VIX’s Uncle and options trading icon Steve Sears joins the pod to talk investing principles, the psychology of options trading, the current market climate, and his lesson for retail traders.
VIX’s Uncle and options trading icon Steve Sears joins the pod to talk investing principles, the psychology of options trading, the current market climate, and his lesson for retail traders.
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Privacy PolicyDisclosures This communication is provided by Options Solutions, LLC (“Options Solutions”). Options Solutions is registered as an investment adviser with Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Registration as an investment adviser with the SEC does not imply a certain level of skill or training. The information shown herein is for general informational purposes only, should not be construed as investment advice, and should not be relied upon when making a decision to invest. Nothing herein should be construed as a solicitation or offer, or recommendation, to buy or sell any security. Advisory services are only provided to investors who become advisory clients of Options Solutions pursuant to a written advisory agreement or similar documentation, which investors are urged to read and carefully consider in determining whether investing with Options Solutions is suitable for their individual circumstances. In addition, nothing herein is intended to constitute legal, tax or accounting advice or investment recommendations, and prospective investors are strongly encouraged to seek the advice of the appropriate legal, tax, and/or accounting professionals prior to investing. read more
Disclosures PAST PERFORMANCE OF OPTIONS SOLUTIONS, ITS EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS, AND/OR AFFILIATES, IS NO GUARANTEE, NOR IS IT INDICATIVE, OF FUTURE RESULTS. All investing involves risk, including the risk of losing the principal amount invested. Any investment strategies described herein are speculative and involve a high degree of risk. There can be no assurance that any investment strategies discussed herein will meet any specific investment objectives or behave in any predictable manner. Net performance for an individual investor may differ from the net performance presented herein as some investors may have different fee arrangements and depending upon the timing of a specific investment. Performance may be volatile and may result in significant losses. Moreover, fees and transaction expenses may offset any profits. The performance shown is net of all expenses, management fees, and incentive fees (as applicable) and assumes reinvestment of all distributions.
The risk of loss in trading futures contracts or options is substantial. In some circumstances, an investor may sustain losses in excess of their initial margin funds. A prospective investor should therefore study and understand futures contracts and options before he or she invest in any fund trading such contracts and options and carefully consider whether such trading is suitable in the light of his or her own financial position and investment objectives.
Reference to any indices or benchmarks herein are for informational purposes only. These indices and benchmarks may be more diversified than the strategy and may not represent appropriate benchmarks. These indices and benchmarks may reflect positions that are not used in Options Solutions investment strategies.
All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. Use of these names, logos, and brands is for identification purposes only, and does not imply endorsement or affiliation.
Certain information contained herein may have been compiled from third-party sources. While Options Solutions believes such information comes from reliable sources, no representation, warranty or undertaking, express or implied, may be made with respect to the accuracy or completeness of such data, and Options Solutions assumes no duty to update such information. Any calculations, tables, projections or analyses provided to assist in evaluating the matters described herein may be based on subjective assessments and assumptions and may use a methodology that is one among several alternatives that could produce different results.
Information shown herein is in summary form, does not purport to be full or complete, and is subject to numerous qualifications and further explanation. Unless otherwise indicated, any information shown is estimated, unaudited, and has not been subject to review by any independent third-party or public accountant.
The risk of loss in trading futures contracts or options is substantial. In some circumstances, an investor may sustain losses in excess of their initial margin funds. A prospective investor should therefore study and understand futures contracts and options before he or she invest in any fund trading such contracts and options and carefully consider whether such trading is suitable in the light of his or her own financial position and investment objectives.
All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. Use of these names, logos, and brands is for identification purposes only, and does not imply endorsement or affiliation.
Certain information contained herein may have been compiled from third-party sources. While Options Solutions believes such information comes from reliable sources, no representation, warranty or undertaking, express or implied, may be made with respect to the accuracy or completeness of such data, and Options Solutions assumes no duty to update such information. Any calculations, tables, projections or analyses provided to assist in evaluating the matters described herein may be based on subjective assessments and assumptions and may use a methodology that is one among several alternatives that could produce different results.
Information shown herein is in summary form, does not purport to be full or complete, and is subject to numerous qualifications and further explanation. Unless otherwise indicated, any information shown is estimated, unaudited, and has not been subject to review by any independent third-party or public accountant.
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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.
Ms. Nazareth is a Senior Counsel with Davis Polk & Wardell. She previously headed the firm’s Trading and Markets practice in the Financial Institutions Group. She is an experienced financial markets regulator, former SEC Commissioner, and recognized authority on financial market regulatory issues.
