Agenda 

Buffet Breakfast

• Conference Registration, Royal Ballroom, Lower Level

Welcome and Cboe Update

Andy Lowenthal, EVP, Co-Head Markets Division, Cboe Global Markets

Keynote Speech: The Economic Climate Heats Up

• Central banks are shifting from stimulus to restraint while fiscal and trade policies are driven by populist politics in the US and parts of Europe
• The US is enjoying faster growth but faces long term risks
• Europe and England are approaching the Brexit deadline, Japan must nurture its nascent recovery and China may decide how open its markets will be
• The fallout of all this appears first in financial markets

David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee, S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI)

Options-Based Performance

• Design and performance of options-based strategy indexes

Matt Moran, Head of Global Benchmark Indexes Advancement, Cboe Global Markets

Considerations for Constructing Short Volatility Strategies

• Equity volatility risk premia strategies across regions
• Passive vs. active approaches
• Managing drawdowns in market stress

Natasha Jhunjhunwala, Executive Director, Equity Derivatives Structuring, Goldman Sachs

Coffee Break

Managing Downside Equity Risk

• Main approaches to hedging
• Tail risk hedging and why this matters for long term investors
• New developments and integration of momentum strategies within a hedging framework

Emmanuel Naim, Managing Director, Head of Americas Equity Structuring, JP Morgan

A Framework For Options Based View Expression

• Options market implied probability distributions
• Investor-believed "view" distributions
• Combining the two for a resultant trading strategy

Mark Richardson, Portfolio Manager, Janus Henderson

Managing Multi-Asset Short Volatility Portfolios

• Optimal delta-hedging in short volatility
• A look at theory and empirical study across asset classes
• Buffering as an effective way to reduce costs

Oyetola Oyeleye, Quantitative Researcher, Fulcrum Asset Management

Lunch and Networking

Options and Volatility Pricing and Trading

• Interpreting volatility data and characteristics
• The role of volatility in strategy selection and volatility in the real world
• VIX methodology and the buying and selling of VIX products

Sheldon Natenberg, Former Co-Director of Education, Chicago Trading Company and Author of "Option Volatility & Pricing"

VIX Futures Structure and Trading

• Understanding the dynamics of VIX Futures and their correlations with VIX and SPX
• Impacts on systematic alpha and hedging strategies

Samuel Vazquez,  Ph.D., Senior Research Manager, Capital Fund Management (CFM)

The Future of Equity Derivative Markets

• How market dynamics have changed since the events on the week of February 5th
• Strategies for navigating volatility

Moderator:

‍Eric Frait, Vice President, Options Advancement and Strategy, Cboe Global Markets

Panelists:

William J. Ellington, Managing Partner, X-Change Financial Access LLC

Uri Geller, Co-Founder and CIO, Granite M.S.A. LTD

Wilrik Sinia, Portfolio Manager, Mint Tower Capital Management

Session Break

Digital Assets and the Future of Finance

• Why should institutional investors care about digital assets/crypto?
• Should investors be confident that custody, reporting and infrastructure issues can be addressed?
• Do bitcoin futures have the potential to bring more order and oversight to the market?
• Why so volatile?  Is that a good or bad thing?

Moderator:

John Tornatore, Director, Global Client Services, Cboe Global Markets

Panelists:

Xen Baynham-Herd, Head of Strategy & Markets, Blockchain

Lucas Friss, Head of Business Development, London, Cumberland

Ilan Sterk, Vice President Trading, Hexa Group/Orbs

Cocktail Reception, Lobby Level