‘A lot of money on the sidelines’: Calamos thinks ETFs should target CD, money market customers

There may be an untapped market for exchange-traded funds.

According to Calamos investments’ Matt Kaufman, there are trillions of dollars across CD and money market accounts, and it is a market ETFs should look to capture.

“That’s larger than almost the ETF space itself,” the firm’s head of ETFs told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” earlier this week. “There’s a lot of money on the sidelines that could move into this.”

Kaufman, who is in the interest rates will stay higher for longer camp, thinks structured and options ETFs designed for risk management and income can provide stability.

“We saw it being difficult to get risk management and income from bonds when rates were so low,” he said. “As rates have moved … off of zero or 4, 5% now, we can afford to deliver capital protection over an outcome period. And, when you can do that, there’s a lot of opportunities to use these products.”

Kaufman mentioned ETFs in this higher-rate environment can be particularly beneficial for people looking for opportunities to outpace inflation — especially retirees.

“You can get greater than the risk-free rate. …Your money is linked to the market with no greater downside risk,” Kaufman added. “This is all tax-deferred growth.”

Kaufman’s firm Calamos just started launching a suite of 12 structured protection ETFs.