​Daily Bulletin: Thursday Dec. 4

Hedge funds and institutional investors were seen buying call spreads on the iShares FTSE A50 China Index ETF, reflecting increasing bullish sentiment in A-shares over the short-term. High net worth individuals and private banks, meanwhile, have been active in structured products with an embedded barrier option on the upside—up-and-out calls—and selling a put on the downside. In Europe, investors are exploring ways to enhance the relative performance of systematic call overwriting strategies in an effort to reduce the call away ratio in the underlying equities of their portfolio, while in the US we talk to former Goldman Sachs chief Terry Travis about a new risk advisory business he plans to launch next year. In listed flow, South American mining giant Vale saw above average put flow, with 44,000 Dec. contracts targeting 11 for USD2.61.