a qualified cross-border adviser.
