ETF Evaluator: Calamos Nasdaq Autocallable Income ETF () Follow This ETF

Calamos Nasdaq Autocallable Income ETF Overview

Calamos Nasdaq Autocallable Income ETF (CAIQ) is an actively managed Nontraditional Equity Derivative Income exchange-traded fund (ETF). Calamos launched the ETF in 2025.

The investment seeks to generate high monthly income while providing reduced downside risk through exposure to the MerQube Nasdaq-100®​ Vol Advantage Autocallable Index. The fund is a non-diversified, actively managed ETF that, under normal market conditions, seeks to invest at least 80% of its total assets in U.S. Treasuries, cash, cash equivalents, "box spreads" and unfunded total return swaps that provide exposure to the index. The fund will not attempt to replicate or track the index but will instead use financial instruments such as total return swaps to gain exposure to the level of the index. The fund is non-diversified.

About Calamos Nasdaq Autocallable Income ETF (CAIQ)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 0.70 years: Shaheen Iqubal (2025) and Jordan Rosenfeld (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 1 primary benchmark: MerQube Nasdaq-100 Vol Adv AutCl TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Calamos Nasdaq Autocallable Income ETF has 5 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 275.5% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Calamos Nasdaq Autocallable Income ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the Nontraditional Equity ETF group. Calamos Nasdaq Autocallable Income ETF has 0.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 74.4% There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Calamos Nasdaq Autocallable Income ETF has 15.9% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $286 million in total assets, which is below the $727 million average for the Derivative Income category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

CAIQ Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Calamos Nasdaq Autocallable Income ETF expense ratio is above average compared to funds in the Derivative Income category. Calamos Nasdaq Autocallable Income ETF has an expense ratio of 0.74%, which is 11% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a B. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Calamos Nasdaq Autocallable Income ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 0%, which indicates that it holds its assets around /years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 69% for the Derivative Income category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Calamos Nasdaq Autocallable Income ETF returned -3.3%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Derivative Income category had an average return of -1.5%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

Calamos Nasdaq Autocallable Income ETF has a trailing yield of 0.00%, which is below the 19.96% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly and its capital gains monthly.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Calamos Nasdaq Autocallable Income ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 9.3%, 6.7 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B.

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