Ms. Nazareth has been a key player in financial services regulatory reform for much of her career. She was a highly regarded financial services policymaker for more than a decade. She joined the SEC staff in 1998 as a Senior Counsel to Chairman Arthur Levitt and then served as Interim Director of the Division of Investment Management.
She served as Director of the Division of Trading and Markets from 1999 to 2005. As Director, she oversaw the regulation of broker-dealers, securities exchanges, and clearing agencies. She also served as the senior staff member assisting the SEC Chairman on the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets.
In 2005, she was appointed an SEC Commissioner by President George W. Bush.
Ms. Nazareth currently serves as the Operating Lead for the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets. She also serves on several not-for-profit boards, including Urban Institute; Watson Institute; St. Albans School of Public Service; Board of Visitors of Columbia Law School, Advisory Board of the Brown University Master in Cybersecurity program; and the SEC Historical Society. She is also a member of the American Law Institute and serves on the Advisory Board of Bitfury.
Ms. Nazareth graduated from Columbia University School of Law, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and Brown University, where she graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.
William (Bill) Speth has been in the investment business since 1982. He is the Chief Research Officer of Options Solutions LLC.
He has been involved in the introduction of some of the financial market’s most important innovations, helping to create options and futures on the Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, which spurred the development of the global volatility market.
Mr. Speth also serves as the Senior Advisor to the CEO and interim Head of Research for the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). He has been a member of the WFE Statistics Advisory Group since 2008 and was recently the Vice-Chairman.
Previously, Mr. Speth was Senior Vice President, Global Head of Research for Cboe Holdings. He led product development, focusing on volatility and the Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX. Mr. Speth also worked on policy issues related to liquidity, capital and tax treatment for options, and the use of options and futures in investment funds.
Mr. Speth began his career as a market maker in the CBOE’s index trading pits. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from LeMoyne College and a Master’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Rochester.
Ms. Minow is affiliated with Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center (BKC) for Internet and Society. She was recently a fellow with BKC and Harvard’s Advanced Leadership initiative.
Ms. Minow has worked as a consultant with libraries across the country on free speech, copyright, privacy, and related legal issues. She is past counsel to Califa, a consortium of California libraries that established a statewide eBook lending service. Previously, she was the Follett Chair at Dominican University’s School of Library and Information Science. Current and past board memberships include the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Freedom to Read Foundation, and the California Association of Trustees and Commissioners (Past Chair).
She is the recipient of the first Zoia Horn Intellectual Freedom Award and received a Web-based Information Science Education, or WISE, Award for excellence in online education when she taught part-time at San Jose State University.
Ms. Minow is a graduate of Brown University. Ms. Minow also holds an AMLS from the University of Michigan with a master’s in library science as well as a JD from Stanford University.
Mr. Colter is the Chief Communications Officer of TIAA, a Fortune 100 provider of secure retirements and outcome-focused investment solutions. He leads all corporate and investment communications and media relations across TIAA, TIAA Bank, and Nuveen, the company’s asset manager.
Mr. Colter also provides strategic messaging, counsel, and strategy to the Executive Committee and to business, distribution, product, and investments leadership and the company’s boards. He is a management representative to the TIAA Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Committee.
Previously, he was the Global Head of Strategic Messaging at BlackRock, the Head of Messaging and Content at PIMCO, and a reporter and editor for 16 years, including roles at Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal in New York and London. He has also served as an expert consultant for the Gerson Lehrman Group and as a member of the Rutgers University Big Data Advisory Board.
Mr. Colter is a graduate of the University of Georgia, where he was the 2008 recipient of the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication mid-career award for distinguished alumni
Ms. Kennedy is the former Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for Cboe Global Markets, a leading global exchange operator and trading solutions provider. She retired from the company in 2021 after successfully driving the company’s global brand and corporate narrative for 27 years.
During her tenure, Kennedy led strategic communications internally and externally in support of key growth milestones, including Cboe’s transition from a membership organization to a for-profit company and its subsequent IPO, its transformational acquisition of Bats Global Markets, its ascent as one of the world’s leading market operators and its designation as an S&P 500 company.
Ms. Kennedy represented Cboe at the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), the global trade association for the world’s major stock, futures, and options exchanges, from 2010 to 2017. She chaired WFE’s Communications Task Force and served on its Working and Policy Committees, helping to raise awareness of the benefits of regulated exchanges globally.
A graduate of Northwestern University, she is a recipient of the “Silver Quill Award for Excellence” from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and the “Excellence in Marketing and Communications” award from the Markets Media 2019 Women in Finance awards.
