URTH Butterfly Strategy
URTH (iShares MSCI World ETF), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management - Global industry), listed on AMEX.
The iShares MSCI World ETF aims to mirror the investment performance of a specific market benchmark. This index is entirely composed of stocks from companies located in developed global economies.
URTH (iShares MSCI World ETF) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management - Global, with a market capitalization of approximately $8.10B, a beta of 0.95 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 174.24-211.94, average daily share volume of 599K, a public-listing history dating back to 2012. These structural characteristics shape how URTH etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.95 places URTH roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. URTH pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on URTH?
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.
URTH snapshot
As of September 29, 2026, spot at $205.90, ATM IV 380.40%, IV rank 78.90%, expected move 109.06%. The butterfly on URTH below is built from the September 29, 2026 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 URTH specifically: URTH IV at 380.40% is rich versus its 1-year range, which makes a premium-buying URTH butterfly relatively expensive in absolute-cost terms, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 109.06% (roughly $224.55 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 URTH expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on URTH should anchor to the underlying notional of $205.90 per share and to the trader's directional view on URTH etf.
URTH butterfly setup
The URTH butterfly below is built from the September 29, 2026 end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With URTH at $205.90 on that close, the first option leg uses a $196.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed URTH 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 URTH shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $196.00 | $11.30 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $205.00 | $3.58 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $215.00 | $0.13 |
URTH butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$428.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $459.04
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$528.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $200.28, $209.72
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.869
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.
URTH butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on URTH. 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% | -$428.00 |
| $45.53 | -77.9% | -$428.00 |
| $91.06 | -55.8% | -$428.00 |
| $136.58 | -33.7% | -$428.00 |
| $182.11 | -11.6% | -$428.00 |
| $227.63 | +10.6% | -$528.00 |
| $273.16 | +32.7% | -$528.00 |
| $318.68 | +54.8% | -$528.00 |
| $364.21 | +76.9% | -$528.00 |
| $409.73 | +99.0% | -$528.00 |
When traders use butterfly on URTH
Butterflies on URTH are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect URTH 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.
URTH thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for URTH extends from approximately $-18.65 on the downside to $430.45 on the upside. A URTH long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if URTH settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current URTH IV rank near 78.90% sits in the upper third of its 1-year distribution, which historically reverts; this raises the bar for premium-buying structures and lowers it for premium-selling structures on URTH at 380.40%. As a Financial Services name, URTH options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to URTH-specific events.
URTH 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. URTH positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move URTH alongside the broader basket even when URTH-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current URTH chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on URTH?
- A butterfly on URTH is the butterfly strategy applied to URTH (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 URTH etf at $205.90 on the September 29, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed URTH chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are URTH 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 URTH butterfly priced from the September 29, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 380.40%), the computed maximum profit is $459.04 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$528.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a URTH butterfly?
- The breakeven for the URTH butterfly priced on this page is roughly $200.28 and $209.72 at expiration, derived from the September 29, 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 URTH market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 109.06%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on URTH?
- Butterflies on URTH are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect URTH 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 URTH implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- URTH ATM IV is at 380.40% with IV rank near 78.90%, which is elevated relative to its 1-year range. Premium-selling structures (covered call, cash-secured put, iron condor) generally look more attractive when IV rank is high; premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are more expensive in that regime.