ILCG Collar Strategy
ILCG (iShares Morningstar Growth ETF), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on AMEX.
The iShares Morningstar Growth ETF seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of large- and mid-capitalization U.S. equities that exhibit growth characteristics.
ILCG (iShares Morningstar Growth ETF) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.95B, a beta of 1.25 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 88.66-116.17, average daily share volume of 87K, a public-listing history dating back to 2004. These structural characteristics shape how ILCG etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.25 places ILCG roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. ILCG pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a collar on ILCG?
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 ILCG snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $115.53, ATM IV 18.90%, IV rank 2.00%, expected move 5.42%. The collar on ILCG 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 ILCG specifically: IV regime affects collar pricing on both sides; compressed ILCG IV at 18.90% typically pushes the short call premium to roughly offset the long put cost, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 5.42% (roughly $6.26 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 ILCG expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on ILCG should anchor to the underlying notional of $115.53 per share and to the trader's directional view on ILCG etf.
ILCG collar setup
The ILCG 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 ILCG near $115.53, the first option leg uses a $119.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed ILCG 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 ILCG shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $115.53 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $119.00 | $1.34 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $110.00 | $1.23 |
ILCG collar risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$11,542.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $358.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$542.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $115.42
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.661
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.
ILCG collar payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the collar on ILCG. 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% | -$542.00 |
| $25.55 | -77.9% | -$542.00 |
| $51.10 | -55.8% | -$542.00 |
| $76.64 | -33.7% | -$542.00 |
| $102.18 | -11.6% | -$542.00 |
| $127.73 | +10.6% | +$358.00 |
| $153.27 | +32.7% | +$358.00 |
| $178.81 | +54.8% | +$358.00 |
| $204.36 | +76.9% | +$358.00 |
| $229.90 | +99.0% | +$358.00 |
When traders use collar on ILCG
Collars on ILCG hedge an existing long ILCG 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.
ILCG thesis for this collar
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for ILCG extends from approximately $109.27 on the downside to $121.79 on the upside. A ILCG collar hedges an existing long ILCG 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 ILCG IV rank near 2.00% 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 ILCG at 18.90%. As a Financial Services name, ILCG options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to ILCG-specific events.
ILCG 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. ILCG positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move ILCG alongside the broader basket even when ILCG-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current ILCG chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a collar on ILCG?
- A collar on ILCG is the collar strategy applied to ILCG (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 ILCG etf trading near $115.53, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed ILCG chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are ILCG 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 ILCG collar priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 18.90%), the computed maximum profit is $358.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$542.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a ILCG collar?
- The breakeven for the ILCG collar priced on this page is roughly $115.42 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 ILCG market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 5.42%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a collar on ILCG?
- Collars on ILCG hedge an existing long ILCG 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 ILCG implied volatility affect this collar?
- ILCG ATM IV is at 18.90% with IV rank near 2.00%, 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.