HIPS Iron Condor 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 $113.0M, a beta of 0.63 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 11.28-12.3, average daily share volume of 59K, 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 0.63 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 iron condor on HIPS?
An iron condor sells a call spread and a put spread at strikes outside spot, collecting net premium that is kept if the underlying stays inside the inner short strikes.
HIPS snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $11.84, ATM IV 16.50%, IV rank 3.17%, expected move 4.73%. The iron condor on HIPS 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 iron condor structure on HIPS specifically: HIPS IV at 16.50% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling HIPS iron condor collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 4.73% (roughly $0.56 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 HIPS expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on HIPS should anchor to the underlying notional of $11.84 per share and to the trader's directional view on HIPS etf.
HIPS iron condor setup
The HIPS iron condor 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 HIPS at $11.84 on that close, the first option leg uses a $12.00 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 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 HIPS shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell 1 | Call | $12.00 | $0.37 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $13.00 | $0.13 |
| Sell 1 | Put | $11.00 | $0.18 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $11.00 | $0.18 |
HIPS iron condor risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- +$24.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $24.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$76.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $12.24
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.316
Max profit equals the net credit times 100 inside the inner strikes; max loss equals wing width minus credit times 100. Two breakevens at inner strikes plus and minus the credit.
HIPS iron condor payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the iron condor 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.
| Underlying Price | % From Spot | P&L at Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| $0.01 | -99.9% | +$24.00 |
| $2.63 | -77.8% | +$24.00 |
| $5.24 | -55.7% | +$24.00 |
| $7.86 | -33.6% | +$24.00 |
| $10.48 | -11.5% | +$24.00 |
| $13.09 | +10.6% | -$76.00 |
| $15.71 | +32.7% | -$76.00 |
| $18.33 | +54.8% | -$76.00 |
| $20.94 | +76.9% | -$76.00 |
| $23.56 | +99.0% | -$76.00 |
When traders use iron condor on HIPS
Iron condors on HIPS are a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that profits if HIPS etf stays inside the inner short strikes; short strikes typically sit near 1 standard deviation from spot.
HIPS thesis for this iron condor
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for HIPS extends from approximately $11.28 on the downside to $12.40 on the upside. A HIPS iron condor is a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that pays off when HIPS stays inside the inner short strikes through expiration; the wing width should reflect the trader's tolerance for the maximum loss scenario where the underlying breaches an outer strike. Current HIPS IV rank near 3.17% 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 16.50%. 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 iron condor positions are structurally neutral / range-bound; 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. Short-premium structures like a iron condor on HIPS carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical HIPS earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current HIPS chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a iron condor on HIPS?
- A iron condor on HIPS is the iron condor strategy applied to HIPS (etf). The strategy is structurally neutral / range-bound: An iron condor sells a call spread and a put spread at strikes outside spot, collecting net premium that is kept if the underlying stays inside the inner short strikes. With HIPS etf at $11.84 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed HIPS chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are HIPS iron condor max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals the net credit times 100 inside the inner strikes; max loss equals wing width minus credit times 100. Two breakevens at inner strikes plus and minus the credit. For the HIPS iron condor priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 16.50%), the computed maximum profit is $24.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$76.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a HIPS iron condor?
- The breakeven for the HIPS iron condor priced on this page is roughly $12.24 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 HIPS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 4.73%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a iron condor on HIPS?
- Iron condors on HIPS are a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that profits if HIPS etf stays inside the inner short strikes; short strikes typically sit near 1 standard deviation from spot.
- How does current HIPS implied volatility affect this iron condor?
- HIPS ATM IV is at 16.50% with IV rank near 3.17%, 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.