Derivs - Equity

Institutional investors were entering option spread strategies on the S&P 500 Monday and Tuesday on the back of steepened skew levels, following a rise in volatility last week.

Hedge funds have been seen Thursday buying large quantities of short-dated Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index August downside puts, targeting 14, 16 and 18 strikes.

Turnover in structured products at the SIX Structured Products Exchange in Switzerland declined in June to Sfr1.75bn, a decrease of 9.45% compared to May, according to a quarterly report from the Swiss Structured Products Association.

Euronext is adding options on the shares of NN Group, an international insurance and investment management company, to its Amsterdam market as of July 17. The move follows the IPO of NN Group on Euronext Amsterdam on July 2, 2014.

Credit Suisse has launched reverse convertible and conditional coupon reverse convertibles on $/Fr to allow investors to benefit from an expected spike in the dollar against the franc.

The Singapore Exchange is expanding into Hong Kong, establishing a liquidity hub and opening a derivatives trading branch.

Dan Day-Robinson, founder and former chairman of GT & GE Group Geneva, has been appointed as a member of the board and vice chairman of the Swiss Futures and Options Association.

Market participants have rallied against the European Securities and Markets Authority's focus on reducing the cost of post-trade data sold by exchanges, saying that the quality of such data should instead be regulated. The cost of collecting and licensing post-trade market data is seen as the major obstacle to creating a ‘consolidated tape’, or an aggregated feed of stock trade data from venues in Europe that would help investors benchmark their performance.

UBS has launched a new delta hedged short volatility strategic index that seeks to replicate a series of short S&P 500 options, allowing investors to earn implied vs realized volatility via one total return swap.

Hedge funds and other asset managers are showing increased interest in hedging their investments in banks’ contingent convertible bonds with equity put options, writes Hazel Sheffield.

Simon Yates, global head of equity derivatives at Citigroup, has left the firm to join New York-based hedge fund Two Sigma Investments as chief executive.

Assenagon’s subordinated debt and contingent convertible fund has raised €100 million in assets under management, five months after it was launched.