Matt Kaufman, Head of ETFs for Calamos Investments, joined Julie Cooling, Founder and CEO of RIA Channel, to discuss the growth of the equity derivative income space and the firm’s continued product innovation in the category, including the recent launch of the Calamos Nasdaq(R) Autocallable Income ETF (CAIQ).
Calamos launched the Calamos Autocallable Income ETF (CAIE), which reached nearly $400 million in assets by the end of October 2025, just 100 days after its launch. Kaufman notes that many advisors were already using autocallable yield notes in client portfolios. Advisors can easily purchase CAIE as a single ETF that includes laddered investments in autocallable yield notes linked to the return of the S&P 500 Index. The CAIE ETF offers high, stable, and tax-efficient income with equity-like volatility.
Kaufman cites the popularity of derivative income and covered call ETFs, which now include $150 billion in ETF and mutual fund assets. The structured note market is dominated by the autocallable income note, a long-dated put writing strategy with a call feature that cannot be replicated using listed options. Because autocallable income note strategies are only available through the bank market, Calamos’ ETFs access the strategy through swap contracts with JP Morgan, tracking customized MerQube index.
The Calamos Nasdaq(R) Autocallable Income ETF (CAIQ), which launched November 20, 2025, is linked to the returns of the Nasdaq 100 Index. The income distributed by CAIQ is projected to be higher than the income of CAIE.
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