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The Calamos Autocallable Income ETF (CAIE) has reached a notable milestone, surpassing $300 million in AUM in under four months since its launch on June 25, 2025.
This rapid growth highlights strong investor interest in the fund’s unique strategy, which centers on autocallables, a yield note that remains relatively unfamiliar to many retail investors.
However, autocallables may not be as complicated as they may seem on the surface. Essentially, they are investments linked to a particular index that pay coupons and provide principal based on the index’s performance. Through the flexibility of the ETF wrapper, CAIE provides access to a laddered portfolio of at least 52 autocallables, but often the fund holds even more of them.
As long as the reference index (the MerQube U.S. Large-Cap Vol. Advantage Index) does not fall below the coupon barrier of -40%, each of the autocallables in CAIE’s portfolio will generate monthly income. This can continue until the note is called, in which case the investor would receive their principal back anyway.
CAIE Could Fit into a Variety of Portfolios
This flexibility gives CAIE plenty of wiggle room when it comes to portfolio applications. Some advisors may look to employ CAIE as an equity alternative, for example. This makes sense, as CAIE aims to generate total return while providing portfolio income.
Alternatively, CAIE could also be utilized as a substitute for fixed income. The fund is currently offering monthly distributions that can even compete with high yield bond ETFs. As such, some investors and advisors might want to use CAIE to foster portfolio yield outside of the bond space.
With a multitude of portfolio applications, the momentum for CAIE likely won’t be stopping any time soon. As such, advisors and investors might want to give the fund and the autocallable structure a closer look to see if it could be a good fit.
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Before investing, carefully consider the fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Please see the prospectus and summary prospectus containing this and other information which can be obtained by calling 1-866-363-9219. Read it carefully before investing.
An investment in the Fund(s) is subject to risks, and you could lose money on your investment in the Fund(s). There can be no assurance that the Fund(s) will achieve its investment objective. Your investment in the Fund(s) is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The risks associated with an investment in the Fund(s) can increase during times of significant market volatility. The Fund(s) also has specific principal risks, which are described below. More detailed information regarding these risks can be found in the Fund’s prospectus.
The principal risks of investing in the Calamos Autocallable Income ETF include: autocallable structure risk, contingent income risk, early redemption risk, barrier risk, authorized participant concentration risk, calculation methodology risk, cash holdings risk, correlation risk, costs of buying and selling fund shares, counterparty risk, credit risk, derivatives risk, equity securities risk, index risk, interest rate risk, investment in a subsidiary, laddered portfolio risk, liquidity risk, market maker risk, market risk, new fund risk, non-diversification risk, premium-discount risk, secondary market trading risk, swap agreement risk, tax risk, trading issues risk, valuation risk, and volatility target index risk.
Autocallable Structure Risk --The Fund’s returns are correlated to the performance of a synthetic portfolio of autocallable notes tracked by the Laddered Autocall Index.
Unmanaged index returns, unlike fund returns, do not reflect fees, expenses or sales charges. Investors cannot invest directly in an index. Total return assumes the reinvestment of income. Current performance may be higher or lower than the performance data shown. Yields represented by trailing 12 month yield for: US Equity- S&P 500; U.S High Yield - Bloomberg US Aggregate Corporate High Yield Index; US 10-year - 10-year US Treasury yield; Equity Premium Income: Cboe S&P 500® 2% OTM BuyWrite Index; Autocallable Income: MerQube US Large Cap Vol Advantage Autocallable Index. MerQube US Large Cap Vol Advantage Autocallable Index is not a proxy for Calamos Autocallable Income ETF (CAIE). The results of the MerQube index will differ to those of CAIE. Investors should consider the risks of investing in CAIE and review the prospectus prior to investing. Performance data quoted represents past performance, which is no guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. The principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that your shares, when sold, may be worth more or less than their original cost.
Autocallable notes have specific structural features that may be unfamiliar to many investors:
--Contingent Income Risk: Coupon payments from the Autocalls are not guaranteed and will not be made if the Underlying Index falls below the Coupon Barrier on observation dates. This means the Fund may generate significantly less income than anticipated during market downturns.
--Early Redemption Risk: Autocalls in the Portfolio may be called before their scheduled maturity if the Underlying Reference Index reaches or exceeds the Autocall Barrier on observation dates. This automatic early redemption could force reinvestment of that portion of the portfolio at lower rates if market yields have declined.
--Barrier Risk: If the Underlying Reference Index falls below the Protection Level Barrier at the maturity of an Autocall in the Portfolio, that portion of the Portfolio will be fully exposed to the negative performance of the Underlying Reference Index from its initial level. This conditional protection creates a binary outcome that can result in sudden, significant losses if barriers are breached.
Weighted Average Coupon: The weighted average coupon of all autocallables as of last operation date
Total return assumes the reinvestment of income. Current performance may be higher or lower than the performance data shown. Yield represented by trailing 12 month yield for: Autocallable Income: MerQube US Large Cap Vol Advantage Autocallable Index. MerQube US Large Cap Vol Advantage Autocallable Index is not a proxy for Calamos Autocallable Income ETF (CAIE). The results of the MerQube index will differ to those of CAIE.