Any Outcome,
One Toolkit

Cboe's S&P 500 Toolkit provides tools that may assist investors in positioning their portfolios and navigating U.S. equity market volatility around the election. This versatile suite of index options and futures may help in mitigating downside risk and in capitalizing on potential upswings in the market.

Discover the S&P 500 Toolkit

  • Options

    SPX ®

    Ultimate Versatility

    The most actively traded and liquid index options in the US. SPX unlocks the full potential of risk management strategies based on the S&P 500.

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  • Options

    XSP ®

    Flexibility and Precision

    At 1/10 the size of the classic SPX, XSP provides more precision and granularity for scaling exposure to the S&P 500.

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  • Futures

    VXM

    Agile Risk Management

    At 1/10th the size of the standard VIX futures contract, Mini VIX futures offers additional flexibility in volatility risk management and greater precision when allocating among smaller managed accounts.

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  • Options

    VIX ®

    Volatility Guard

    With VIX options, hedge portfolio volatility risk distinct from market price risk and express your view of the future direction of volatility.

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  • Futures

    /VX

    Pure Play on Volatility

    With VIX futures, express your view on or hedge against expected volatility in the market.

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  • Futures

    VA

    NEW - Transparency & Flexible Execution

    Variance futures are a simple and transparent alternative to OTC variance swaps.

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  • Options

    UX

    NEW - Expanded Market Access

    Options on VIX futures offer more expiration choices and physically settle into front month VIX futures.

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Volatile markets, meet versatile strategies

Key benefits of the S&P 500 toolkit

  • One Access Point

    Enjoy the convenience and efficiency of executing Cboe options and futures with one clearing house and one executing broker.

  • Empower Decision Making

    Guide your trading decisions with real-time market indicators, premier education and expert analysis.

  • Trade Anytime, Anywhere

    Seize opportunities whenever they strike. Trade the suite of Cboe S&P 500 tools nearly 24 hours, 5 days a week, in every time zone — U.S., Europe and Asia.

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You've Been Looking For

Customer Whitepapers & Testimonials

For nearly five decades, asset owners and investment managers have relied on Cboe tools as the tried and trusted solution for mastering risk. Discover how our institutional clients, from hedge funds to insurers, pensions, and RIAs, have harnessed the power of the Cboe S&P 500 Toolkit to achieve their investment goals. Select from the portfolio objectives below to view the client whitepapers and testimonials.

  • Derek Devens, Neuberger Berman

    Over our 12 years of managing equity index option solutions for a global client base, our strategies have worn many descriptors; Defensive, Lower Volatility, Lower Beta, Alternative and Hedged. Regardless of the moniker assigned, our index option solutions seek to supplement equity portfolio allocations with a combination of portfolio benefits including greater capital efficiency, higher risk/return efficiency, improved portfolio diversification and/or reduced drawdowns. The flexibility afforded by index option solutions can help solve some of the challenges facing allocators without making material changes to their portfolios such as a need for increased funding flexibility, seamless portfolio allocation shifts or lower cost structures to balance higher fee strategies.

    Given prominence and durability of S&P 500 Index (SPX) options and the Cboe S&P 500 Volatility Index (VIX) franchises, both serve as cornerstones for our index option solutions. More specifically, our strategies employ systematic rebalancing methodologies to manage investor portfolio risks, i.e., volatility, delta, vega, etc., and enhance long-term returns. At scale, this requires stable and deep option/futures markets that can support the needs of the world's largest asset allocators. Hence, we believe no other index option product set can rival the contract versatility, operational stability, market depth or cost-efficiency of SPX and VIX derivative markets. In addition, the unique relationship between the SPX Index option market and the VIX Index provides beneficial transparency into risk-based pricing of potential market outcomes. In an industry where performance measurement and risk-management are of paramount importance, the VIX index provides investors with a means of distilling the SPX Index option market's view of equity risk into a single number that can be observed (calculated) in real-time. We have found that the long-standing efficacy of SPX and VIX derivatives markets has positioned them as the 'wholesale' market for equity risk across a variety of markets—said directly, most equity market product risk is or can be hedged back into SPX/VIX exposure.

