Derivs - Equity

Lucas Newbill has joined Société Genéralé’s hedge fund sales desk in New York as a v.p. in exotic equity derivatives from Calyon.

Credit Suisse is recommending investors buy certain large-cap consumer stocks or sell call options on existing holdings in the sector at strikes well above current trading levels to pocket premium from high implied volatility levels.

London-based VCM Fund Management, a hedge fund and seeding firm, has launched the VCM K2 Alternative Energy Segregated Portfolio, a global equity long/short and derivatives fund that invests in companies positively affected by climate change.

Hapoalim Securities, the U.S. broker/dealer of Israeli giant Bank Hapoalim, is getting into equity derivatives and has hired Matthew Nadel to lead the effort.

A short-lived idea that guaranteed structured notes could make it within the scope of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. new government debt guarantee program was snuffed out Thursday.

London-based alternative investment manager Amiri Capital plans to launch a Sharia-compliant global equity long/short fund of funds within weeks that will hedge positions via unconventional derivatives.

After not getting help in the U.K. or Irish government bailouts, derivatives dealers and end users are also concerned that structured notes will be left out of a temporary U.S. program guaranteeing unsecured debt.

Jefferies & Co. has hired Jason Roelke as head of derivative sales as part of the firm’s plan to expand its sales and trading platform with institutional clients in mind.

Equity derivative trading bearishness is fading, with investors again looking at adding risk as volatility falls after this month’s extraordinary spikes.

Royal Bank of Scotland has appointed Brian Reid as its global head of financial institution sales in London, reporting to John Hourican, chief executive of global banking and markets.

The fall-out from the Lehman Brothers mini-bond saga has hit structured equity retail sales in Hong Kong as investors have run to the safe haven of cash.

Dividend swaps quotes are slumping amid an illiquid market reflecting high volatility on global indexes.