CPRY vs FLJJ

CPRYACalamos Russell 2000 Structured Alt Protection ETF – January

FLJJBAllianzIM U.S. Equity 6 Month Floor5 Jan/Jul ETF

In short

CPRY Small caps with a hard floor. CPRY uses options to target 100% of your starting value back over a one-year outcome period, before fees. The trade: a ceiling on the upside, reset each January.

FLJJ Most protected-outcome funds absorb your first 5% of losses. This one draws the line at 5% instead: FLEX options on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, downside limited beyond 5%, upside capped, terms reset every six months.

Stated mandate

CPRY The fund seeks point-to-point exposure to the positive price return of the Russell 2000 up to a defined cap, while providing 100% downside protection over the one-year outcome period before fees and expenses.

FLJJ The Fund uses FLEX Options referencing the SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust to seek matching returns through an outcome period, subject to an upside cap and protection against losses beyond 5%.

Why people hold it

• CPRY Full protection, not a partial buffer: the design targets 100% downside protection over the one-year outcome period, before fees and expenses.
• The floor sits on small caps. The reference asset is the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM), the choppier end of US equities.
• At 0.69%, it undercuts the 0.89% median fee among protection funds, and it sits among the strongest implementations in that peer group.
• Part of a dated series: siblings start their outcome periods in July (CPRJ) and October (CPRO), so January is not the only entry point.

• FLJJ Floor, not buffer. The option package is built so losses past 5% don't reach you over the outcome period, instead of soaking up only the first slice of a drop.
• Six-month outcome periods reset each January and July, so the terms get repriced twice a year rather than locked in for a full twelve months.
• At 0.74%, it runs below the median fee in its protected-outcome group and under Innovator's SFLR at 0.89%, though the Calamos CPRJ/CPRY line sits at 0.69%.
• Among the floor-style funds tracked here, this one lands in the upper half of the group on build quality and cost.

Worth knowing

• CPRY Protection is point to point and before the 0.69% fee. Buy mid-period or sell early and you get whatever the options package is worth that day.
• Upside stops at a cap that resets with each new January outcome period. Anything the Russell 2000 gains above it stays with the index.
• A small fund that trades thinly, so spreads can run wider than on big index ETFs.

• FLJJ The cap is set by option pricing when each period begins, so the next one is not knowable ahead of time.
• Small and lightly traded, so spreads can run wider than in mainstream index ETFs. Limit orders are the sane way in and out.
• Floor and cap are engineered for a period held start to finish. Step in mid-period and your effective protection and upside differ from the headline terms.

Full CPRY profile⁠

Full FLJJ profile⁠