FTC Collar Strategy
FTC (First Trust Large Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on NASDAQ.
The First Trust Large Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund, identified by its symbol FTC, functions as a publicly traded investment vehicle. Its primary aim is to mirror the overall performance—both capital appreciation and income generation—of the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Large Cap Growth Index, prior to the deduction of any management fees or operational expenses.
FTC (First Trust Large Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.51B, a beta of 1.15 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 147.94-194.18, average daily share volume of 17K, a public-listing history dating back to 2007. These structural characteristics shape how FTC etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.15 places FTC roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. FTC pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a collar on FTC?
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.
FTC snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $187.04, ATM IV 19.30%, IV rank 1.81%, expected move 5.53%. The collar on FTC below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 35-day expiry.
Why this collar structure on FTC specifically: IV regime affects collar pricing on both sides; compressed FTC IV at 19.30% typically pushes the short call premium to roughly offset the long put cost, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 5.53% (roughly $10.35 on the underlying). The 35-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated FTC expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on FTC should anchor to the underlying notional of $187.04 per share and to the trader's directional view on FTC etf.
FTC collar setup
The FTC collar below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With FTC at $187.04 on that close, the first option leg uses a $190.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed FTC chain at a 35-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 FTC shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $187.04 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $190.00 | $3.28 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $178.00 | $1.30 |
FTC collar risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$18,506.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $493.50
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$706.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $185.07
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.699
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.
FTC collar payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the collar on FTC. 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% | -$706.50 |
| $41.36 | -77.9% | -$706.50 |
| $82.72 | -55.8% | -$706.50 |
| $124.07 | -33.7% | -$706.50 |
| $165.43 | -11.6% | -$706.50 |
| $206.78 | +10.6% | +$493.50 |
| $248.14 | +32.7% | +$493.50 |
| $289.49 | +54.8% | +$493.50 |
| $330.85 | +76.9% | +$493.50 |
| $372.20 | +99.0% | +$493.50 |
When traders use collar on FTC
Collars on FTC hedge an existing long FTC 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.
FTC thesis for this collar
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for FTC extends from approximately $176.69 on the downside to $197.39 on the upside. A FTC collar hedges an existing long FTC 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 FTC IV rank near 1.81% 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 FTC at 19.30%. As a Financial Services name, FTC options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to FTC-specific events.
FTC 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. FTC positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move FTC alongside the broader basket even when FTC-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current FTC chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a collar on FTC?
- A collar on FTC is the collar strategy applied to FTC (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 FTC etf at $187.04 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed FTC chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are FTC 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 FTC collar priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 19.30%), the computed maximum profit is $493.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$706.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a FTC collar?
- The breakeven for the FTC collar priced on this page is roughly $185.07 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The FTC market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 5.53%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a collar on FTC?
- Collars on FTC hedge an existing long FTC 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 FTC implied volatility affect this collar?
- FTC ATM IV is at 19.30% with IV rank near 1.81%, 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.