REX Taps Surging Demand for Alternative Yield with New Autocallable Income ETF

NEW YORK, NY – February 18, 2026 – In a direct response to a market clamoring for innovative income solutions, REX Shares today launched the REX Autocallable Income ETF (Ticker: ATCL). The new fund, developed in a significant collaboration with alternative investment platform CAIS, RBC Capital Markets, and Bloomberg Indices, introduces a sophisticated structured-product strategy into the highly accessible exchange-traded fund wrapper, aiming to meet the needs of advisors navigating today's complex financial landscape.

ATCL is designed to deliver consistent income by providing exposure to a rules-based portfolio of autocallable derivatives, a strategy that seeks to generate yield without relying on the traditional levers of credit risk or extended duration. The launch marks a notable step in the evolution of alternative ETFs, packaging a historically complex and less liquid investment into a vehicle offering daily liquidity and transparency.

A Market Hungry for Innovative Income

The arrival of ATCL is timely, landing in a market that has shown an insatiable appetite for alternative and derivative-based income strategies. The category of “premium income ETFs,” which often use options to generate yield, has seen explosive growth, ballooning from less than $1 billion in assets at the end of 2020 to over $127 billion by late 2025. This trend is a clear signal that investors and their financial advisors are actively seeking solutions beyond traditional stocks and bonds to generate cash flow and mitigate portfolio volatility.

This demand is fueled by persistent market uncertainty and a challenging interest rate environment. With advisors concerned about elevated equity valuations, many are looking for ways to keep clients invested in the market while providing a buffer against potential downturns. According to recent industry surveys, an overwhelming 92% of financial advisors already allocate a portion of client portfolios to alternative investments, with 91% planning to increase those allocations in the coming years. Strategies that offer consistent income and a degree of downside protection are at the top of their shopping lists.

“Our collaboration allows us to deliver a thoughtfully engineered outcome-oriented strategy in a single autocallable ETF,” said Greg King, CEO and Founder of REX Shares, in the official announcement. “This approach emphasizes broader diversification and disciplined ETF construction, pursuing a synthetic autocallable strategy to generate consistent income within a well-defined risk framework.”

Inside the Autocallable Engine

At its core, ATCL seeks to replicate the performance of the Bloomberg US Large Cap VolMax Autocallable Total Return Index. This index tracks a systematic, laddered portfolio of autocallable derivative positions linked to large-cap U.S. equities. But what does that mean for an investor?

An autocallable structure is designed to provide a predefined outcome. It typically offers a regular, often enhanced, coupon payment as long as the underlying asset—in this case, a broad equity index—remains above a specified “barrier” level on observation dates. If the market performs well and the underlying index hits a higher “autocall” trigger, the position is redeemed early, returning principal plus the final coupon. The fund’s laddered approach, holding multiple positions with staggered maturities, aims to smooth out this process and provide a more consistent income stream.

This structure offers a potential trade-off: in exchange for the enhanced income and a degree of downside protection (the barrier), investors typically agree to cap their potential upside. If the market rallies significantly, the early redemption feature means they may miss out on some of those gains. Conversely, as outlined in the fund’s prospectus, if the underlying index breaches the downside barrier, the protection is lost, and investors can be exposed to principal losses. Other risks include the potential for missed coupon payments if barrier conditions are not met and the complexity inherent in any derivative-based product.

A Strategic Alliance for a Complex Product

Bringing a product as intricate as ATCL to market requires a confluence of specialized expertise, which is reflected in the partnership behind its launch. The collaboration represents a modern ecosystem approach to financial product development and distribution.

• REX Shares serves as the architect and manager, leveraging its expertise in designing alternative and outcome-oriented ETFs.
• RBC Capital Markets provides the institutional-grade financial engineering, responsible for the critical structuring and hedging support for the complex derivatives that power the fund's strategy.
• Bloomberg Indices lends its credibility and technical acumen by supplying the transparent, rules-based underlying index that guides the ETF's investments.
• CAIS acts as the crucial bridge to the end-user market of independent financial advisors. Its role extends beyond simple distribution to focus heavily on advisor education and platform integration.

This educational component is vital. For a complex product like an autocallable ETF to be used responsibly, advisors must have a deep understanding of its mechanics, risks, and appropriate place in a client portfolio. CAIS’s involvement signals a commitment to empowering advisors with the knowledge needed to perform their due diligence.

“As advisors look for different ways to evaluate income and access the suite of outcome-driven investments, the ETF structure may represent a complementary vehicle within certain client portfolios,” noted Marc Premselaar, Partner and Head of Capital Markets at CAIS. “Our partnership with REX aligns with that focus by helping advisors better understand differentiated investment strategies, including their potential benefits and associated risks.”

Redefining the Advisor's Toolbox

ATCL enters a competitive but growing field of outcome-oriented products. It differentiates itself from the popular covered call ETFs by employing a distinct autocallable structure with defined barrier levels, which provides a different risk-return profile. Unlike buffer ETFs, which are typically designed with a set outcome period (e.g., one year), ATCL’s laddered autocallable positions are structured to provide ongoing income potential.

Perhaps its most significant differentiation is from traditional, individually sold structured notes. By placing the strategy within an ETF, REX Shares provides daily liquidity, greater transparency, and a lower investment minimum, effectively democratizing access to a strategy once reserved for high-net-worth investors with access to private banking. This launch is part of a larger industry trend of moving sophisticated strategies from opaque, hard-to-access formats into the regulated and transparent ETF wrapper, giving advisors a more powerful set of tools to build resilient client portfolios.