<p>A collar strategy is only in part to protect your gains made on the underlying stock. The collar strategy consists of buying protective puts and at the same time writing covered calls.</p>

<p>You are right in saying "If you want to protect your gains, why would you not simply buy an OTM put?". This is known as the Protective Put and if you simply want to protect your gains, this is the way to do it.</p>

<p>When you also write a covered call, you once again got it right that it is usually used to offset the premium costs of the put. </p>

<p>However when you combine the two strategies (creating an equity collar), your view of the market would be that it is moving sideways. I.E. you are expecting the asset prices to not rise above your written call's strike price, and you are protecting your asset prices in case it falls below your put's strike price. And in the meantime, you are still holding on to the asset earning dividends while the covered call is financing the protective put.</p>

<p>On a side note, this question seems to be more in tune with the Quantitative Finance Stack Exchange community.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-28T10:44:36.263Z
It also allows you to sell the eocnomic exposure to shares forward, while still owning the equity. (You could do the same with futures/forwards, but single stock futures do not trade.) This can be used for tax purposes, or if the shares are vested.
Brian Romanchuk
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-28T14:26:44.087Z
Thank you. Also, I missed the Quantitative Finance stack. I will move future related market questions their.
Lanet Rino
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-28T06:26:56.423Z
2017-04-28T06:26:56.423Z
MH.Q
<p>I am new to investing on the market so I am doing some research and studying. From what I can tell, the purpose of a collar strategy for options trading is to protect your gains you've made on the underlying stock.</p>

<p>If you want to protect your gains, why would you not simply buy an OTM put?</p>

<p>Is the purpose of writing a covered call in a collar strategy to offset the premium cost of the put?</p>

<p>Edit: To clarify, why would you write a call to possibly cap your gain and lose your shares if your goal is to protect from loss?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-28T09:50:54.897Z
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is off-topic here. It probably belongs to https://quant.stackexchange.com/
luchonacho
<stock-market><investment><asset-pricing>
Collar strategy for options trading
Lanet Rino
# Collar strategy for options trading

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-04-27)

I am new to investing on the market so I am doing some research and studying. From what I can tell, the purpose of a collar strategy for options trading is to protect your gains you've made on the underlying stock.

If you want to protect your gains, why would you not simply buy an OTM put?

Is the purpose of writing a covered call in a collar strategy to offset the premium cost of the put?

Edit: To clarify, why would you write a call to possibly cap your gain and lose your shares if your goal is to protect from loss?

**Tags:** stock-market, investment, asset-pricing
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is off-topic here. It probably belongs to https://quant.stackexchange.com/  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-04-28. Score: 2

A collar strategy is only in part to protect your gains made on the underlying stock. The collar strategy consists of buying protective puts and at the same time writing covered calls.

You are right in saying "If you want to protect your gains, why would you not simply buy an OTM put?". This is known as the Protective Put and if you simply want to protect your gains, this is the way to do it.

When you also write a covered call, you once again got it right that it is usually used to offset the premium costs of the put.

However when you combine the two strategies (creating an equity collar), your view of the market would be that it is moving sideways. I.E. you are expecting the asset prices to not rise above your written call's strike price, and you are protecting your asset prices in case it falls below your put's strike price. And in the meantime, you are still holding on to the asset earning dividends while the covered call is financing the protective put.

On a side note, this question seems to be more in tune with the Quantitative Finance Stack Exchange community.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: It also allows you to sell the eocnomic exposure to shares forward, while still owning the equity. (You could do the same with futures/forwards, but single stock futures do not trade.) This can be used for tax purposes, or if the shares are vested.  
> **username_0**: Thank you. Also, I missed the Quantitative Finance stack. I will move future related market questions their.  

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