The Greatest Comeback Story in Income Investing

Everyone wrote them off. Here's how Income Shares went from disaster to dominating the European income ETF market

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 (𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰)

Income Shares entered the European market with a simple pitch: high-yield covered call ETPs on single stocks.

The strategy? Buy shares, sell 5% out-of-the-money calls, collect premium.

Standard playbook. Every fund manager does it.

Problem: It didn't work.

Investors watched their NAV erode month after month. The yields looked great on paper - but the underlying value was bleeding out.

The covered call structure capped all the upside while still exposing investors to the full downside.

Classic yield trap.

Investors got wrecked. The product was failing. The brand was dying.

Most fund managers would have doubled down. Blamed the market. Blamed the investors.

Income Shares did something different.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗶𝘃𝗼𝘁

They listened.

Not to Wall Street. Not to analysts. Not to competitors.

They listened to the people actually buying their products - OUR COMMUNITY.

The feedback was clear:

"We want income, but not at the cost of growth"

"Stop capping our upside"

"We need NAV stability"

So they went back to the drawing board.

6 months ago, they scrapped the covered call strategy entirely.

And built something no other fund manager in the world uses.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

The new strategy: Cash-Secured Put + Equity

Here's how it works:

25% direct equity ownership (actual shares)

75% cash-secured put writing

Puts sold at strikes ranging from 5% OTM to 10% ITM

Why this is genius:

𝟭. 𝗡𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗽𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 With covered calls, if the stock moons, you miss the gains above the strike. With this strategy, your 25% equity rides the wave. Unlimited upside exposure.

𝟮. 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘀 Selling puts generates income just like covered calls - but without sacrificing your upside.

𝟯. 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 The 75% cash collateral isn't sitting idle. It earns a return. Extra income on top of option premiums.

𝟰. 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 If the stock drops, you're only 25% exposed - not 100%.

This isn't a small tweak. This is a completely different philosophy.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀

Let's talk numbers using their Tesla ETP (TSLD):

𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲:

Last 6 months: +58.45% total return

Last 3 months: +39.51% total return

YTD 2025: +7.65% total return (due to old strategy mixed in)

Since inception: +42.81% total return

NAV Growth 6M +24.24% Price Appreciation

𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗬𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱: 56.29%

𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼: 0.55%

Compare that to YieldMax's TSLY at 1.01% expense ratio.

But here's the real story:

𝗡𝗔𝗩 𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴.

The distributions aren't coming from your principal. They're coming from actual income generation.

This is what sustainable yield looks like.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵

The market noticed.

Income Shares in 2024:

5 ETPs

Struggling AUM

Reputation damaged

Income Shares in 2025:

19 ETPs (and growing)

AUM up 7x

Most traded Income ETPs on London Stock Exchange

They've expanded beyond Tesla to:

NVIDIA

S&P 500 (including 0DTE options)

Gold

MicroStrategy

Alibaba

TLT (Treasury bonds)

And more launching soon

From written off to market leader in 12 months.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀

If you're in the UK or Europe, you know the struggle.

US investors have YieldMax, Defiance, REX Shares - dozens of income options.

European investors? We've been locked out.

Income Shares is the first to bring single-stock income ETPs to Europe with:

No US withholding tax

LSE listed (ISA & SIPP eligible)

Now on Deutsche Börse and Euronext Amsterdam

FCA and Central Bank of Ireland regulated

This is the democratisation of income investing for European markets.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻

Most companies fail because they stop listening.

They get defensive. They blame external factors. They convince themselves they're right and the market is wrong.

Income Shares could have done that.

Instead they asked: "What do our investors actually need?"

Then they built it.

No ego. No excuses. Just execution.

The greatest turnaround in income investing wasn't about a clever strategy.

It was about humility.

Listen to your investors. They're the ones writing the cheques.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲

Income Shares went from:

Failing covered call strategy

NAV erosion

Investors getting wrecked

Written off by the market

To:

Unique put writing strategy (only one in the world)

NAV stability and growth

42%+ returns in 6 months

AUM up 7x

19 ETPs and expanding

Best performing income ETFs in Europe

All because they listened.

That's not just a comeback story.

That's a masterclass in building investor trust.

Fighting through the smoke to find the best income investments