CPRY vs SNTH

CPRYACalamos Russell 2000 Structured Alt Protection ETF – January

SNTHDMRP SynthEquity 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.

SNTH Most funds in this corner hand you a fixed buffer and a reset date. SNTH skips the calendar: an actively managed mix of S&P 500 index options and Treasuries aiming for equity-like exposure while mitigating losses, at 0.96%.

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.

SNTH The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation through an actively managed combination of options on the S&P 500 Index and U.S. Treasuries. The strategy is designed to provide synthetic equity exposure while mitigating losses.

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.

• SNTH Equity-like exposure assembled from S&P 500 index options sitting on a Treasury base, run actively, with no fixed outcome period or reset date to time your entry around.
• The portfolio does what the filings describe: US focus, S&P 500 options plus Treasuries, active management. No style drift to decode.
• Has gathered hundreds of millions since its 2025 launch, trades at moderate volume, and pays a distribution quarterly.

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.

• SNTH At 0.96% with no waiver, it prices above the category median. The Calamos structured protection funds (CPRY, CPRO, CPRJ) run 0.69%, and ISWN runs 0.49%.
• Loss mitigation here is the manager's call, not a stated buffer percentage, so how much cushion is in place shifts with the options book.
• Launched March 2025, so the risk record is still short, and an options-plus-Treasuries build can diverge from the S&P 500 in either direction.

Full CPRY profile⁠

Full SNTH profile⁠