CPRA vs IWMW

CPRACCalamos Russell 2000 Structured Alt Protection ETF – April

IWMWAiShares Russell 2000 BuyWrite ETF

In short

CPRA Small caps without the trapdoor. CPRA uses options on IWM to aim for zero downside across a one-year April-to-April period, and pays for it with a hard ceiling on gains that Calamos resets each spring.

IWMW Small-cap income, stripped down: IWMW owns a Russell 2000 index fund and writes monthly covered calls against it, at 0.39% a year when most Russell 2000 call-writers charge more.

Stated mandate

CPRA The fund seeks to participate in the positive price return of the Russell 2000 up to a defined cap while protecting against all losses during a one-year outcome period, before fees and expenses.

IWMW The fund seeks to track an index holding the iShares Russell 2000 ETF and writes monthly covered calls to generate income.

Why people hold it

• CPRA The bargain is spelled out in the prospectus: shield against all losses over the full outcome period (before fees), upside stopped at a cap reset every April 1.calamos.com
• Costs 0.69% a year, under the median for Russell 2000 options funds it competes with.
• A different bet than the covered-call crowd. RYLD and IWMW sell calls for income and still ride small caps down. CPRA skips the income and puts the chips on protection.
• The reference is IWM's price return, the small-cap benchmark most investors already know, not a bespoke back-tested index.

• IWMW 0.39% a year undercuts most Russell 2000 covered call peers, including RYLD at 0.60% and IWMI at 0.76%.
• Rules-based plumbing: the index holds the iShares Russell 2000 ETF and writes monthly covered calls. Nobody is guessing strikes month to month.ishares.com
• Cash goes out monthly, funded by the premium from the call writing rather than by small-cap dividends alone.
• One of the stronger builds in the Russell 2000 options-income group: low fee, plain-vanilla holdings, a mandate it sticks to.

Worth knowing

• CPRA The protection math is stated before fees and expenses and runs start to finish of the outcome period. Step in or out mid-period and your cap and cushion differ from the headline terms.
• No income stream. Russell 2000 dividends sit outside the options structure, and the fund has not been making distributions.
• Young, small and thinly traded since its 2025 launch, so wider spreads are more likely than with the category's giants.

• IWMW Covered calls swap upside for premium. In a sharp small-cap rally, the gains above the strike belong to the call buyer, not to you.
• Still a small, thinly traded fund, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than on the household-name small-cap ETFs.
• Launched in 2024, so there is no track record through a full small-cap drawdown and recovery.

Full CPRA profile⁠

Full IWMW profile⁠