Better Portfolios with Options

Abstract

As a result of the recent financial crises, equity markets have performed poorly in the last five years or so. In consequence, equity long-only strategies have generally been unattractive over this period. This motivates the investigation on whether better performance can be achieved by including equity options in the portfolios. We show that simple systematic option strategies improve portfolio performance. Results are supported by thorough backtesting and simulations.

Keywords: Option Overwriting, Delta-Hedging, Volatility trading, Portfolio Optimization, Optimization Heuristics

JEL Classification: G11, C61, C63