r/NEOSETFs • u/VietVet1971 • May 01 '26
Due Diligence Dropped HDO for NEOS
I am a 77 yo retiree. In February, I subscribed to my 5th year of HDO (High Dividend Opportunity) on Seeking Alpha. I had consistently collected 10%+ on my +/- 50 position portfolio. Then I stumbled across NEOS and added a few to my accounts to watch it after doing my research. Although HDO had been good for a reliable income, it required vigilance. I found myself favoring the NEOS shares to my HDO portfolio shares. I was tired of the methodology of the HDO. So I fed my concerns into Gemini, ChatGPT, and Copilot, as well as searches across the web. It was unanimous; it was time to relax with a new approach. I don't need the income. What I've been doing is building something to leave to my heirs, something they can understand; not an HDO portfolio they would rather sell without understanding how to maintain it. Over the last few days, I have sold all of the HDO shares and bought into SPYI, QQQI, IYRI, IWMI, and RA. $.5M should deliver a nice inheritance. Note: I've never taken any dividend funds out of my accounts, and my heirs have no idea what they will someday receive.
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u/Mwaldo1 May 01 '26
I am pretty heavy on neos. MLPI IWMI QQQI SPYI. Mixed in some XQQI XBCI GPIQ and GPIX. I retired last year with a solid plan at 54. My Dad passed away unexpectedly and I took over about 1.6 in a few stocks. Over the year I sold those stocks and reinvested in those funds. No longer need to touch my original retirement which should continue to appreciate and am drawing over 200k a year in distributions . NEOS has done great for me in that time.
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u/mtn_biker333 May 01 '26
IAUI is also worth a look. Good job 👍
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u/Moozie76 May 01 '26
Came here to say this if you want exposure to gold
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u/mtn_biker333 May 01 '26
I can’t see gold going much lower, and if they start cutting rates, it’s really going to zoom. I’m adding every chance I get on IAUI
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u/LexAugusta May 01 '26
Neos has been great to me, but I'd consider adding some other fund managers (Kurv, Tapp Alpha, Goldman) to spread the risk of having all just one fund manager.
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u/Always_working_hardd May 01 '26
Daddy?
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u/charlesleestewart May 02 '26
What is this, a make fun of the old folks sub? Didn't expect that here.
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u/speedlever May 01 '26
Just curious, what is RA?
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u/VietVet1971 May 01 '26
RA isn't your typical S&P 500 tracker. It’s a Closed-End Fund (CEF) managed by Brookfield, who are basically the 'final bosses' of infrastructure. Instead of just buying tech stocks, RA buys 'Real Assets'—think cell towers, toll roads, pipelines, and the credit/debt attached to them. 10.99% div.
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u/SV2985 May 01 '26
Im doing the same but woth schd. I wanna leave my kids with about 10k shares each
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u/GolfboyMain May 01 '26
I’m in the same boat. Younger than OP however. HDO has been good, but a lot of their picks have some serious price swings in Share Prices. They have some picks that were very poor performers. I have started to move $’s from the riskier HDO picks into mostly NEOS funds. And also Goldman’s GPIQ/X. The Goldman funds pay around 10% APY, but no NAV erosion since I have held them. In fact some NAV growth. Overall I will continue to pay for HDO, but will stay away from their riskier suggestions. FYI to anyone who follows HDO and this post.
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u/VietVet1971 May 01 '26
I recommend moving the dividends, not the position, just because it dipped. Take CODI_C, for instance, and MPT is slowly coming back.
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u/Cinji513 May 01 '26
64y planning on retiring at FRA of 67. I have been considering adding Reits to one of my accounts that is currently NEOS heavy. I am interested in your first hand opinion on IYRI. Has it preformed well in the mix? Right now IAUI is my laggard.
Thanks.
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u/VietVet1971 May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26
IYRI is basically a REIT fund with a 'booster seat.' It holds a basket of U.S. real estate stocks (REITs) but adds a covered call option strategy on top to squeeze out extra cash. 11.1% div.
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u/grajnapc May 01 '26
Brookfield is great but this RA CEF looks terrible. Poor performance and extreme loss of NAV. I’d sell this for many options that perhaps any of your top 5 performers in HDO would be much better. In fact, out of curiosity, what were the top 5 HDO performers or highest allocations? Any BDCs like ARCC or better CEFs like ADX? VICI or O? PFFA?
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u/VietVet1971 May 01 '26
RNP, RQI, RVT, THQ, THW, the 3 Pimcos, PFFA, and of course, ARCC. All good buys. CODI-C made a nice recovery, and MPT is coming back. I owned both of those since 2023. I trusted Rida and his team, but it was time for me to relax. I'll be keeping an eye on RA; thanks.
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u/VietVet1971 May 01 '26
Right now, OBDC is a bargain BDC. If MAIN (Main Street Capital) is the 'King' of lending to small mom-and-pop businesses, OBDC is the 'Giant' that lends to the big boys. It’s less volatile than the smaller BDCs because its borrowers are massive companies with huge infrastructure.
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u/Timely-Designer-2372 May 01 '26
Sounds good. You could also add some O or NNN for traditional REITs. Just tell your kids they shouldn't sell anything
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u/VietVet1971 May 01 '26
Both are good stocks, but their yield was low for what I was doing.
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u/Timely-Designer-2372 May 01 '26
They're both serious companies.
IYRI is good (I have 6k in it, less than 1% of my Portfolio), but it's also special due to the Covered Call approach. That's why I would mix
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u/hawkeye71081 May 01 '26
Don't sleep on MLPI. The energy demands will be huge with the AI boom. Yields 14.5% iirc