LMBS Collar Strategy
LMBS (First Trust Low Duration Opportunities ETF), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on NASDAQ.
First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV - First Trust Low Duration Opportunities ETF is an exchange traded fund launched and managed by First Trust Advisors LP. It invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. The fund invests in investment grade mortgage-related debt securities including residential mortgage-backed securities, commercial mortgage-backed securities, stripped mortgage-backed securities, and collateralized mortgage obligations which are issued or guaranteed by the government or its agencies or instrumentalities. The fund invents in securities with an average maturity of less than three years. It seeks to benchmark the performance of its portfolio against the ICE BofA 1-5 Year US Treasury & Agency Index and the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index. First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV - First Trust Low Duration Opportunities ETF was formed on November 4, 2014 and is domiciled in the United States.
LMBS (First Trust Low Duration Opportunities ETF) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $6.27B, a beta of 0.46 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 47.87-51.98, average daily share volume of 499K, a public-listing history dating back to 2014. These structural characteristics shape how LMBS etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.46 indicates LMBS has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. LMBS pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a collar on LMBS?
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 LMBS snapshot
As of June 30, 2026, spot at $49.78, ATM IV 36.90%, IV rank 45.39%, expected move 10.58%. The collar on LMBS 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 collar structure on LMBS specifically: IV regime affects collar pricing on both sides; mid-range LMBS IV at 36.90% typically pushes the short call premium to roughly offset the long put cost, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 10.58% (roughly $5.27 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 LMBS expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on LMBS should anchor to the underlying notional of $49.78 per share and to the trader's directional view on LMBS etf.
LMBS collar setup
The LMBS 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 LMBS near $49.78, the first option leg uses a $52.27 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed LMBS 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 LMBS shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $49.78 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $52.27 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $47.29 | N/A |
LMBS collar risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- N/A
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Breakeven(s)
- None on modeled curve
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- N/A
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.
LMBS collar payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the collar on LMBS. 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.
When traders use collar on LMBS
Collars on LMBS hedge an existing long LMBS 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.
LMBS thesis for this collar
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for LMBS extends from approximately $44.51 on the downside to $55.05 on the upside. A LMBS collar hedges an existing long LMBS 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 LMBS IV rank near 45.39% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the collar thesis on LMBS should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Financial Services name, LMBS options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to LMBS-specific events.
LMBS 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. LMBS positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move LMBS alongside the broader basket even when LMBS-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current LMBS chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a collar on LMBS?
- A collar on LMBS is the collar strategy applied to LMBS (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 LMBS etf trading near $49.78, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed LMBS chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are LMBS 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 LMBS collar priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 36.90%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is unbounded per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a LMBS collar?
- The breakeven for the LMBS collar priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve 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 LMBS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 10.58%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a collar on LMBS?
- Collars on LMBS hedge an existing long LMBS 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 LMBS implied volatility affect this collar?
- LMBS ATM IV is at 36.90% with IV rank near 45.39%, which is mid-range against its 1-year history. Strategy selection depends more on directional thesis and expected move than on a strong IV signal.