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Mr. Noll is the CEO of Context Capital Partners in Bala Cynwyd, PA. He joined the Context team to further develop and execute the strategic vision through partnerships, alternative investments, and financial technology. Context Capital Partners is also the parent company of Context Summits and Context Family Network.
In 2013, Mr. Noll was named President and CEO of Convergex, a global, institutional, agency broker-dealer – one of the three largest in the world – headquartered in New York City. The private equity-backed venture was successfully sold under his leadership in 2018. After the sale of Convergex, Eric founded Willow Creek Capital, LLC, a firm providing advisory and consulting services to the financial technology, capital markets, and private equity space.
Before Convergex, Mr. Noll was the Executive Vice-President, Transaction Services for NASDAQ, responsible for NASDAQ’s global exchange businesses. Prior to NASDAQ, Mr. worked for over 15 years at Susquehanna International Group, serving in many different capacities.
With over two decades of experience in the financial services and financial technology space, Mr. Noll is a well-recognized industry expert on capital markets and has been twice named to the Institutional Investor Trading Technology list of Top 40 Executives in Financial Technology.
Mr. Noll served on the SEC Equity Market Structure Task Force, where he chaired the Market Quality Subcommittee.
In 2018, Mr. Noll was appointed to be the Interim President of Franklin and Marshall College, where he remains a long-standing Board member. He currently serves as the Chair of the Board. He is also the Chair of the Board of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, a Governor of FINRA, a Trustee of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Owen School of Management Vanderbilt University.
Marc Berman
Mr. Berman is a private investor with deep experience in the financial services industry, who is also very involved in community service.
He is a Senior Advisor to OCA Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund manager. He is currently Chairman of the Board of CJE/Senior Life, an agency of the Jewish Federation of Chicago. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Baruch College Fund, the endowment fund for Baruch College of the City University of New York.
Mr. Berman began his career as an attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Market Regulation where he focused on the financial regulation of broker-dealers and the regulation of the then-nascent options market.
In 1976, Mr. Berman joined the Options Clearing Corporation as its first General Counsel. In 1986 Marc joined the options trading firm of O’Connor & Associates (OCA) as General Counsel and shortly thereafter as a General Partner. In 1990, O’Connor & Associates began a series of transactions with Swiss Bank Corporation (now UBS) that culminated in Swiss Bank’s acquisition of OCA in 1995.
Mr. Berman continued with Swiss Bank as a Managing Director and General Counsel for the Americas (and a consultant) until July of 2001. Since then, he has continued his association with his former O’Connor Partners in joint investments and as a participant in many venture capital projects.
Marc holds a B.B.A in Accounting from Baruch College and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School.
Mr. Brodsky has a track record of leading organizations and enhancing performance. He is the co-founder and the CEO of Options Solutions, LLC.
Prior to founding Options Solutions, Mr. Brodsky made investments in public companies, working with two family offices, The Pritzker Group and Limco Investments. As an investor and fund manager, Mr. Brodsky often took on active roles in these investments, serving on the board of directors of 9 public companies, six of which he served as chairman. On two occasions, Mr. Brodsky served as the CEO and chairman of two investments, where he oversaw strategic acquisitions and ultimately, sales to strategic acquirers. Michael’s investments have been in a range of industries ranging from software and hardware businesses, digital marketing, e-commerce, hospitality, land development, and home building, entertainment, and gaming.
In addition to his role at Options Solutions, Mr. Brodsky currently serves as Chairman of the Board of PowerFleet, Inc. (PWFL), a manufacturer of wireless machine-to-machine sensor technology and software that helps companies to control, track, monitor, and analyze their high-value assets.
Mr. Brodsky received his B.A. from Syracuse University, an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg School of Management, and a JD from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, where he presently serves on its Advisory Board.
Michael J. Oyster has been in the investment business since 1994. He is the Chief Investment Officer of Options Solutions LLC. Mr. Oyster has broad experience as an investment strategist, analyzing institutional fund managers and advising investors on their portfolio allocations, construction, and manager selection.
Mr. Oyster’s investment career began in 1994 as the Senior Quantitative Analyst with Schaeffer’s Investment Research. He analyzed equity and index options, financial markets, and behavioral metrics, and also managed several options-based investment strategies.
In 1999, he joined Fund Evaluation Group LLC (FEG), an institutional advisory and asset management firm. He researched traditional and hedge fund managers, advised institutional investors, and analyzed markets and the economy. Mr. Oyster led the firm’s research and due diligence efforts on options-based investment strategies, which enabled him to develop a broad, singular understanding of the tools and techniques of successful options-based managers and also of the pitfalls that have bedeviled the unsuccessful.
