Ninepoint adds defence and equity ETFs with covered call income

Canadian asset manager Ninepoint targets income investors with new ETFs spanning aerospace, defence, and broad US equities.

By Disrupts Editorial Team Tue, 29 September 2026 AI level 2 of 5

AI level 2 of 5: drafted by our AI editorial assistant from the company's announcement; fact-checked, edited and signed off by Mark Walker, Editorial Director. What the levels mean

Robotic arms assemble a partially exposed aircraft fuselage, revealing internal wiring and being fitted with metal panels, within a brightly lit factory.

Ninepoint Partners, one of Canada's largest independent alternative investment managers, has listed two new exchange-traded funds on the Toronto Stock Exchange, extending its HighShares covered call suite into global aerospace and defence and broad US large-cap equities. The launches signal how Canadian asset managers are packaging thematic equity exposure, particularly in defence, into income-generating structures at a moment when institutional and retail appetite for yield-plus-growth vehicles is intensifying.

The Ninepoint Enhanced Aerospace and Defense HighShares ETF (TSX: EDHI) is designed to hold a targeted basket of global aerospace and defence companies, including established prime contractors and businesses operating across space, cybersecurity and adjacent security technologies. The Ninepoint Enhanced U.S. Equity HighShares ETF (TSX: USHI) takes a sector-balanced approach, holding approximately 25 US large-cap companies spanning technology, financials, healthcare, energy and utilities. Both funds layer a covered call writing strategy, selling options on existing holdings to generate premium income, on top of their equity exposure, and may employ leverage of up to 33% of the portfolio to amplify returns. Distributions are paid twice monthly, more frequently than the monthly cadence typical of competing Canadian covered call products.

"Income investors want more choice in the companies and sectors they own," said Karl Cheong, Executive Vice President and Head of ETFs at Ninepoint. "Both combine focused equity exposure and covered call writing to pursue regular income and long-term growth."

Defence as an asset class, not just a theme

The launch of EDHI reflects a broader structural shift in how capital is being allocated to the defence and security sector. Sustained increases in NATO member spending commitments, ongoing procurement cycles in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, and the dual-use expansion of the space economy have collectively repositioned aerospace and defence from a cyclical trade into what an increasing number of fund managers now treat as a structural allocation. By wrapping that exposure in an income-generating covered call structure, Ninepoint is pitching directly at yield-seeking investors who have historically avoided the sector's return volatility by staying out altogether.

The covered call approach carries its own trade-offs: capping upside in a sharp rally in exchange for predictable premium income. In a sector where geopolitical catalysts can produce sudden price movements, as Ukraine-related re-armament spending did across European defence equities in 2022, that ceiling may frustrate equity-growth allocators. The twice-monthly distribution cadence and a management fee of 0.55% for EDHI (0.40% for USHI) are nonetheless positioned as competitive against existing Canadian single-stock covered call products.

Convergence capital and the multi-sector play

The USHI fund is the more convergence-relevant vehicle for cross-sector strategists. A sector-balanced US large-cap portfolio, spanning technology, healthcare, energy and financials, is, in effect, an attempt to track the broad corporate economy without the concentration risk of index heavyweights. At a moment when investors are re-evaluating single-sector overweights (particularly in AI-adjacent technology stocks), a structured income product across sectors offers a different kind of optionality.

Ninepoint manages over $8 billion in assets under management, and the HighShares suite represents its clearest push into the thematic ETF space. The firm joins a crowded field of Canadian and US managers extending covered call strategies beyond single-stock products into sector baskets. For macro allocators weighing income generation against thematic exposure, particularly in defence, where equity valuations have re-rated sharply since 2022, the EDHI structure offers a way into the sector that systematically monetises volatility rather than simply riding it.

Whether covered call income ETFs in defence become a sustained category or a product-cycle moment will depend on how the underlying geopolitical spending cycle matures. For now, the asset management industry is clearly treating elevated defence budgets as durable enough to warrant dedicated product infrastructure.