Jane Street Group's $1 billion trade puts spotlight on Indian options (2024)

Days after US hedge fund firm Jane Street filed a lawsuit against rival Millenium Management for allegedly stealing a 'highly valuable, unique, and proprietary' trading strategy, reports emerged that it is drawing fresh attention to the Indian derivatives markets.

According to a report by Bloomberg, the courtroom drama where Jane Street sued Millenium Management and two former employees – Douglas Schadewald and Daniel Spottiswood – for allegedly stealing trading strategy, claimed it earned around $1 billion in the previous year, while the profits plunged 50 percent in March 2024.

The strategy's focus became clear after lawyers for Millennium inadvertently identified India in a hearing at the US District Court in Manhattan on Friday, where they said the strategy was deployed in Indian markets, added the report.

Citing media reports, the defendants' lawyers even said that derivatives trading in India is lucrative. “Millennium lawyer Andrew Levander likewise said the Indian government has promoted opportunities for traders there," Bloomberg reported.

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However, after the hearing, US District Judge Paul Engelmayer denied Jane Street’s request to prevent Millenium and the traders from using the strategy. It also put a trial date in July.

Details of the strategy remain murky and the case reveals how profits are being made by secretive high-speed trading firms that soared over the past decade. Other Jane Street competitors – including Optiver, Citadel Securities LLC, IMC Trading BV, and Jump Trading – have all been expanding in India.

"Options market-making is a ‘winner takes all game’. Market making in India has become very competitive where the fight is not even over microseconds, it’s nanoseconds," Mumbai-based founder and CIO at Greenland Investment Management, Anant Jatia, told Bloomberg.

Others opine Jane Street's outsized profits might be coming at the expense of unsophisticated mom-and-pop traders.

According to several reports, retail investors make up about 35 per cent of option trades in India, with the market regulator estimating that 90 per cent of active retail traders lose money on derivatives.

“As retail participation in derivatives has gained traction in the post-Covid world, these players could be misled by complex market-maker positioning," Bloomberg quoted Tejas Shah, head of derivatives trading at Equirus Securities Pvt, as saying.

With all these happening, the love for India’s market remains strong for both domestic and foreign market makers.

Reasons can be many for foreign firms to scale up in India, but local high-frequency trader Graviton Research Capital's success, which was established in 2014, and India’s push to develop GIFT City says everything.

“The driving force is the liquidity that is now available in India. It has become one of the only markets besides the US that can offer that kind of opportunity," commented Vaibhav Sanghavi, a hedge fund manager at ASK Investment Managers in Mumbai.

With agency inputs.

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Published: 22 Apr 2024, 07:31 PM IST

Jane Street Group's $1 billion trade puts spotlight on Indian options (2024)

FAQs

Does Jane Street trade options? ›

Our options expertise is integral to our holistic cross-asset offering: our team of dedicated options traders regularly partners with clients to help them manage risk across fixed income, equities, and ETFs. In 2022, we significantly expanded our offering in options listed in European and Asian markets.

Why is Jane Street so prestigious? ›

Our global presence allows us to trade continuously on more than 200 electronic exchanges and other venues, making us one of the world's largest market makers. Jane Street became known for its expertise in domestic and international ETFs, but our trading has grown significantly since our early days.

What is the slogan of Jane Street? ›

Making markets stronger

We build bridges between supply and demand, across space and time, to make the world's financial markets more efficient and transparent.

Is Jane Street high frequency trading? ›

As well as high-frequency trading, it in some cases maintained positions for hours, even days or sometimes weeks, which is essential for ETFs that track less-traded markets.

What is the most profitable option trading? ›

Bullish Option Trading Strategies
  • 1) Bull Call Spread.
  • 2) Bull Put Spread.
  • 3) Bull Call Ratio Backspread.
  • 4) Synthetic Call.
  • 5) Bear Call Spread.
  • 6) Bear Put Spread.
  • 7) Strip.
  • 8) Synthetic Put.
Feb 15, 2024

Does Warren Buffett use options trading? ›

Selling (Writing) Options: Buffett's preferred options strategy revolves around writing (selling) options rather than buying them. By selling options, he collects premiums upfront, which can generate income even if the options expire worthless.

What is the acceptance rate for Jane Street? ›

In 2010 I was told by a recruiter at Jane Street that around 1% of those who interview for a full-time position end up receiving offers, and that the number for summer applicants is 3 or 4 times higher.

What GPA do you need for Jane Street? ›

We try to interview as many people as we can. We don't have a GPA or degree requirement, and we hire students of all tenures from many different universities and concentrations.

Is Jane Street legit? ›

Jane Street has an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5, based on over 516 reviews left anonymously by employees. 94% of employees would recommend working at Jane Street to a friend and 85% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

How much do Jane Street traders make? ›

The estimated total pay range for a Trader at Jane Street is $144K–$269K per year, which includes base salary and additional pay. The average Trader base salary at Jane Street is $141K per year. The average additional pay is $51K per year, which could include cash bonus, stock, commission, profit sharing or tips.

Is Jane Street hard to get into? ›

Standards are very high, however; you'll need some solid previous internships or something like an impressive Math Olympiad record to catch its eye... and of course be attending one of its target universities.

How does Jane Street make money? ›

Jane Street — which uses technology and algorithms to capture and profit from tiny differences in prices — has also benefited after the firm expanded into different asset classes, now making markets in everything from exchange traded funds, stocks and currencies to derivatives and bonds.

What is the highest paid HFT firm? ›

Ansatz is one of the many very niche HFT firms. On forum sites like Blind, it has a reputation for being secretive, with quants and engineers clamoring to know more. There are many firms like this in the space but Ansatz is known to be one of the best paying.

What trading platform does Jane Street use? ›

Jane Street is the largest commercial user of OCaml, using it for everything from research tools to trading systems to systems infrastructure to accounting systems.

How much do HFT firms pay? ›

The national average salary for a Hft developer is ₹19,00,000 in India.

What broker allows option trading? ›

Comparing the Best Options Trading Platforms
BrokerOverall Star RatingPer Contract Options
Interactive Brokers4.2 4.2 4.2$0.65
E*TRADE4.1 4.1 4.1$0.50 to $0.65
tastyworks3.9 3.9 3.9$1.00/Open Only
Webull3.0 3.0 3.0$0.00

Can you trade options on JP Morgan? ›

Investing with options at J.P. Morgan Wealth Management

Trade options with zero-commissions and per-contract fee of just $0.65. Use options chains to trade directly from the bid, ask and midpoint prices (execution price may vary). Harness the power of J.P. Morgan's market research to help make informed decisions.

What is the best broker for day trading options? ›

Interactive Brokers: Best Broker for Advanced Day Traders

Interactive Brokers continues to be our top pick for advanced day traders, as well. Its speed and efficiency specific to order execution complements its low rates on margin trading and provides advanced traders with a strong option to execute their strategies.

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