Patent Application
20230030726
The present invention relates to computer systems and methods for processing financial instruments, in particular, to computer systems and methods that allow for more efficient processing of portfolios by simultaneously compressing the portfolios of multiple counterparties.
Computer systems and networks are frequently used to trade securities and derivatives. Futures and options contracts are exemplary financial instruments frequently traded via computer systems and methods. A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell a particular commodity or financial instrument at a strike price at a specified time in the future. Futures contracts are standardized to facilitate trading at exchanges. An option contract may be used to hedge risks by allowing parties to agree on a price for a purchase or sale of another instrument that will take place at a later time. One type of option is a call option. A call option gives the purchaser of the option the right, but not the obligation, to buy a particular asset either at or before a specified later time at a guaranteed price. The guaranteed price is sometimes referred to as the strike or exercise price. Another type of option is a put option. A put option gives the purchaser of the option the right, but not the obligation, to sell a particular asset at a later time at the strike price. In either instance, the seller of the call or put option can be obligated to perform the associated transactions if the purchaser chooses to exercise its option or upon the expiration of the option.
Traders of options often use models that determine risks for portfolios of options. The models often produce values that reflect an option's sensitivity to changes in predefined variables. These predefined variables are assigned Greek letters, such as delta, gamma, theta, and kappa. Kappa is sometimes referred to as vega or tau. Delta is a measure of the rate of change in a derivative's theoretical value for a one-unit change in the price of the option's underlying contract. Thus, delta is the theoretical amount by which the derivative price can be expected to change for a change in the price of the underlying contract. As such, delta provides a local measure of the equivalent position risk of an option position with respect to a position in the underlying contract. A “50 Delta” option should change its price 50/100, or ½ a point, for a one point move in its underlying contract.
Gamma is a measure of the rate of change in an option's delta for a one-unit change in the price of the underlying contract. Gamma expresses how much the option's delta should theoretically change for a one-unit change in the price of the underlying contract. Theta is a measure of the rate of change in an option's theoretical value for a one-unit change in time to the option's expiration date. Vega is a measure of the rate of change in an option's theoretical value for a one-unit change in the (implied) volatility of the underlying contract. Delta, gamma, and vega are the primary measures used by those who trade in options.
When adjusting portfolios to obtain desired levels of delta, gamma, theta and/or kappa, traders often purchase additional options that result in the adjustments. In other words, traders are often more concerned with levels of delta, gamma, theta and/or kappa than they are with the number of options that comprise a portfolio. This practice has resulted in strain on the computer system used to process and trade financial instruments. An increase in the number of financial instruments that are processed or traded by the computer systems consumes more bandwidth and processing resources and generally degrades the performance of the computer systems. Moreover, regulations may require an increase in margin or capital requirements for portfolios with more open positions even when a risk profile for the portfolio does not change.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for more efficient systems and methods for processing and trading financial instruments that minimize the number of open positions while maintaining a desired risk profile.
Embodiments of the present invention overcome problems and limitations of the prior art by providing efficient systems and methods for processing and trading financial instruments, such as futures and options, that minimize the number of open positions while maintaining a desired risk profile of the portfolio. Market participants may provide constraints, such as net delta and gamma values within a specific tolerance. A compression engine uses a linear, integer and/or linear-quadratic programming solver to analyze portfolios of multiple market participants and identify multilateral option spread trades that result in portfolios that are compressed subject to the constraints.
In other embodiments, embodiments of the present invention can be partially or wholly implemented on a computer-readable medium, for example, by storing computer-executable instructions or modules, or by utilizing computer-readable data structures.
Of course, the methods and systems of the above-referenced embodiments may also include other additional elements, steps, computer-executable instructions, or computer-readable data structures. In this regard, other embodiments are disclosed and claimed herein as well.
The details of these and other embodiments of the present invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.
The present invention may take physical form in certain parts and steps, embodiments of which will be described in detail in the following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, wherein:
Aspects of the present invention may be implemented with computer devices and computer networks that allow users to exchange trading information. An exemplary trading network environment for implementing trading systems and methods is shown in
A trade database 108 may be included to store information identifying trades and descriptions of trades. In particular, a trade database may store information identifying the time that a trade took place and the contract price. An order book component 110 may be included to compute or otherwise determine current bid and offer prices. A market data component 112 may be included to collect market data, e.g., data regarding current bids and offers for futures contracts, futures contract options and other derivative products. Market data component 112 may also prepare the data for transmission to users.
