Equity Derivatives and Volatility Specialist, Clifton Derivatives

John Ley

Equity Derivatives and Volatility Specialist

Clifton Derivatives

Independent derivative and volatility research firm focusing on events/catalysts, earnings, relative value and cross asset volatility strategies.

Equity Derivatives

Maxis Nikkei 225 Index Fund / Equity Derivatives

<ul>
<li>Volatility percentiles are flashing, and we explore what recent price action could signal for the week ahead.</li>
<li>Put activity surged, with especially heavy interest on Thursday and Friday and concentrated in short dates expiries.</li>
<li>We highlight the potential for equity market volatility to spill over into currency markets.</li>
</ul>


Volatility percentiles are flashing, and we explore what recent price action could signal for the week ahead.
Put activity surged, with especially heavy interest on Thursday and Friday and concentrated in short dates expiries.
We highlight the potential for equity market volatility to spill over into currency markets.


Nikkei Index Options Weekly Mar 31 – Apr 04): Volatility Elevated, Put Demand Surges

Derivatives and Quantitative Strategist

Gaudenz Schneider

Quantitative Analysis

<ul>
<li>The <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/global-x-nikkei-225-covered-call-etf-option-premium-reinvestment-type" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:44483:1" rel="noopener">Global X Nikkei 225 Covered Call ETF (2858 JP)</a> has outperformed the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nikkei-225" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22909:1" rel="noopener">Nikkei 225 (NKY INDEX)</a> year-to-date with a 4.5% advantage, demonstrating strength in sideways and moderately declining markets.</li>
<li>The covered call strategy can be deployed as a tactical standalone in sideways markets or as a relative value approach against a Nikkei 225 short.</li>
<li>For investors anticipating a continuation of the sideways or declining market, the option roll-over on the open of March 14 offers timely entry.</li>
</ul>


The Global X Nikkei 225 Covered Call ETF (2858 JP) has outperformed the Nikkei 225 (NKY INDEX) year-to-date with a 4.5% advantage, demonstrating strength in sideways and moderately declining markets.
The covered call strategy can be deployed as a tactical standalone in sideways markets or as a relative value approach against a Nikkei 225 short.
For investors anticipating a continuation of the sideways or declining market, the option roll-over on the open of March 14 offers timely entry.


The Right Time for This Quantitative Strategy Outperforming the Nikkei Year to Date.

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>The Japanese Financial Services Agency has asked the general insurers to reduce/eliminate their cross-shareholdings.</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sompo-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:632:1" rel="noopener">Sompo Holdings (8630 JP)</a> had a stake over US$100m in at least 16 listed Japanese stocks, amounting to a total of around US$6bn.</li>
<li>In this note, we take a look at its stakes in various companies to see which ones could possibly be candidates for further selldowns.</li>
</ul>


The Japanese Financial Services Agency has asked the general insurers to reduce/eliminate their cross-shareholdings.

Sompo Holdings (8630 JP) had a stake over US$100m in at least 16 listed Japanese stocks, amounting to a total of around US$6bn.
In this note, we take a look at its stakes in various companies to see which ones could possibly be candidates for further selldowns.


Sompo Holdings Cross-Shareholding - At Least US$8bn of Cross-Shareholding to Sell

Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>Aequitas Research puts out a weekly update on the deals that were covered by the team recently along with updates for upcoming IPOs.</li>
<li>On the IPO front, Hong Kong appears to be heading towards its first US$100m+ IPO for the year.</li>
<li>For placements, after a flurry of placements in the prior week, past week was relatively quiet with only the US$2bn <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/itc-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:327:1" rel="noopener">ITC Ltd (ITC IN)</a> block.</li>
</ul>


Aequitas Research puts out a weekly update on the deals that were covered by the team recently along with updates for upcoming IPOs.
On the IPO front, Hong Kong appears to be heading towards its first US$100m+ IPO for the year.
For placements, after a flurry of placements in the prior week, past week was relatively quiet with only the US$2bn ITC Ltd (ITC IN) block.


ECM Weekly (18th Mar 2024) - ITC, Interglobe (Indigo), MS&AD, GlobalWafer, Belle, Auntea, Trial

Silver Point

Thomas J. Monaco

Silver Point is a boutique research firm that focuses on the broader financial services sector, with a particular focus on troubled institutions globally. 

