HIPS Butterfly Strategy

HIPS (GraniteShares HIPS US High Income ETF), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on AMEX.

HIPS offers a twist on the popular multi-asset income space: a focus on pass-through securities (those that pass on most of their income to their owners). The owners pay taxes on that income, while the entities themselves dont, thereby eliminating the double taxation associated with stock dividends. The portfolio allocates equally to four alternative income segments: closed-end funds (CEFs), business development companies (BDCs), real estate investment trusts (REITs), and energy master limited partnerships (MLPs). The top 10 securities with the highest dividend yield and lowest volatility in each segment are selected and weighted equally. It should be noted that while income from REITs, MLPs and BDCs can be high, these are typically taxed at ordinary-income rates instead of the beneficial qualified dividends rate. As such, investors in taxable accounts should consider their after-tax yield.

HIPS (GraniteShares HIPS US High Income ETF) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $102.7M, a beta of 0.61 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 11.28-12.46, average daily share volume of 57K, a public-listing history dating back to 2015. These structural characteristics shape how HIPS etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.61 indicates HIPS has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. HIPS pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a butterfly on HIPS?

A long call butterfly buys one lower-strike call, sells two ATM calls, and buys one higher-strike call, paying a small net debit for a defined-risk position that maxes out if the underlying pins the middle strike at expiration.

Current HIPS snapshot

As of June 30, 2026, spot at $11.54, ATM IV 6.00%, IV rank 1.02%, expected move 1.72%. The butterfly on HIPS 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 17-day expiry.

Why this butterfly structure on HIPS specifically: HIPS IV at 6.00% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a HIPS butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 1.72% (roughly $0.20 on the underlying). The 17-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated HIPS expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on HIPS should anchor to the underlying notional of $11.54 per share and to the trader's directional view on HIPS etf.

HIPS butterfly setup

The HIPS butterfly below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With HIPS near $11.54, the first option leg uses a $11.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed HIPS chain at a 17-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 HIPS shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

ActionTypeStrike / BasisPremium (est)
Buy 1Call$11.00$0.48
Sell 2Call$12.00$0.08
Buy 1Call$12.00$0.08

HIPS butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit
-$39.50
Max Profit (per contract)
$60.50
Max Loss (per contract)
-$39.50
Breakeven(s)
$11.40
Risk / Reward Ratio
1.532

Max profit equals the wing width minus net debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins the middle strike); max loss equals the net debit times 100. Two breakevens at lower-wing plus debit and upper-wing minus debit.

HIPS butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on HIPS. 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.

HIPS butterfly profit and loss curve at expiration with breakevens and current spot markedHIPS butterfly payoff at expiration-$20$0$20$40$60$5$10$15$20Underlying Price ($)P&L at Expiration ($)BE $11.39Spot $11.54
P&L at expiration across the modeled underlying-price range. Green shading marks profitable regions, red shading marks loss regions. Dotted purple verticals mark breakevens; the solid dark vertical marks current spot.
Underlying Price% From SpotP&L at Expiration
$0.01-99.9%-$39.50
$2.56-77.8%-$39.50
$5.11-55.7%-$39.50
$7.66-33.6%-$39.50
$10.21-11.5%-$39.50
$12.76+10.6%+$60.50
$15.31+32.7%+$60.50
$17.86+54.8%+$60.50
$20.41+76.9%+$60.50
$22.96+99.0%+$60.50

When traders use butterfly on HIPS

Butterflies on HIPS are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect HIPS to settle near a specific level at expiration (often the prior close, a round number, or the max-pain strike) and want defined-risk exposure to that outcome.

HIPS thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for HIPS extends from approximately $11.34 on the downside to $11.74 on the upside. A HIPS long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if HIPS settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current HIPS IV rank near 1.02% 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 HIPS at 6.00%. As a Financial Services name, HIPS options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to HIPS-specific events.

HIPS butterfly positions are structurally neutral / pin (limited-risk, limited-reward); 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. HIPS positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move HIPS alongside the broader basket even when HIPS-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current HIPS chain quotes before placing a trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on HIPS?
A butterfly on HIPS is the butterfly strategy applied to HIPS (etf). The strategy is structurally neutral / pin (limited-risk, limited-reward): A long call butterfly buys one lower-strike call, sells two ATM calls, and buys one higher-strike call, paying a small net debit for a defined-risk position that maxes out if the underlying pins the middle strike at expiration. With HIPS etf trading near $11.54, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed HIPS chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are HIPS butterfly max profit and max loss calculated?
Max profit equals the wing width minus net debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins the middle strike); max loss equals the net debit times 100. Two breakevens at lower-wing plus debit and upper-wing minus debit. For the HIPS butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 6.00%), the computed maximum profit is $60.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$39.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a HIPS butterfly?
The breakeven for the HIPS butterfly priced on this page is roughly $11.40 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 HIPS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 1.72%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on HIPS?
Butterflies on HIPS are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect HIPS to settle near a specific level at expiration (often the prior close, a round number, or the max-pain strike) and want defined-risk exposure to that outcome.
How does current HIPS implied volatility affect this butterfly?
HIPS ATM IV is at 6.00% with IV rank near 1.02%, 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.

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