What exactly can a laddered approach to bitcoin exposure bring to an advisor or investor’s portfolio? The best way to answer that question is to examine its inherent advantages over traditional spot bitcoin ETFs.
This past October, Calamos Investments launched the Calamos Laddered Bitcoin Structured Alt Protection ETF (CBOL), which aims to generate downside-protected returns through a laddered portfolio of Calamos Protected Bitcoin ETFs.
Each of the four ETFs within CBOL’s portfolio are designed to provide capped upside exposure to bitcoin, along with significant risk management, given all four funds provide complete downside protection across their one-year outcome periods (after fees and expenses).
The funds are arranged into an equal-weighted, rolling portfolio, with each starting in a different quarter to provide continuous laddered exposure. This allows CBOL’s investors to access returns from four staggered bitcoin time horizons with defined levels of protection, helping insulate them from timing risk.
CBOL Offers a Variety of Use Cases
This approach enables CBOL to address multiple portfolio applications. For instance, longtime crypto investors could look to this type of fund as a way to hedge their bitcoin exposure. They could pull some of their assets out of a spot bitcoin ETF and allocate a portion of it to CBOL to help hedge against a drawdown. Considering the recent price volatility of bitcoin, this strategy could prove especially potent.
Inversely, CBOL could also be an interesting option for first-time crypto investors. For those who want to diversify with cryptocurrency but are wary of the volatility, CBOL offers a way to do so in a highly risk-managed way.
Moreover, CBOL’s single-ticker, fully liquid, and operationally streamlined structure provides a model-ready solution for advisors.
These are just a few examples of the use cases for CBOL. Regardless of why you want to add CBOL to your portfolio, the fund remains well-positioned to deliver its unique blend of risk management and long-term rewards.
For more news, information, and strategy, visit the Crypto Content Hub.
Before investing, carefully consider the fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Please see the prospectus and summary prospectus containing this and other information, which can be obtained by calling 1-866-363-9219. Read it carefully before investing.
An investment in the Fund is subject to risks, and you could lose money on your investment in the Fund. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Your investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The risks associated with an investment in the Fund can increase during times of significant market volatility. The Fund also has specific principal risks, which are described below. More detailed information regarding these risks can be found in the Fund’s prospectus.
Digital Assets Risk: The bitcoin network was first launched in 2009, and bitcoins were the first cryptographic digital assets created to gain global adoption and critical mass. Although the bitcoin network is the most established digital asset network, the bitcoin network and other cryptographic and algorithmic protocols governing the issuance of digital assets represent a new and rapidly evolving industry that is subject to a variety of factors that are difficult to evaluate. Moreover, because digital assets, including bitcoin, have been in existence for a short period of time and are continuing to develop, there may be additional risks in the future that are impossible to predict as of the date of this prospectus. Digital assets represent a new and rapidly evolving industry, and the value of the Underlying ETPs’ shares depends on the acceptance of bitcoin. The realization of one or more of the following risks could materially adversely affect the value of the Underlying ETPs’ shares.
Investing involves risks. Loss of principal is possible. The Fund(s) face numerous market trading risks, including authorized participation concentration risk, cap change risk, capital protection risk, capped upside risk, cash holdings risk, clearing member default risk, correlation risk, derivatives risk, equity securities risk, investment timing risk, large-capitalization investing risk, liquidity risk, market maker risk, market risk, non-diversification risk, options risk, premium-discount risk, secondary market trading risk, sector risk, tax risk, trading issues risk, underlying ETF risk and valuation risk. For a detailed list of fund risks see the prospectus.
The Fund seeks to provide investment results that, before taking fees and expenses into account, track the positive price return of the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate – New York Variant (“BRRNY”) (“Spot bitcoin”) up to a predetermined upside cap (the “Cap”) while seeking to protect against 100% of losses (before fees and expenses) of (i) Spot bitcoin or (ii) one or more of the Underlying ETPs and/or Bitcoin Indexes, in each case, over a period of approximately one (1) year (the “Outcome Period”). The Fund will not invest directly in bitcoin. Instead, the Fund seeks to provide investment results that, before taking fees and expenses into account, track the positive price return of Spot bitcoin by investing in options that reference the price performance of either (i) one or more underlying exchange-traded products (“Underlying ETPs”) which, in turn, own bitcoin or (ii) one or more indexes that are designed to track the price of bitcoin (“Bitcoin Index”).
FUND-OF-FUNDS RISK. Shareholders of the Fund will experience investment returns that are different than the investment returns provided by an Underlying ETF. The Fund does not itself pursue a defined outcome strategy, nor does the Fund itself provide downside protection against SPY losses. Because the Fund will typically not purchase an Underlying ETF on the first day of a Target Outcome Period, it is not likely that the stated outcome of the Underlying ETF will be realized by the Fund. The Fund will be continuously exposed to the investment profiles of each of the Underlying ETFs during their respective Target Outcome Periods. The Fund, with its aggregate exposure to each of the Underlying ETFs, may have investment returns that are inferior to that of any single Underlying ETF or group of Underlying ETFs over any given time period. In between the semi-annual rebalance period of the Index, because the Fund is not equally weighted on a continuous basis, the Fund may be exposed to one or more Underlying ETFs disproportionately when compared to other Underlying ETFs. In such circumstances, the Fund will be subject to the over-weighted performance of such Underlying ETF. As a shareholder in other ETFs, the Fund bears its proportionate share of each ETF’s expenses, subjecting Fund shareholders to duplicative expenses.
The outcomes that the Underlying ETFs seek to provide may only be realized if you are holding shares on the first day of the outcome period and continue to hold them on the last day of the outcome period, approximately one year. There is no guarantee that the outcomes for an outcome period will be realized or that the Underlying ETFs will achieve their investment objective. If the outcome period has begun and the underlying ETF has increased in value, any appreciation of the Fund(s) by virtue of increases in the underlying ETF since the commencement of the outcome period will not be protected by the sought after protection, and an investor could experience losses until the underlying ETF returns to the original price at the commencement of the outcome period. The Underlying ETFs are subject to an upside return cap (the “Cap”) that represents the maximum percentage return an investor can achieve from an investment in the fund(s) for the outcome period, before fees and expenses. If the outcome period has begun and the Underlying ETFs have increased in value to a level near to their individual Cap, an investor purchasing at that price has little or no ability to achieve gains but remains vulnerable to downside risks. Additionally, the Cap may rise or fall from one outcome period to the next. Unlike the Underlying ETFs, the Fund itself does not pursue a target outcome strategy. The protection is only provided by the Underlying ETFs and the Fund itself does not provide any stated downside protection against losses. The Fund will likely not receive the full benefit of the Underlying ETF downside protections and could have limited upside potential. The Fund’s returns are limited by the caps of the Underlying ETFs. The Cap, and the Fund(s) position relative to it, should be considered before investing in the Fund(s) website, www.calamos. com, provides important Fund information as well as information relating to the potential outcomes of an investment in the Fund(s) on a daily basis100% capital protection is over a one-year period before fees and expenses. All caps are pre-determined.
Cap Rate – Maximum percentage return an investor can achieve from an investment in the Fund if held over the Outcome Period.
Cap Range – Cap ranges are based on the last 15 trading days prior to range announcement, based on market conditions during the sample period, and are subject to change. The actual cap rate may be different based on market events.
Protection Level – Amount of protection the Fund is designed to achieve over the Days Remaining.
Outcome Period – Number of days in the Outcome Period.
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