Earn Income from ETF Puts

Just when you think the ETF industry has finally exhausted all possible permutations for ETFs, they come up with this new one, writes Greg Pugh of GetRichInvestments.com.

One of the recent trends in the income investment newsletters is the concept of writing (selling) puts for income. You had to know that it would only be a matter of time before an ETF would be launched using this concept. Investors sell put options to collect the premium income as an option strategy to generate investment income. It is interesting to have an ETF to do the heavy lifting but prudent investors should monitor this new put writing ETF for positive results before buying shares.

Are you ready to sell puts on Netflix (NFLX), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR), or Salesforce (CRM)? If yes, then this ETF is for you. These and other stocks with current put writes is shown below.

ALPS just launched the US Equity High Volatility Put Write Index Fund (HVPW). The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before the Fund’s fees and expenses, of an index called the NYSE Arca US Equity High Volatility Put Write Index. The Index reflects the performance of a portfolio of exchange-traded put options on highly volatile stocks.

The ALPS HVPW Fund is designed for investors who seek to obtain income through selling put options, selling 60-day listed put options every two months (six times per year) on 20 stocks. The Fund intends to distribute, at the end of each 60-day period out of net investment income and/or short-term capital gains, an amount of cash equal to 1.5% of the Fund’s net assets at the end of such 60-day period. If the Fund’s net investment income is insufficient to support a 1.5% distribution in any 60-day period, the distribution will be reduced by the amount of the shortfall. Also note while the Fund only intends to make such distributions out of net investment income and/or short-term capital gains, it is possible that in certain circumstances, a portion of a distribution may result in a return of capital (which is a return of the shareholder’s investment in the Fund).

Put options are a type of financial instrument used to provide the owner the right, but not the obligation, to sell the security at a set price, or “strike” price, on or before an expiration date. Traders who write put options have essentially sold the right to another investor to sell shares at an agreed-upon price. On the other hand, the buyer has purchased the chance to sell stock to the put writer.

Here is a list of the initial 20 stocks with put writes: HPQ, ALXN, TRIP, CRM, NU, CTRX, ONXX, NVDA, DISH, MGM, BBY, MNST, CHK, GMCR, NTAP, CIE, NFLX, SHLD, VRTX, STZ.

HVPW offers diversification by holding a portfolio of 20 names rolling every two months (i.e.120 puts per year). This is one advantage to the ETF investor who doesn’t have the time or resources to diversify across multiple investments.

At the end of the two month period following expiration of the options, the index is decreased by 1.5% to represent the 60-day period distribution, then the new set of 20 stocks are chosen for the new period’s option positions.

By Greg Pugh of GetRichInvestments.com