Derivs - Equity

On 15 April 2014 the EU Parliament formally adopted the proposed regulation on key information documents for packaged retail and insurance based investment products. It introduces the key information document, or KID, a new short form disclosure document to be provided to retail investors before they purchase a packaged retail investment product or certain insurance-based products.

Kira Bazile, ex-managing director at BTIG in New York, has joined alternative asset manager North Street Global as a president, also based in New York.

Macro hedge funds are positioning for a correction in the Russell 2000 index entering outperformance options against the S&P 500 and selling upside calls on the Russell to finance the trade.

Merk Investments expects hedging strategies such as the application of currency overlay to an equity fund to find favour with institutional investors.

The move by MSCI to upgrade UAE and Qatar from frontier status to emerging market status is likely to drive greater activity in total return swaps on the specific countries. Liquidity in the country specific TRS market has shown signs of growth prior to the announcement from MSCI on Wednesday, which structurers say will lead to greater accessibility and tighter spreads in UAE and Qatar as it develops further.

Sellside firms are seeing increased appetite for structured products with volatility target mechanisms as a way of providing a primary source of income for UK individuals during retirement. The spike in interest comes on the back of Chancellor George Osborne’s 2014 budget that set out greater investment flexibility for individuals at retirement from April 2015.

Nomura has hired Ronan Connolly, the ex-head of equities trading for EMEA at Citigroup in London, to the same role, also in London. Connolly is the latest senior hire by Nomura amid increased revenues in its equities business.

BNP Paribas has become a member of The Order Machine, an equity and options trading venue in the Netherlands.

Trading Technologies will offer access to futures and options on the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s main stock index TAIEX via its Eurex gateway, following Eurex and the Taiwan Futures Exchange linkage on May 15.

The Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) is a driving force for supervisory measures to strengthen investor protection in Europe. Chairman Jean-Paul Servais is a member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions and also chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority’s Investor Protection and Intermediaries Standing Committee. He told Robert McGlinchey how investor protection is being strengthened from both a Belgian and EU perspective.

Equity derivatives, which have been a bright spot for investment banking divisions amid declining fixed income revenues in Q1, are primed for further growth, according to market participants.

Equity derivatives, which have been a bright spot for investment banking divisions amid declining fixed income revenues in Q1, are primed for further growth, according to market participants.