Derivatives and Quantitative Strategist

Gaudenz Schneider

Equity Derivatives

<ul>
<li>Market traders of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hong-kong-hang-seng-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22899:1" rel="noopener">Hang Seng Index (HSI INDEX)</a> call options maintain significant holdings in lower strikes, with notable concentration at the 20,000 strike level.</li>
<li>Open interest data reveals significant increase in open interest for 25,000 and 26,000 strike calls since late February, reflecting active trading as traders built new positions.</li>
<li>Despite increased trading activity and changes in market positioning, implied volatility has remained stable at 25-30% over the past two weeks, reflecting a consistent market sentiment.</li>
</ul>


Market traders of Hang Seng Index (HSI INDEX) call options maintain significant holdings in lower strikes, with notable concentration at the 20,000 strike level.
Open interest data reveals significant increase in open interest for 25,000 and 26,000 strike calls since late February, reflecting active trading as traders built new positions.
Despite increased trading activity and changes in market positioning, implied volatility has remained stable at 25-30% over the past two weeks, reflecting a consistent market sentiment.


Hang Seng Index (HSI): Trends in CALL Strikes and Open Interest Visualized in Animation and Charts

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Periscope Analytics

Periscope Analytics focuses on event-driven trades across Asia Pacific and provides comprehensive, timely and systematic coverage of index changes to major Asia Pacific indices in a structured manner.

The analysis includes forecasted inclusions and exclusions to all major Asian indices that have significant amount of tracking assets, including estimates of passive buy/sell flow on the stocks. The service also provides commentary and impact of market consultations, ground rule changes, and other events (IPOs, spin-offs, M&A) that could lead to index changes and passive flow.

Periscope Analytics works with multi-strategy hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, stat arb trading groups and long-only investors that invest and trade in the Asia Pacific region with the data being used to trade index rebalances, avoid pre-positioning and passive flow, and to time entry into and exit from stocks.

Event-Driven Trades Across Asia Pacific

Index Rebalance

<ul>
<li>The March rebalance of the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hong-kong-hang-seng-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22899:1" rel="noopener">HSI</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hang-seng-china-enterprises-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22900:1" rel="noopener">HSCEI INDEX</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hang-seng-tech-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:31367:1" rel="noopener">HSTECH</a> and HSIII indices will use today's closing prices to cap the index constituent weights at 8%/12%. This leads to large flows.</li>
<li>The gross round-trip trade across all stocks across the four indices is estimated at HK$41.1bn (US$5.3bn). The net round-trip trade is HK$37.3bn (US$4.8bn).</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/meituan" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26970:1" rel="noopener">Meituan</a> ,  <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/jd-com-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29043:1" rel="noopener">JD.com</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/baidu-inc-a55ca720-5968-48f0-8194-ac94390d065c" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:32212:1" rel="noopener">Baidu</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/horizon-robotics-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:35637:1" rel="noopener">Horizon Robotics</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/industrial-and-commercial-bank-of-china-limited" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1119:1" rel="noopener">ICBC</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/beigene-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27352:1" rel="noopener">BeiGene</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kuaishou-technology" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29725:1" rel="noopener">Kuaishou Technology</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-construction-bank-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:45:1" rel="noopener">China Construction Bank</a> are the largest buys. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/alibaba-group-holding-ltd-d7b798e2-202d-4e01-9a1e-799e2ae8f0c7" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28434:1" rel="noopener">Alibaba</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/xiaomi-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:24409:1" rel="noopener">Xiaomi</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hsbc-holdings-plc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:516:1" rel="noopener">HSBC</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/zhongan-online-p-c-insurance-c" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:23681:1" rel="noopener">ZhongAn Online</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent </a>are the largest sells.</li>
</ul>


The March rebalance of the HSI, HSCEI INDEX, HSTECH and HSIII indices will use today's closing prices to cap the index constituent weights at 8%/12%. This leads to large flows.
The gross round-trip trade across all stocks across the four indices is estimated at HK$41.1bn (US$5.3bn). The net round-trip trade is HK$37.3bn (US$4.8bn).

Meituan ,  JD.com, Baidu, Horizon Robotics, ICBC, BeiGene, Kuaishou Technology and China Construction Bank are the largest buys. Alibaba, Xiaomi, HSBC, ZhongAn Online and Tencent are the largest sells.