Asia Ex Japan

Equity Bottom-Up

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MUFG) / Equity Bottom-Up

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MUFG) (8306 JP)

*USB Pounces Quickly: US Bancorp (USB.US) announced the acquisition of MUFG’s West Coast regional bank (Union Bank) for USD 8.0 bn in a 70/30 cash/stock transaction. Admittedly, this transaction is smaller than we had anticipated – only being Union Bank, the largest portion of MUFG Americas, MUFG’s US bank holding company; and  *Headache Relieved: MUFG recently received a regulatory C&amp;D for "unsafe and unsound practices" with respect to operational risk management and non-compliance with security standards. USB is now the responsible party. MUFG receives USD 5.5 bn in cash and a 2.9% stake in USB, and likely will record a gain of JPY 150 bn. At MUFG Americas, approximately USD 22.6 bn in assets remains at the CIB.

*USB Pounces Quickly: US Bancorp (USB.US) announced the acquisition of MUFG’s West Coast regional bank (Union Bank) for USD 8.0 bn in a 70/30 cash/stock transaction. Admittedly, this transaction is smaller than we had anticipated – only being Union Bank, the largest portion of MUFG Americas, MUFG’s US bank holding company; and  *Headache Relieved: MUFG recently received a regulatory C&amp;D for "unsafe and unsound practices" with respect to operational risk management and non-compliance with security standards. USB is now the responsible party. MUFG receives USD 5.5 bn in cash and a 2.9% stake in USB, and likely will record a gain of JPY 150 bn. At MUFG Americas, approximately USD 22.6 bn in assets remains at the CIB. 

Japan

Maxis Nikkei 225 Index Fund is an exchange-traded fund incorporated in the USA. The Fund will seek daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that track the performance of the Nikkei 225 Index.

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Maxis Nikkei 225 Index Fund (NKY US)

Nikkei Index Options Weekly Mar 31 – Apr 04): Volatility Elevated, Put Demand Surges

Recent volatility percentiles suggest potential market movement ahead. We highlight the potential for spillover of equity market volatility into...

John Ley

The Right Time for This Quantitative Strategy Outperforming the Nikkei Year to Date.

This Nikkei 225 Covered Call ETF has outperformed the market by 7.9% over the past six months. March 14 provides a timely entry point for either a...

Gaudenz Schneider

Sompo Holdings Cross-Shareholding - At Least US$8bn of Cross-Shareholding to Sell

The Japanese Financial Services Agency has asked the general insurers to reduce/eliminate their cross-shareholdings. Sompo had a stake of over...

Sumeet Singh

ECM Weekly (18th Mar 2024) - ITC, Interglobe (Indigo), MS&AD, GlobalWafer, Belle, Auntea, Trial

Aequitas Research puts out a weekly update on the deals that were covered by the team recently along with updates for upcoming IPOs.

Sumeet Singh

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial – Sayonara

MUFG: US Bancorp announced the acquisition of MUFG’s West Coast Union Bank for USD 8.0 bn. MUFG recently received a regulatory C&D for "unsafe and...

Thomas J. Monaco

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

Nikkei Index Options Weekly Mar 31 – Apr 04): Volatility Elevated, Put Demand Surges

​Recent volatility percentiles suggest potential market movement ahead. We highlight the potential for spillover of equity market volatility into...

John Ley

The Right Time for This Quantitative Strategy Outperforming the Nikkei Year to Date.

​This Nikkei 225 Covered Call ETF has outperformed the market by 7.9% over the past six months. March 14 provides a timely entry point for either a...

Gaudenz Schneider

Sompo Holdings Cross-Shareholding - At Least US$8bn of Cross-Shareholding to Sell

The Japanese Financial Services Agency has asked the general insurers to reduce/eliminate their cross-shareholdings. Sompo had a stake of over...

Sumeet Singh

ECM Weekly (18th Mar 2024) - ITC, Interglobe (Indigo), MS&AD, GlobalWafer, Belle, Auntea, Trial

Aequitas Research puts out a weekly update on the deals that were covered by the team recently along with updates for upcoming IPOs.

Sumeet Singh

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial – Sayonara

MUFG: US Bancorp announced the acquisition of MUFG’s West Coast Union Bank for USD 8.0 bn. MUFG recently received a regulatory C&D for "unsafe and...

Thomas J. Monaco

Recent volatility percentiles suggest potential market movement ahead. We highlight the potential for spillover of equity market volatility into...

This Nikkei 225 Covered Call ETF has outperformed the market by 7.9% over the past six months. March 14 provides a timely entry point for either a...