URTH Covered Call Strategy
URTH (iShares MSCI World ETF), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on AMEX.
The iShares MSCI World ETF seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of developed market equities.
URTH (iShares MSCI World ETF) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $8.11B, a beta of 0.97 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 159.63-201.88, average daily share volume of 994K, 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 0.97 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 covered call on URTH?
A covered call pairs long stock with a short out-of-the-money call, collecting premium and capping upside above the short strike in exchange for income.
Current URTH snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $200.81, ATM IV 14.30%, IV rank 2.76%, expected move 4.10%. The covered call on URTH 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 covered call structure on URTH specifically: URTH IV at 14.30% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling URTH covered call collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 4.10% (roughly $8.23 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 URTH expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on URTH should anchor to the underlying notional of $200.81 per share and to the trader's directional view on URTH etf.
URTH covered call setup
The URTH covered call below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With URTH near $200.81, the first option leg uses a $210.00 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 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 URTH shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $200.81 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $210.00 | $0.43 |
URTH covered call risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$20,038.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $962.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$20,037.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $200.38
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.048
Max profit equals short-strike minus cost basis plus premium times 100; max loss is cost basis minus premium (at zero). Breakeven is cost basis minus premium.
URTH covered call payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the covered call 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% | -$20,037.00 |
| $44.41 | -77.9% | -$15,597.09 |
| $88.81 | -55.8% | -$11,157.18 |
| $133.21 | -33.7% | -$6,717.27 |
| $177.61 | -11.6% | -$2,277.36 |
| $222.01 | +10.6% | +$962.00 |
| $266.40 | +32.7% | +$962.00 |
| $310.80 | +54.8% | +$962.00 |
| $355.20 | +76.9% | +$962.00 |
| $399.60 | +99.0% | +$962.00 |
When traders use covered call on URTH
Covered calls on URTH are an income strategy run on existing URTH etf positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
URTH thesis for this covered call
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for URTH extends from approximately $192.58 on the downside to $209.04 on the upside. A URTH covered call collects premium on an existing long URTH position, trading off upside above the short call strike for immediate income; the short strike selection should reflect the trader's view on whether URTH will breach that level within the expiration window. Current URTH IV rank near 2.76% 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 URTH at 14.30%. 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 covered call positions are structurally neutral to slightly bullish; 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. Short-premium structures like a covered call on URTH carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical URTH earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current URTH chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a covered call on URTH?
- A covered call on URTH is the covered call strategy applied to URTH (etf). The strategy is structurally neutral to slightly bullish: A covered call pairs long stock with a short out-of-the-money call, collecting premium and capping upside above the short strike in exchange for income. With URTH etf trading near $200.81, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed URTH chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are URTH covered call max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals short-strike minus cost basis plus premium times 100; max loss is cost basis minus premium (at zero). Breakeven is cost basis minus premium. For the URTH covered call priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 14.30%), the computed maximum profit is $962.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$20,037.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a URTH covered call?
- The breakeven for the URTH covered call priced on this page is roughly $200.38 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 URTH market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 4.10%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a covered call on URTH?
- Covered calls on URTH are an income strategy run on existing URTH etf positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
- How does current URTH implied volatility affect this covered call?
- URTH ATM IV is at 14.30% with IV rank near 2.76%, 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.