VIXY Collar Strategy

VIXY (ProShares - VIX Short-Term Futures ETF), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management - Leveraged industry), listed on CBOE.

The ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (VIXY) is structured with the primary objective of replicating the investment performance of the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index. This goal is assessed prior to the deduction of the fund's operational fees and expenses.

VIXY (ProShares - VIX Short-Term Futures ETF) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management - Leveraged, with a market capitalization of approximately $215.8M, a beta of -2.33 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 21.17-47.78, average daily share volume of 3.4M, a public-listing history dating back to 2011. These structural characteristics shape how VIXY etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of -2.33 indicates VIXY has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure.

What is a collar on VIXY?

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 VIXY snapshot

As of June 30, 2026, spot at $21.26, ATM IV 43.60%, IV rank 8.66%, expected move 12.50%. The collar on VIXY 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 VIXY specifically: IV regime affects collar pricing on both sides; compressed VIXY IV at 43.60% typically pushes the short call premium to roughly offset the long put cost, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 12.50% (roughly $2.66 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 VIXY expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on VIXY should anchor to the underlying notional of $21.26 per share and to the trader's directional view on VIXY etf.

VIXY collar setup

The VIXY 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 VIXY near $21.26, the first option leg uses a $22.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed VIXY 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 VIXY shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

ActionTypeStrike / BasisPremium (est)
Buy 100 sharesStock$21.26long
Sell 1Call$22.00$0.60
Buy 1Put$20.00$0.22

VIXY collar risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit
-$2,088.00
Max Profit (per contract)
$112.00
Max Loss (per contract)
-$88.00
Breakeven(s)
$20.88
Risk / Reward Ratio
1.273

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.

VIXY collar payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the collar on VIXY. 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.

VIXY collar profit and loss curve at expiration with breakevens and current spot markedVIXY collar payoff at expiration-$50$0$50$100$10$20$30$40Underlying Price ($)P&L at Expiration ($)BE $20.88Spot $21.26
P&L at expiration across the modeled underlying-price range. Green shading marks profitable regions, red shading marks loss regions. Dotted purple verticals mark breakevens; the solid dark vertical marks current spot.
Underlying Price% From SpotP&L at Expiration
$0.01-100.0%-$88.00
$4.71-77.8%-$88.00
$9.41-55.7%-$88.00
$14.11-33.6%-$88.00
$18.81-11.5%-$88.00
$23.51+10.6%+$112.00
$28.21+32.7%+$112.00
$32.91+54.8%+$112.00
$37.61+76.9%+$112.00
$42.31+99.0%+$112.00

When traders use collar on VIXY

Collars on VIXY hedge an existing long VIXY 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.

VIXY thesis for this collar

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for VIXY extends from approximately $18.60 on the downside to $23.92 on the upside. A VIXY collar hedges an existing long VIXY 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 VIXY IV rank near 8.66% 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 VIXY at 43.60%. As a Financial Services name, VIXY options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to VIXY-specific events.

VIXY 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. VIXY positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move VIXY alongside the broader basket even when VIXY-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current VIXY chain quotes before placing a trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a collar on VIXY?
A collar on VIXY is the collar strategy applied to VIXY (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 VIXY etf trading near $21.26, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed VIXY chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are VIXY 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 VIXY collar priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 43.60%), the computed maximum profit is $112.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$88.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a VIXY collar?
The breakeven for the VIXY collar priced on this page is roughly $20.88 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 VIXY market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 12.50%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a collar on VIXY?
Collars on VIXY hedge an existing long VIXY 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 VIXY implied volatility affect this collar?
VIXY ATM IV is at 43.60% with IV rank near 8.66%, 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.

Related VIXY analysis