A risk management component 134 may be included to compute and determine a user's risk utilization in relation to the user's defined risk thresholds. An order processor component 136 may be included to decompose orders, such as orders for variable defined derivative products, and/or aggregate order types for processing by order book component 110 and match engine component 106.
A settlement component 138 may be included to provide one or more functions related to settling or otherwise administering transactions cleared by an exchange or other trading entity. Settlement component 138 of the exchange computer system 100 may be configured to use one or more settlement price determination techniques. Settlement-related functions need not be limited to actions or events occurring at the end of a contract term. For instance, in some embodiments, settlement-related functions may include or involve daily or other mark-to-market settlements for margining purposes. In some cases, settlement component 138 may be configured to communicate with the trade database 108 and/or to determine a payment amount based on a spot price, the price of the futures contract or other financial instrument, or other price data, at various times. The determination may be made at one or more points in time during the term of the financial instrument in connection with a margining mechanism. For example, the settlement component 138 may be used to determine a mark-to-market amount on a daily basis during the term of the financial instrument. Such determinations may also be made on a settlement date for the financial instrument for the purposes of final settlement.
A clearing house component 140 may be included as part of exchange computer system 100 and configured to carry out operations of a clearing house of the exchange that operates exchange computer system 100. Clearing house component 140 may receive data from and/or transmit data to trade database 108 and/or other components of exchange computer system 100 regarding trades of futures contracts, futures contracts options, and other financial products traded through the exchange that operates exchange computer system 100. Clearing house component 140 may facilitate the financial product exchange (or a clearing house of the exchange) acting as one of the parties to every traded contract or other product. For example, computer system 100 may match an offer by Party A to sell a futures contract, an option, or another exchange-traded financial product with a bid by Party B to purchase a like exchange-traded financial product. Clearing house component 140 may then create an exchange-traded financial product between Party A and the exchange clearing house and a second exchange-traded financial product between the exchange clearing house and Party B. Clearing house component 140 similarly creates offsetting contracts when creating contracts as a result of an option exercise and/or may select option grantors to fulfill obligations of exercising option holders. Clearing house component 140 may also be configured to perform other clearing house operations. As a further example, clearing house component 140 may maintain margin data with regard to clearing members and/or trading customers. As part of such margin-related operations, clearing house component 140 may store and maintain data regarding the values of various options, futures contracts and other interests, determine mark-to-market and final settlement amounts, confirm receipt and/or payment of amounts due from margin accounts, confirm satisfaction of delivery and other final settlement obligations, etc.
Each of the components shown as part of exchange computer system 100 may be implemented with one or more processors configured to execute computer-executable instructions for carrying out the functions described above. Those instructions may be stored in a memory located at the component or elsewhere. For example, match engine component 106 may be implemented with one or more processors programmed with computer-executable instructions, stored in a memory located at component 106 or elsewhere, for matching bids and offers. Some of the components shown as part of exchange computer system 100 may share one or more processors or processing cores. The components shown may also be implemented with separate processors or processing cores of computing devices or hardware components connected in a networked computer system. Databases 102 and 108 may be implemented with memory devices that store organized collections of data. In some embodiments concurrent processing limits may be defined by or imposed separately or in combination on one or more of the components or databases of exchange computer system 100.
In some embodiments, one or more of the components of exchange computer system 100 may be integrated to any desired extent. For example, the settlement component 138 and the risk management component 134 may be integrated to any desired extent. In some cases, one or more margining procedures or other aspects of the margining mechanism(s) may be implemented by settlement component 138.
The trading network environment shown in
Exchange computer system 100 may also communicate in a variety of ways with devices that may be logically distinct from computer system 100. For example, computer device 114 is shown directly connected to exchange computer system 100. Exchange computer system 100 and computer device 114 may be connected via a T1 line, a common local area network (LAN) or other mechanism for connecting computer devices. Computer device 114 is shown connected to a radio 132. The user of radio 132 may be a trader or exchange employee. The radio user may transmit orders or other information to a user of computer device 114. The user of computer device 114 may then transmit the trade or other information to exchange computer system 100.