  • Dennis Davitt, MDP

    I do not believe "volatility" is an asset class. I feel strongly that volatility is a tool that is used to achieve portfolio/investment solutions. Thus, it is ironic, that I am writing this testimonial. Every Formula One mechanic has a great set of tools, and every Michelin Star Chef has quality cookware. The best in their craft use the best available tools of their trade. The CBOE volatility complex provides every world class portfolio manager with a similar set of financial tools.

    At MDP we manage portfolios and created a Mutual Fund to help solve investors' problems. An advantage of the hedged equity and yielding equities arena is the skill set to use options to solve investors' problems. The CBOE is a key partner of ours and offers a suite of products that helps portfolio managers craft managed solutions.

    The CBOE stands apart from the other exchanges both through its innovation and collaboration with clients. We primarily use what is commonly referred to as vanilla options at MDP and consider the SPX options complex as the mother sauce of all derivatives. All things volatility focused seem to be able to trace themselves to that product, both domestic and international.

    The VIX is the best instrument to help us communicate with our investors about options market sentiment. In the development of the new products, the CBOE continues its tradition of pushing forward the frontier of innovation in the industry. None of this could take place without the CBOE staff listening to customers' needs and addressing them. When I started my career on the floor in 1992, the CBOE stood out from the other exchanges because they were able to list new strikes in an option class in 24 hours, unheard of at the time. This was due to movement in the underlying stock and customer demand, simple stuff nowadays, but transformative in 1992. We continue to see this sort of innovation. The crowds in the pits may no longer be present, but the wisdom of that crowd still exists at the CBOE.

  • Scott Maidel, QVR Advisors

    See why and how QVR Advisors uses Cboe and other listed instruments exclusively to achieve an absolute return objective.

    End users for product and hedging objectives dominate derivatives markets and are the marginal price setters. With end user flow continuing to flow to exchanges and with banks effectively ceasing to intermediate markets effectively, QVR has made the decision to stay in 100% listed markets for our absolute return strategy. Strategy sleeves such as S&P 500 term structure, S&P 500 skew, VIX basis, VIX Curve trades, dispersion trading and more can best be achieved in highly liquid, listed exchange traded instruments.

The inclusion of research not conducted or explicitly endorsed by Cboe should not be construed as an endorsement or indication of the value of any research.

Maximize Every Trade

Fine tune your trading strategies

How you implement your trading strategies can be the defining factor in your success. Created by Cboe Labs, our suite of indices unlocks the keys to a deeper understanding of term structures, market sentiment dynamics and the ability to spot outliers.

Gain invaluable insights and make more informed decisions around positioning and timing your trades by exploring our real-time indicators below.

  • NEW

    DSPX

    Cboe S&P 500 Dispersion Index

    The Dispersion Index provides an indicator for the market's expectation of the magnitude of idiosyncratic movements in S&P 500 constituent prices over the next 30 days.

  • VIX

    Volatility Indices

    The leading indicator of expected market volatility.

    Shortest

    Longest

    VIX1D

    VIX9D

    VIX

    VIX3M

    VIX6M

    VIX1Y

  • COR

    Implied Correlation Term Structure

    Reflects changes in relative premium between SPX index options and single-stock options.

    Shortest

    Longest

    COR1M

    COR3M

    COR6M

    COR9M

    COR1Y

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At Cboe, we're dedicated to helping you navigate any market condition and efficiently manage risk. Engage with product innovators and world-class experts on how to use our tools, analyze markets and take your investment outcomes to new heights.

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There are important risks associated with transacting in any of the Cboe Company products or any digital assets discussed here. Before engaging in any transactions in those products or digital assets, it is important for market participants to carefully review the disclosures and disclaimers contained at: https://www.cboe.com/us_disclaimers. These products and digital assets are complex and are suitable only for sophisticated market participants. These products involve the risk of loss, which can be substantial and, depending on the type of product, can exceed the amount of money deposited in establishing the position.  Market participants should put at risk only funds that they can afford to lose without affecting their lifestyle.  © 2024 Cboe Exchange, Inc. All Rights Reserved.