Collar Option Strategy: Limiting Your Risk While Staying Bullish

A collar option strategy is used to limit the returns of an underlying long position to a specific range. Typically investors use the option collar to hedge an underlying long position against downside volatility, and at the same time guarantee an exit if the market goes higher.

This is achieved by buying a protective put option and simultaneously selling a covered call to finance the cost of the put.

One way to think of the collar options strategy is it works the same way as placing both a stop-loss and a take-profit order against the underlying asset. By using the strategy, investors limit both the potential upside and potential downside associated with holding the underlying asset.

Strategy Setup

The first step in the collar option strategy is selecting which strike prices align with your market view.