Steven M. Sears is the president, chief operating officer, and co-founder of Options Solutions. The investment firm uses conservative options strategies to help clients enhance stock returns and reduce risk.
Mr. Sears has deep experience in the options industry as an investor, exchange executive, and journalist.
Mr. Sears was part of executive teams that modernized the U.S. options market and introduced electronic trading. He helped lead the first securities exchange IPO, which led to the birth of the modern exchange industry.
As an author, and as a journalist for some of the world’s leading financial publications, he has dedicated himself to narrowing the information gap that exists between institutional and individual investors.
His book, The Indomitable Investor, introduced many people to the often counter-intuitive thoughts and actions that sophisticated investors use to better navigate the financial markets.
As a journalist, Mr. Sears evolved financial markets coverage to include the stock and options trading communities that had been largely ignored by the national media.
He pioneered coverage of trading, options markets, and exchanges, for The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and Dow Jones Newswires. His coverage made options trading and investment strategies a permanent part of market analysis and media coverage. His investigative reporting dramatically improved how options are traded, priced, and regulated.
He has been recognized by the Cboe, the world’s largest options exchange, for contributing to the development and growth of the global volatility and options market. Cboe also credited him for naming the Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, the “Fear Gauge,” which has come to be as ubiquitous in finance as major stock indexes.
Mr. Sears is a graduate of the University of Georgia, where he has served as a trustee and as the chairman of an independent media company. He is a member of the Economic Club of New York.
