Options on ETFs

From time-to-time, the research desk at ETF Global gets a call or two inquiring about options on ETFs.  Often times, the request is part of a Portfolio Manager’s process and yet at other times, the call is simply to understand if these vehicles exist and if so, are they viable considerations.  So here are a little information and some high level statistics that may help those with interest in this area.

Currently, our database reflects that there are options traded on a few hundred ETFs which reflects just a fraction of the overall universe of ETFs. Interestingly, about 10 of those are actually options on actively managed funds and most of these 10 represent the larger fixed income issues with some exceptions.  Otherwise, you generally find options on the largest and most active ETFs – no big surprise. 

As with many things in the world of ETFs, the landscape is incredibly top heavy.  A quick review of the optionable funds reveals that Volume and Open Interest drop precipitously below the Top 10 ranked funds in these categories. 

Here’s a look at the Top 10 for Open Interest on both sides of the market, as well as, the most recent daily volume - all of which is available in the Scanner at ETFG. Given the concentration of volume and open-interest at the top of these rankings, we encourage you to take a close look at the entire rankings.

  Top 10 Trading Volume

Ticker	Fund Name	Option Volume*
SPY	SPDR S&P 500 ETF	2,615,717
EEM	iShares MSCI Emerging Index Fund ETF	564,777
QQQ	Powershares QQQ Trust ETF	545,977
IWM	iShares Russell 2000 ETF	454,588
VXX	iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futuresâ„¢ ETN	257,870
GLD	SPDR Gold Shares ETF	148,687
XOP	SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF	135,028
SLV	iShares Silver Trust ETF	121,052
XLU	SPDR Utilities Select Sector Fund ETF	119,762
FXI	iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Fund ETF	108,435

  *10/23/13

  

  Top 10 Open Interest:  Call/Put/Total*

Ticker	Call Open Interest		Ticker	Put Open Interest		Ticker	Total Open Interest
SPY	7,052,146		SPY	12,520,990		SPY	19,573,136
SPX	4,800,428		SPX	7,885,853		SPX	12,686,281
VIX	4,325,398		EEM	4,230,930		EEM	8,087,736
BAC	4,104,430		BAC	3,376,873		BAC	7,481,303
EEM	3,856,806		IWM	3,331,615		VIX	6,706,514
FB	2,508,613		XLF	2,735,142		IWM	4,735,969
SLV	2,265,857		VIX	2,381,116		XLF	4,259,636
MSFT	2,157,095		QQQ	2,166,146		FB	4,162,244
GLD	2,074,140		VXX	2,131,832		QQQ	4,050,260
QQQ	1,884,114		FB	1,653,631		MSFT	3,631,234

  *10/23/13

There’s plenty to cover here for future posts and we urge you to take a look at the ETFG Scanner.  We will certainly revisit the topic down the road.

Thank you for reading ETFG Daily Perspectives.