HSI, HSCEI, HSTECH, HSIII Index Rebalance: US$5.3bn of Flows Post Capping (Mar 2025)

<ul>
<li>Overnight, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/byd-co-ltd-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20962:1" rel="noopener">BYD (1211 HK)</a> has announced a placement of 118m shares at a price range of HK$333-345/share that could raise up to HK$40.7bn (US$5.2bn).</li>
<li>The Pink Sheets listing for BYD (BYDDY.PK) closed at US$87.1/share and traded US$155m for the day. That close implies an open of HK$338.7/share for <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/byd-co-ltd-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20962:1" rel="noopener">BYD</a>, middle of the placement range.</li>
<li>There will be passive buying from global index trackers later this week while buying from <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hong-kong-hang-seng-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22899:1" rel="noopener">Hang Seng Index</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hang-seng-china-enterprises-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22900:1" rel="noopener">Hang Seng China Enterprises Index</a> trackers will come in April.</li>
</ul>


Overnight, BYD (1211 HK) has announced a placement of 118m shares at a price range of HK$333-345/share that could raise up to HK$40.7bn (US$5.2bn).
The Pink Sheets listing for BYD (BYDDY.PK) closed at US$87.1/share and traded US$155m for the day. That close implies an open of HK$338.7/share for BYD, middle of the placement range.
There will be passive buying from global index trackers later this week while buying from Hang Seng Index and Hang Seng China Enterprises Index trackers will come in April.


BYD (1211 HK) Placement: Continuing to Power Up

Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining / Index Rebalance

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/chifeng-jilong-gold-mining-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7782:1" rel="noopener">Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining (600988 CH)</a> has launched an H-share offering that could raise up to US$554m if the offer size adjustment option and overallocation option are both exercised.</li>
<li>The price range of HK$13.72-HK$15.83/share is a discount of 18.7-29.5% to the A-shares and between 17-26% of the offering will be allocated to cornerstone investors.</li>
<li>The small issue size will result in the stock staying out the global indices for the foreseeable future. Inclusion in Southbound Stock Connect will take place in April.</li>
</ul>



Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining (600988 CH) has launched an H-share offering that could raise up to US$554m if the offer size adjustment option and overallocation option are both exercised.
The price range of HK$13.72-HK$15.83/share is a discount of 18.7-29.5% to the A-shares and between 17-26% of the offering will be allocated to cornerstone investors.
The small issue size will result in the stock staying out the global indices for the foreseeable future. Inclusion in Southbound Stock Connect will take place in April.


Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining (6693 HK) IPO: H-Share Offering Details & Index Inclusion

Asia L/S Equity PM/Macro/Thematic Idea Generation

Rikki Malik

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>A review of recent events/data impacting our investment themes or outlook</li>
<li>Is the OpenAI NVIDIA Artificial Intelligence driven bull market over?</li>
<li>The Japanese and Taiwanese stock markets are most at risk</li>
</ul>


A review of recent events/data impacting our investment themes or outlook
Is the OpenAI NVIDIA Artificial Intelligence driven bull market over?
The Japanese and Taiwanese stock markets are most at risk


Overview #17 – Buckle Up, We’re Not in Kansas Anymore!

China

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index is a free-float capitalization-weighted index comprised of H-Shares listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and included in the Hang Seng Mainland Composite Index. The base value of this index is 2000 as of Jan 3, 2000. This index replaced the old HSCE index on Oct. 3, 2001.

Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI INDEX)

Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI INDEX)

Hang Seng Index (HSI): Trends in CALL Strikes and Open Interest Visualized in Animation and Charts

Traders of Hang Seng Index call options maintain significant holdings at lower strikes. Increased interest in 25,000 and 26,000 strikes

Gaudenz Schneider

HSI, HSCEI, HSTECH, HSIII Index Rebalance: US$5.3bn of Flows Post Capping (Mar 2025)

The March rebalance of the HSI, HSCEI, HSTECH and HSIII indices will use today's closing prices for capping. The round-trip trade across the four...

Brian Freitas

BYD (1211 HK) Placement: Continuing to Power Up

BYD is looking to raise US$5.2bn at a 5.1-8.4% discount to last. The pink sheets listing implies an HK open around HK$339/shr. There will be some...

Brian Freitas

Overview #17 – Buckle Up, We’re Not in Kansas Anymore!

A review of recent events/data impacting our investment themes and outlook. We examine some implications of a peaking in the AI narrative-driven...

Rikki Malik

Hang Seng Index (HSI): Trends in CALL Strikes and Open Interest Visualized in Animation and Charts

Traders of Hang Seng Index call options maintain significant holdings at lower strikes. Increased interest in 25,000 and 26,000 strikes

Gaudenz Schneider

HSI, HSCEI, HSTECH, HSIII Index Rebalance: US$5.3bn of Flows Post Capping (Mar 2025)

The March rebalance of the HSI, HSCEI, HSTECH and HSIII indices will use today's closing prices for capping. The round-trip trade across the four...

Brian Freitas

BYD (1211 HK) Placement: Continuing to Power Up

BYD is looking to raise US$5.2bn at a 5.1-8.4% discount to last. The pink sheets listing implies an HK open around HK$339/shr. There will be some...

Brian Freitas

Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining (6693 HK) IPO: H-Share Offering Details & Index Inclusion

Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining is looking to raise up to US$554m in its H-share offering with around a quarter of the issue taken by cornerstone...

Brian Freitas

Overview #17 – Buckle Up, We’re Not in Kansas Anymore!

A review of recent events/data impacting our investment themes and outlook. We examine some implications of a peaking in the AI narrative-driven...

Rikki Malik