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Defining Outcomes Systematically with Indices

Examining Equal Weight Performance in Challenging Markets

Two Decades of Dividends: A Macro Look at S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats

Tracking Munis in Uncertain Markets

An All-in-One Global Solution: S&P World Index

Defining Outcomes Systematically with Indices

  • Length 3:37

How are index innovations helping market participants address volatility and uncertainty? S&P DJI’s Anu Ganti and Calamos Investments’ Matt Kaufman discuss index-based approaches to defined outcomes.

[TRANSCRIPT]

Can you provide an overview of the defined outcome landscape today?

Matt Kaufman:

The defined outcome landscape has grown tremendously since its roots back in around 2018. Today, you can get defined outcomes or built-in protection levels on broad markets like the S&P 500. You can get protection levels of 10%, 15%, 20%, 30%, all the way up to 100% protection against a broad market decline, and so that space is growing really rapidly today.

How do S&P DJI’s range of defined and target outcome indices work?

Anu Ganti:

A defined outcome strategy allows investors to really create a tailored payoff structure, with both downside protection up to a certain threshold, as well as upside participation up to a certain cap. And these strategies can be constructed by taking a Delta One position in, say, an underlying asset, or deep in-the-money calls, or futures, and combine that with a basket of options.

And really thanks to innovations in indexing, it has really democratized access to these strategies, and we offer a range of indices which can potentially benefit from the S&P 500's robust trading ecosystem.

Why did Calamos pursue a rules-based approach to structured outcomes and why select the ETF wrapper?

Matt Kaufman:

When you're trying to deliver a certain outcome on an underlying reference index, you want to make sure that you can deliver on that. And so a rules-based methodology really allows you to do that very precisely.

You can deliver the upside of a market to a cap with a built-in protection level over an outcome period. Rules built into an underlying strategy really allow you to dial that in extremely well. The ETF wrapper is one of the most favorable wrappers and one of the most in-demand financial wrappers in the market today: low cost, liquid, transparent and, maybe most importantly, tax efficient. We can now deliver all of this in a tax-deferred way.

How have these indices performed historically?

Anu Ganti:

Yes, so these indices tend to do well in rising markets, as well as during down markets during those volatile periods, and buffer strategies, by capping both the downside and the upside, they tend to mitigate volatility and really provide a more stable exposure.

So the two key benefits are risk mitigation, offering downside protection, as well as the equity-like exposure, participating in market gains, which can potentially enhance returns during those favorable market environments.

What are some of the potential applications for these strategies given the current economic climate?

Matt Kaufman:

Yes, we're seeing three ways.

We're seeing people turn in their risk-free rate that they might get from a CD or a bond-paying instrument and then tying that exposure to the equity markets. They can tie their safe money to the equity market upside, especially for the 100% protection ETFs.

And then we're also seeing people de-risking equity exposure, especially in volatile environments. They're taking some of their risk off the table without giving up all of their equity upside.

And then the third point is more of a people group, retirees specifically. There's 11,000 retirees entering the market every single day. It's the largest number of retirees we've ever seen enter the market. That group has to outpace inflation over time. They can't always rely on bonds to do that, and so they're relying on defined outcome ETFs to provide for themselves when they no longer work.

Closing:

For more information, visit spglobal.com/spdji.



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