Derivs - Equity

Hedge funds and institutional investors are increasingly considering taking positions in futures and options on the Chicago Board Options Exchange Russell 2000 Volatility Index (RVX) as a way of managing their small-call stock exposure.

Investment banks are expanding their algorithmic systematic product offering, or so called algo indices, in an effort to cover multi asset classes such as fx, rates, commodities and equities.

Fund provider Direxion has launched an exchange-traded fund that uses total return swaps to gain leveraged exposure to the S&P 500, with more similar ETFs expected this year.

Call options on the S&P 500 have plunged to their cheapest level in over 12 months, following consistent declines in volatility levels last week.

US options exchanges and the Options Clearing Corp. have agreed to adopt a number of pre- and post-trade risk controls, including a kill switch that cancels existing orders or blocks new orders.

Hedge fund investors are considering options exposure on the S&P 500 and on technology and energy single stocks as the cost of such instruments has decreased to near record low levels, according to traders and strategists.

Bloomberg has launched its own swap data repository, serving as a centralized record keeping facility for interest rate, credit, fx, commodity and equity swaps transaction data.

UBS has launched tracker certificates on the Solactive Robotics and Drones Total Return Index, in an effort to provide direct exposure to expected growth in the sector.

Further growth is required in the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s short-term volatility index futures in order to drive volume and liquidity in the newly launched short-term VIX options.

Equity structurers have been reinvigorated. With companies sitting on mountains of cash, M&A being the talk of the town and increased market expectation for stock buyback growth, structurers are tirelessly back to what they do best—being knee-deep in quantitative and qualitative data into the early hours in an effort to compile the most optimum solutions for clients.

Société Générale has launched a novel algorithm on cash equities and futures that aims to give institutional investors further discretion when trying to minimise slippage versus a strike price at a specified time in the future.

The NASDAQ OMX Group has made Thomas Wittman, former senior vp and head of US equities and derivatives, an executive vp and global head of equities.