Computer devices 116 and 118 are coupled to a LAN 124. LAN 124 may have one or more of the well-known LAN topologies and may use a variety of different protocols, such as Ethernet. Computers 116 and 118 may communicate with each other and other computers and devices connected to LAN 124. Computers and other devices may be connected to LAN 124 via T1 lines or other wired or wireless communication paths. Alternatively, a mobile terminal 122, which may be implemented with a mobile phone, may communicate with LAN 124 or a wide area network (WAN) 126, such as the Internet, via radio waves. Mobile terminal 122 may also communicate with exchange computer system 100 via a conventional wireless hub 128.
One or more market participant computers 142 may maintain one or more markets by providing bid and offer prices for derivatives or securities to exchange computer system 100. Exchange computer system 100 may also exchange information with other trade engines, such as trade engine 144. One skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous additional computers and systems may be coupled to exchange computer system 100. Such computers and systems may include clearing, regulatory and fee systems. Coupling can be direct as described or any other method described herein.
The operations of computer devices and systems shown in
Of course, numerous additional servers, computers, handheld devices, personal digital assistants, telephones, and other devices may also be connected to exchange computer system 100. Moreover, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the topology shown in
Embodiments of the invention use clearing houses to withhold tax payments for constructive dividend payments. Typically, an exchange or other trading entity provides a “clearing house” which is a division of the exchange through which all trades made must be confirmed, matched, and settled each day until offset or delivered. The clearing house may be an adjunct to the exchange responsible for settling trading accounts, clearing trades, collecting, and maintaining performance bond funds, regulating delivery and reporting trading data. Clearing is the procedure through which the clearing house becomes buyer to each seller of a futures contract, and seller to each buyer, also referred to as a “novation,” and assumes responsibility for protecting buyers and sellers from financial loss by assuring performance on each contract. This is effected through the clearing process, whereby transactions are matched. A clearing member is a firm qualified to clear trades through the clearing house.
As an intermediary, an exchange bears a certain amount of risk in each transaction that takes place, i.e., the exchange assumes counterparty credit risks in each transaction by inserting its clearing house as the counterparty to both sides of the transaction. To that end, risk management mechanisms protect the exchange via the clearing house. The clearing house establishes clearing level performance bonds (margins) for all exchange products and establishes minimum performance bond requirements for customers of exchange products. A performance bond, also referred to as a margin, is the funds that must be deposited by a customer with his or her broker, by a broker with a clearing member or by a clearing member with the clearing house, for the purpose of insuring the opposing clearing broker, its customer or clearing house against loss on open futures or options contracts. This is not a part payment on a purchase. The performance bond helps to ensure the financial integrity of brokers, clearing members and the exchange as a whole. The performance bond to clearing house refers to the minimum dollar deposit which is required by the clearing house from clearing members in accordance with their positions. Maintenance, or maintenance margin, refers to a sum, usually smaller than the initial performance bond, which must remain on deposit in the customer's account for any position at all times. The initial margin is the total amount of margin per contract required by the broker when a futures position is opened. A drop in funds below this level requires a deposit back to the initial margin levels, i.e., a performance bond call. If a customer's equity in any futures position drops to or under the maintenance level because of adverse price action, the broker must issue a performance bond/margin call to restore the customer's equity. A performance bond call, also referred to as a margin call, is a demand for additional funds to bring the customer's account back up to the initial performance bond level whenever adverse price movements cause the account to go below the maintenance.
Accounts of individual members, clearing firms and non-member customers doing business through an exchange are generally carried and guaranteed to the clearing house by a clearing member. As mentioned above, in every matched transaction executed through the exchange's facilities, the clearing house is substituted as the buyer to the seller and the seller to the buyer, with a clearing member assuming the opposite side of each transaction. The clearing house may be an operating division of the exchange, and all rights, obligations and/or liabilities of the clearing house may be rights, obligations and/or liabilities of the exchange. Clearing members assume full financial and performance responsibility for all transactions executed through them and all positions they carry. The clearing house, dealing exclusively with clearing members, holds each clearing member accountable for every position it carries regardless of whether the position is being carried for the account of an individual member, for the account of a non-member customer, or for the clearing member's own account. Conversely, as the contra-side to every position, the clearing house is held accountable to the clearing members for the net settlement from all transactions on which it has been substituted as provided in clearing house rules.
