Recorded live at the Exchange ETF conference in Las Vegas, host Ryan Nauman welcomes David Nicholas, founder and CEO of XFUNDS, to discuss what a strong multi-year equity run means for investors and how to prepare for potential selloffs. Nicholas explains why focusing only on capital appreciation can be risky, argues that true diversification means some parts of a portfolio will lag, and emphasizes drawdown as a practical risk measure compared with volatility alone. He describes how investors often underestimate their drawdown exposure and how income generation can help investors avoid selling during downturns. Nicholas outlines XFUNDS’ approach using option overlays such as put spread selling and iron condors to harvest volatility and generate income without fully capping upside, and discusses implementation, including equity and fixed-income sleeves, potential allocations, and where to learn more at nicholasx.com.

00:00 Show Welcome
00:36 Live From Vegas
01:33 Meet David Nicholas
02:28 Why Launch ETFs
03:55 Beyond Growth Focus
06:21 Drawdown Risk Matters
07:59 Measuring Risk Tolerance
09:32 Income As Hedge
10:04 Options Strategy Basics
11:54 Explaining To Advisors
13:15 Portfolio Fit And Allocation
16:41 Where To Learn More

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