Derivs - Equity

Pension funds are taking advantage of the rally in U.S. equities and low volatility to increase their downside hedges and hunt for yield, using strategies such as put spread collars and call overwriting.

A master agreement for entering into Shariah-compliant derivatives transactions is likely to be initiated in March, according to an official at Bahrain’s International Islamic Financial Market.

Donal Galvin, the former head of exotics trading and structuring at Rabobank in London, has joined Mizuho Securities Asia in Hong Kong.

Daiwa Capital Markets has reportedly hired Christopher Johnson to head up the firm’s Asian synthetic prime brokerage business, a newly created role.

Newedge Group is relocating a team of three over-the-counter equity derivatives brokers to Hong Kong from Tokyo to cover interbank Nikkei options.

JPMorgan’s private bank shook up the U.S. retail structured products market this week, buying up a total of USD346 million in notes issued by five other banks.

Michel Barnier, EU internal market commissioner-designate, who will lead derivatives regulation in Europe, told European ministers in Brussels this afternoon that regulation of over-the-counter derivatives market will not be delayed if the U.S. and Asian authorities haven’t implemented similar regulation by year-end.

A handful of banks have been lobbying Indian regulators to open a retail equity derivatives warrants market. Some issuers who have been in nascent talks with the Securities Exchange Board of India include JPMorgan and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Royal Bank of Scotland is advising investors to purchase a call option on a basket of Chinese oil and telecom stocks, since the bank’s analysts believe the price of oil will rise this year.

Jeffrey Fittipaldi, an equity derivatives sales trader at brokerage Pali Capital in New York, has joined Knight Capital Group in Jersey City, N.J.

Institutional broker-dealer Ticonderoga Securities has hired four Newedge staffers, including John Martin, the former head of listed equity derivatives, for its new equity derivatives desk.

Newedge is recommending selling short-term straddles on the EURO STOXX 50 to take advantage of an expected drop in implied volatility relating to positive corporate earnings over the next few weeks.