As FEG’s Chief Investment Strategist, Mr. Oyster’s counsel was regularly relied upon by investors for his expertise on markets and economic matters. He advanced established academic research to develop a momentum analysis strategy to improve asset weighting decisions at the portfolio level. He also led the firm’s investment allocation efforts and deployed $4 billion of discretionary capital.
Mr. Oyster is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati with a BBA in Finance, a Chartered Financial Analyst holder, and a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst holder. He is a member of the CFA Institute, the CFA Society of Cincinnati, the CAIA Association, and the American Mensa. He is a Board member of the Freestore Foodbank Foundation and the Lincoln W. Pavey Educational Foundation. Michael is the author of two investment books, the more recent of which, Success in a Low Return World, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in November 2018.
Amalia Rosen is Director of Marketing and Investor Relations at Options Solutions LLC, a veteran marketing and business development executive with more than 20 years of management experience in marketing, operations, and revenue generation.
She has been in marketing and business development leadership roles for a number of public and private companies, with the aim of planning and proactively leading the development and execution of overall marketing and communications strategies.
As Director of Investor Relations and Business Development at Options Solutions, she oversees all aspects of investor communications, product marketing, and demand generation, including the development and execution of strategies required to deliver effective messaging, awareness, and adoption of our investment solutions.
Prior to joining Options Solutions in 2019, Amalia was the Worldwide Vice President of Marketing for Determine Inc, a SaaS provider specializing in downstream financial management and procurement solutions. Amalia led efforts to rebrand the company and relaunch on the NASDAQ, dramatically increasing brand awareness, audience growth, customer loyalty, and revenue. Amalia has managed the marketing and revenue generation department in industries ranging from SaaS Software, Online Media, Search Marketing, Telecommunications, and Gaming. Some of those companies include MCI Communications, AOL, Network Solutions, Virgin Group, Churchill Downs and Youbet.com
Amalia holds a BA in Psychology and Spanish from Rollins College. She is active with the Hydrocephalus Association and on the board for STEP, Secondary Transition a program for life after high school for parents of children with special needs.
John Nolan is the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Options Solutions. Mr. Nolan brings over thirty years of accounting and operational finance leadership roles for public, and private companies in the SaaS, Management Consulting, Telecommunications, and Computer Hardware industries.
Mr. Nolan has been CFO of several private and public companies, responsible for creating reporting and forecasting systems that improve visibility into companies’ operations for owners and investors. Prior to joining Options Solutions, Mr. Nolan served as CFO of the publicly traded enterprise software provider Determine, Inc. He helped to lead the successful integration of two acquisitions, rationalized accounting processes and controls across the new entity, raised nearly $20m in equity and debt financing, and then led the process to sell the company.
Prior to Determine, Mr. Nolan served as CFO and COO of the national management consultancy Quadel Consulting. He led major expansion efforts in disaster recovery services and implemented more rigorous quality standards using software monitoring tools. As the Vice President of Corporate Finance at MCI, he implemented Sarbanes Oxley controls and created the financial portion of the plan of reorganization. As a Cost Accountant at IBM, he oversaw $500m in computer component inventory.
Mr. Nolan has spoken on financial leadership and costs analysis at Chief Financial Officer Magazine, Better Management Live, and IDC conferences. The costing systems he put in place at MCI received the Enterprise Intelligence award from the software company SAS.
Mr. Nolan has a bachelor’s degree in Management from Tulane University and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Nolan is a licensed CPA. He serves as board chair for the education non-profit Center for Inspired Teaching and previously served on the boards of the children’s theater Imagination Stage and the poverty services organization SOME.
William J. Brodsky has been in the investment business since 1968. He is Chairman of Options Solutions LLC.
William J. Brodsky is internationally-acknowledged as one of the foremost leaders of the options industry and investment community. His efforts have led to dramatic improvements in market structure, tax treatment, market quality, and investor education.
From 1997 to 2017, Mr. Brodsky was Chairman of CBOE Holdings Inc. He was Chief Executive Officer from 1997 to 2013, leading the exchange’s demutualization and initial public offering, and the creation of futures and options on the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX).
Mr. Brodsky also was the Chairman of the World Federation of Exchanges and the International Options Market Association. Earlier in his career, he was President and CEO of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where he was instrumental in developing and globalizing stock index futures and the Globex trading system. He began his career at Model Roland & Company, working with his father, who was the firm’s Managing Partner.
Mr. Brodsky has served on the Board of Directors of Northwestern Memorial Hospital and affiliates for 22 years, including 14 years as Chairman of the investment committee and Chairman of the Hospital Board from 2012 to 2016. He is currently the Chairman of Chicago’s Navy Pier Inc. and an advisor to Madison Dearborn Partners.