​Weekly Bulletin: April 13 – 17

Quarterly reporting season kicked into full gear this week, with major financial and commodity companies showing their hands. Friday also saw a bump in vol and VIX trading, as investors digested some less than encouraging economic numbers. In our buyside commentary, we talk to one Midwestern pension fund manager looking at variance swaps between U.S. indices and Eurostoxx benchmarks, in a bid to protect against equity declines in the U.S. and we also take a look at CalPERS supposed savings from shifting management strategies to rely more on index solutions. Also in the U.S., BNP is predicting that the elevated skew levels on the S&P 500 could have peaked as hedging concerns wane, opening up some trading strategies designed to take advantage of the changing situation. In the APAC region, investors are reevaluating their positions on Hong Kong indices following increased southbound flow from the mainland into the city’s equity markets, with some far out-the-money calls being heavily bid recently. We also sit down with the NZX to discuss their nascent options market in our latest Q&A. Plus, the People & Firms section is busting at the seams.