​Weekly: VIX Open Interest Rises; Funds Seen Driving HSCEI, HSI Selloff

With the kids back in school and summer basically over, it was time to get back to work and nowhere was this more evident than the increasing open interest in the CBOE VIX. Traders and strategists were decrying the decline of open interest in the VIX at the start of the year as volatility levels hovered around record low levels. But with the collapse in China’s equity markets and the prospect of U.S. interest rate rises, people are again looking to hedge themselves. Meanwhile in Asia, hedge funds have been driving a significant vol selloff in the HSCEI and HSI this week, as they unwind long variance swap positions against the S&P 500 that have been built up in recent weeks. The vol selloff is one of the biggest ever seen by traders and is uniform across the curve. Don’t miss this week’s buyside commentary, which features 36 South’s Jerry Haworth and Mandarin Capital’s Arnaud Lagarde. Keith Law from MCM Partners also shares his latest thoughts on the Asian equity markets.