Derivs - Equity

Investors should look at entering so-called iron butterfly ratios on the Nikkei 225 index, selling Nov. 2013 14,570 straddles while buying 1.5x 14,000-to-15,500 strangles, in a bid to position for unexpected market turbulence.

Keith Dawson, managing director and index volatility trader at Wells Fargo in New York, has left the firm.

Deliverable swap futures could boost liquidity in derivatives markets and lead to a healthier industry going forwards, Jeffrey Howard, managing director and global co-head of prime services markets at RBS Securities, told the Bürgenstock global forum for derivatives markets in Geneva today.

Natixis has expanded its Americas equity derivatives business with the appointment of an equity derivatives trader and a structured product salesman.

Mark Ibbotson, the ex-co-ceo and global head of clearing at NYSE LIFFE, has joined G.H.Financials, an exchange-traded derivatives clearing and settlement firm headquartered in London.

The Hong Kong Exchange has made futures available on its HSI Volatility Index and China Exchanges Services China 120 Index to U.S.-based investors.

JPMorgan is to launch delta one certificates on two MSCI Market Neutral Barra Factor Indices.

Investors should buy EUR vega forward vols via swaption triangles following the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee’s decision not to start quantitative easing tapering, according to strategists at Société Générale.

Short-term equity-linked and fixed coupon notes are the most traded structured products among Asia-based users of deritrade, Bank Vontobel’s electronic structured products platform.

Many insurers currently link equity-indexed annuities (EIAs) to well-known equity indices, such as the S&P 500, NASDAQ 100, or Russell 2000. However, some insurers are considering linking their EIAs to volatility control indices instead, such as the S&P 500 Risk Control Index series.

Regulators must create a harmonized, robust derivatives system across domestic borders to avoid a race to the bottom on issues such as margin requirements, according to Martin Wheatley, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority in London.

Selim Mehrez, ex-global head of financial engineering, equities, at Morgan Stanley in London, is joining Natixis in Paris, in a similar role.