AMLP Collar Strategy
AMLP (Alerian MLP ETF), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on AMEX.
The Alerian MLP ETF (AMLP) seeks investment results that correspond (before fees and expenses) generally to the price and yield performance of its underlying index, the Alerian MLP Infrastructure Index (AMZI).
AMLP (Alerian MLP ETF) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $12.42B, a beta of 0.37 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 44.64-54.25, average daily share volume of 1.6M, a public-listing history dating back to 2010. These structural characteristics shape how AMLP etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.37 indicates AMLP has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. AMLP pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a collar on AMLP?
A collar pairs long stock with a protective out-of-the-money put financed by a short out-of-the-money call, capping both tails of the position around the current spot.
Current AMLP snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $54.09, ATM IV 16.30%, IV rank 5.87%, expected move 4.67%. The collar on AMLP below is built from the same end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 34-day expiry.
Why this collar structure on AMLP specifically: IV regime affects collar pricing on both sides; compressed AMLP IV at 16.30% typically pushes the short call premium to roughly offset the long put cost, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 4.67% (roughly $2.53 on the underlying). The 34-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated AMLP expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on AMLP should anchor to the underlying notional of $54.09 per share and to the trader's directional view on AMLP etf.
AMLP collar setup
The AMLP collar below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With AMLP near $54.09, the first option leg uses a $57.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed AMLP chain at a 34-day expiry; the cross-strike IV skew is reflected directly in the per-leg values rather than approximated. Quantity sizing assumes one contract per option leg (or 100 AMLP shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $54.09 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $57.00 | $0.13 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $51.00 | $0.25 |
AMLP collar risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$5,421.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $279.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$321.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $54.21
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.869
Max profit roughly equals short-call strike minus cost basis plus net premium; max loss roughly equals cost basis minus long-put strike minus net premium. Breakeven shifts by the net premium.
AMLP collar payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the collar on AMLP. Each row is one sampled price point from the computed payoff curve; the full curve uses 200 price points internally before being summarized into 10 rows here.
| Underlying Price | % From Spot | P&L at Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| $0.01 | -100.0% | -$321.00 |
| $11.97 | -77.9% | -$321.00 |
| $23.93 | -55.8% | -$321.00 |
| $35.89 | -33.7% | -$321.00 |
| $47.84 | -11.5% | -$321.00 |
| $59.80 | +10.6% | +$279.00 |
| $71.76 | +32.7% | +$279.00 |
| $83.72 | +54.8% | +$279.00 |
| $95.68 | +76.9% | +$279.00 |
| $107.64 | +99.0% | +$279.00 |
When traders use collar on AMLP
Collars on AMLP hedge an existing long AMLP etf position; the long put sets a floor while the short call finances it, often run as a near-zero-cost hedge during expected volatility windows.
AMLP thesis for this collar
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for AMLP extends from approximately $51.56 on the downside to $56.62 on the upside. A AMLP collar hedges an existing long AMLP position with a protective put while financing the put cost via a short call; when the premiums roughly offset, the collar acts as a near-zero-cost insurance band around the current spot. Current AMLP IV rank near 5.87% sits in the lower third of its 1-year distribution, where IV often re-expands toward the mean; this favors premium-buying structures and disadvantages premium-selling structures on AMLP at 16.30%. As a Financial Services name, AMLP options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to AMLP-specific events.
AMLP collar positions are structurally neutral (protective); the modeled P&L assumes European-style exercise at expiration and ignores early assignment, transaction costs, dividends paid before expiry on the stock leg (when present), and the bid-ask spread on the listed chain. AMLP positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move AMLP alongside the broader basket even when AMLP-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current AMLP chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a collar on AMLP?
- A collar on AMLP is the collar strategy applied to AMLP (etf). The strategy is structurally neutral (protective): A collar pairs long stock with a protective out-of-the-money put financed by a short out-of-the-money call, capping both tails of the position around the current spot. With AMLP etf trading near $54.09, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed AMLP chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are AMLP collar max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit roughly equals short-call strike minus cost basis plus net premium; max loss roughly equals cost basis minus long-put strike minus net premium. Breakeven shifts by the net premium. For the AMLP collar priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 16.30%), the computed maximum profit is $279.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$321.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a AMLP collar?
- The breakeven for the AMLP collar priced on this page is roughly $54.21 at expiration, derived from end-of-day chain premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The current AMLP market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 4.67%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a collar on AMLP?
- Collars on AMLP hedge an existing long AMLP etf position; the long put sets a floor while the short call finances it, often run as a near-zero-cost hedge during expected volatility windows.
- How does current AMLP implied volatility affect this collar?
- AMLP ATM IV is at 16.30% with IV rank near 5.87%, which is on the low end of its 1-year range. Premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are relatively cheap in this regime; premium-selling structures collect less credit per unit risk.