Calamos Investments has expanded its lineup of exchange-traded funds tied to structured products with the launch of the Calamos Autocallable Growth ETF (CAGE), which the firm bills as the first ETF to target capital appreciation through autocallable notes. The fund, which began trading this week, holds a portfolio of 52 individual autocallable notes and reinvests the coupon payments back into the portfolio rather than distributing them to shareholders.
Autocallable notes are market-linked instruments that pay a predetermined income and return principal if a reference index—such as the S&P 500—does not fall below a specified barrier during the observation period. Calamos has described these instruments as analogous to a bond whose income and principal depend on the stock market avoiding a severe downturn. The new CAGE fund differs from the firm’s earlier autocallable ETFs, which focus on generating income for investors.
In June 2025, Calamos launched the Calamos U.S. Equity Autocallable Income ETF (CAIE) and the Calamos Nasdaq Autocallable Income ETF (CAIQ), both of which distribute the income from their underlying notes. CAGE, by contrast, reinvests those coupons to compound growth over time. “Many know autocallables as a powerful vehicle for high income, but they can be a tremendous engine for growth, too,” said Matt Kaufman, senior vice president and head of ETFs at Calamos, in a statement.
The structured products market has seen significant issuance. According to data from Structured Products Intelligence, total sales of structured products in 2025 exceeded $222 billion. Autocallable structured notes accounted for approximately $120 billion of that total, with growth-oriented autocallable notes representing about 32% of that segment, or roughly $40 billion. Calamos cited these figures to underscore the demand for growth-focused structured products.
The launch comes amid broader interest in alternative investment structures among financial advisors. While traditional ETFs track indexes or baskets of securities, autocallable ETFs offer a rules-based approach to generating returns linked to market performance with built-in downside protection features. However, these products carry risks, including the possibility that the reference index falls below the barrier, which could result in loss of principal or missed coupon payments.
Advisors evaluating CAGE should consider its tax treatment: because the fund reinvests coupons rather than distributing them, investors may face tax liabilities on imputed income even without receiving cash distributions. The fund’s prospectus details these implications, which differ from those of income-focused autocallable ETFs.
Calamos’s move into growth-oriented autocallable ETFs reflects a broader trend of asset managers packaging structured products into ETF wrappers to provide advisors with liquid, transparent access to strategies previously available only through over-the-counter notes. The firm now offers three autocallable ETFs, each targeting a distinct investment objective.