The open option positions are transmitted to a compression engine 208. Compression engine 208 may use a linear, integer and/or linear-quadratic programming solver. Such problem solvers are available commercially as open source software and try to minimize or optimize an objective function 210 subject to defined constraints 212. The objective function may determine the number of multilateral option spread trades used to compress open option positions. Exemplary constraints include maintaining net delta and gamma values within a specific tolerance for each market participant. A processor 214 may be programmed with computer executable instructions to implement a linear, integer and/or linear-quadratic programming solver. After processing by compression engine 208, Participants A, B and C have reduced open option positions 216, 218 and 220, respectively.
Returning to
Next, in step 308 a multiple participant compression operation is performed that reduces the number of open option positions while maintaining the desired risk profiles for each of the multiple market participants. Step 308 may be performed by a linear, integer and/or linear-quadratic programming solver.
An exemplary process for reducing the number of open option positions while maintaining the desired risk profiles is shown below using the data shown in
S
i,j=sgn(Qi,j)
The objective function is defined as:
L=1/2Σi,jSi,j×Fi,j (i.e., number of total fills),
Subject to constraints:
The objective function and all the constraints are linear in the variable Fi,j and, as such, commercially available programming packages can be used for solving the problem of maximizing the objective function subject to the identified constraints.
Finally, in step 310 matched trades are presented to market participants. The matched trades result in the compression of open option positions. Step 310 may include providing trade confirmations to market participants. Alternatively, step 310 may include providing compressed portfolios to users.
The resulting compressed portfolios allow for more efficient processing of the portfolios by computer devices. Exchange computer systems and other computer systems have reduced processing requirements to process data associated with the compressed portfolio. Compressed portfolios result in lower bandwidth requirements to process the portfolios and perform tasks such as distributing market data. Compressed portfolios also contain fewer open contracts and thus potentially reduces capital requirements dictated by prudential regulators for backstopping the risk posed by the portfolio.
Various embodiments may include additional or alternative constraints. Some of the constraints may be imposed by an exchange or other entity that performs portfolio compression or may be selected by market participants. Some embodiments may provide incentive to market participants to agree to constraints that provide for a more efficient compression process or allow an exchange or other entity to process portfolios more efficiently after the compression.
In some embodiments, a list of instruments, such as the one shown in
Increased customization may also be used in some embodiments. For example, additional market participant inputs can be allowed: e.g., delta, gamma tolerance for each participant, as well as max quantity edits (i.e., adjusting Qi,j) and desirability weights (i.e., redefining the objective function L=1/2Σi,jAi,j×Si,j×Fi,j, where participants specify relative desirability weights Ai,j to favor matching certain strikes).
In yet other embodiments constraints 3 and 4 may be modified as a quadratic penalty and appended to the objective function, e.g., −M×sum of squares of deltas of each participants' fills−N×sum of squares of gammas of each participants' fills. M and N are positive numbers to be specified for the size of penalty in deviating from the risk neutrality. This embodiment will enable more flexibility in both the solver and/or the solution.
The compression process may also be modified by sub-dividing the problem into different strike/expiration buckets, and solutions run for each bucket separately, e.g., binning the strikes for S&P options with consecutive 200-point strike ranges for each expiration; with the strike at the center of each 200-point range as the free play for gamma. This modification may reproduce a resulting portfolio that would resemble the original portfolio in terms of instrument distribution—and thus risk characteristics of the resulting portfolios under different market environment post-match. The resulting portfolio may also have reduced legs and a notional value but are concentrated in this group of specially chosen strikes. Concentrating the positions into specific strikes may help increase the liquidity as there will be many participants with positions in a smaller number of instruments.
The order of the market participants may also be randomized before loading to ensure that a compression engine does not favor any market participant. The rate of performing the compression process may be chosen so that any advantage to one market participant from the performance of one compression process will be offset by advantages to others during the performance of other compression processes.
The present invention has been described herein with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that a person understanding this invention may conceive of changes or other embodiments or variations, which utilize the principles of this invention without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. All are considered within the sphere, spirit, and scope of the invention.
This application is a continuation under 37 C.F.R. § 1.53(b) of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/357,324 filed Jun. 24, 2021, now U.S. Pat. No. ______, which is a continuation under 37 C.F.R. § 1.53(b) of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/812,573 filed Nov. 14, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,080,785, the entirety of all of which are incorporated by reference herein and relied upon.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 17357324 | Jun 2021 | US |
| Child | 17962621 | US | |
| Parent | 15812573 | Nov 2017 | US |
| Child | 17357324 | US |
