---
title: "C.J. Lawrence's new 0.75% ETF hedges a band J.P. Morgan already covers at 0.50%"
url: "https://etf.net/news/buffered-bulldog-fee-tops-jp-morgan-2026-11-02"
published_at: "2026-11-02T17:19:24.108Z"
updated_at: "2026-11-02T17:19:24.108Z"
byline: "ETF.net Research"
---

# C.J. Lawrence's new 0.75% ETF hedges a band J.P. Morgan already covers at 0.50%

Investors in the new Buffered Bulldog ETF take about the first 5% of a quarterly drop in an S&P 500 ETF, and the fund hedges about the next 15% of that drop with options that do not follow its 30 to 50 stocks.

By ETF.net Research. Published Nov 2, 2026.

The Buffered Bulldog ETF by C.J. Lawrence, a division of Apollon, ACJL, began trading on NYSE Arca on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. Its [Oct. 28, 2026, summary prospectus](https://www.acjletf.com/acjl/summary-prospectus) sets total annual operating expenses at **0.75%**. J.P. Morgan Asset Management already hedges the same 5% to 20% band in an ETF that costs 0.50%.

Tidal Investments advises the fund. C.J. Lawrence, a division of Apollon Wealth Management, picks the stocks, generally 30 to 50 U.S.-listed companies, primarily those with a market value of at least $5 billion. It calls them Bulldogs, companies it believes can take market share and hold pricing power, among other traits.

## How the quarterly collar works

The hedge does not follow those stocks. It is a collar, three options on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, SPY, opened together and expiring together about three months later.

The summary prospectus says the collar is sized to the fund's assets when it is set, so the hedge starts at about 100% of the fund. The fund replaces them as they near expiration, and each new collar is measured from the price of SPY when it is set.

The fund buys one put and sells another. At expiration, the purchased put pays dollar for dollar once SPY is about 5% below the starting price. The sold put, set about 20% below the starting price, cancels any further payment.

Together they are a spread, and the most it can pay is about 15% of the amount covered. The summary prospectus says:

"The spread provides no protection against the initial approximately 5% decline or additional protection against declines beyond approximately 20%."

The third option is a call the fund sells, about 5% above the starting price. Premiums from the options it sells help pay for the purchased put. At expiration, if SPY rises past that call, the fund loses dollar for dollar on the option as SPY keeps rising.

The fund can lose money on the call while the market is up. That is a cap on SPY for the quarter, not on the share price of ACJL, which still owns its stocks.

The options are European-style, so that payoff is available in full only on the expiration date. Before then, what the options are worth depends on the price of SPY, how much that price is moving, and how much time is left.

The prospectus says the portfolio is generally expected to move with the S&P 500 Index because the holdings overlap, and that differences in the holdings can pull them apart. If SPY rises past the call while the stocks lag, the loss on the call can exceed the gain in the portfolio.

The fund is non-diversified, so a large share of assets can sit in a few companies, and those companies can be in the same sector.

## J.P. Morgan already runs this hedge

J.P. Morgan Asset Management's JPMorgan Hedged Equity Laddered Overlay ETF, HELO, holds a U.S. large-cap portfolio and a laddered options hedge. A [June 30, 2026, fund story](https://am.jpmorgan.com/content/dam/jpm-am-aem/americas/us/en/literature/fund-story/STO-HELO.pdf) describes protection against declines of 5% to 20% over three months, with three of those hedges staggered a month apart, using options on ETFs that track the S&P 500 Index.

The firm's [Sept. 30, 2026, fact sheet](https://am.jpmorgan.com/content/dam/jpm-am-aem/americas/us/en/literature/fact-sheet/etfs/FS-HELO.pdf) puts assets at **$4.82 billion**, expenses at 0.50%, gross and net, and holdings at 145. The fund launched Sept. 28, 2023. ACJL costs 0.25 percentage points more, and it uses one quarterly expiration rather than a ladder.

ACJL's prospectus describes the fund as recently organized, with no operating history.

Simplify Asset Management's Simplify Hedged Equity ETF, HEQT, owns an S&P 500 fund instead of picking stocks. Its [Nov. 1, 2026, prospectus](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1810747/000182912626011648/simplifyetf_485bpos.htm) says a put spread is generally kept so the fund is protected against an S&P 500 Index decline of 5% to 20%, and the options are reset at least quarterly. In the same passage, the collar applies to up to 20% of the fund.

ACJL's collar starts at about 100% of the fund. Total annual fund operating expenses in the Simplify prospectus are 0.48%, and the fee table lists no waiver.

The 0.48% includes 0.03 percentage points of fees from the ETFs the fund holds. As of Oct. 30, 2026, Simplify reported $307.4 million in HEQT, and the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF, IVV, was 99.36% of it.

Chart: HELO holds **$4.85 billion** against ACJL's $1.23 million

J.P. Morgan already runs this hedge on more stocks, for less. The collar on HEQT covers up to 20% of the fund, not all of it.

Source: etf.net, https://etf.net/news/buffered-bulldog-fee-tops-jp-morgan-2026-11-02. Please cite the page URL.