EURO STOXX 50^® Volatility (VSTOXX^®)

STOXX has published its most complete study to date of VSTOXX, the flagship gauge of equity market volatility in the Eurozone. Explore the methodology behind the index, the concept of volatility, and available trading strategies — from theory to use cases.

This whitepaper takes a comprehensive and in-depth look at the objective, methodology, coverage and calculation of the VSTOXX indices in the most complete study on the topic from STOXX to date. It also reviews the strategies and available derivatives tracking the main VSTOXX, which have underpinned volatility’s status as a separate asset class.

The so-called time-weighted average price (TWAP) period employed in the calculation of the index’s daily settlement level will expand thismonth. The change should help increase liquidity in derivatives tied to VSTOXX.

Asset TV caught up with Hamish Seegopaul, Global Head of Index Product Innovation at STOXX; and Zubin Ramdarshan, Head of Equity & Index Product Design at Eurex, to understand just how VSTOXX and its derivatives work. They were joined by Yangyang Hou, Executive Director for Global Quantitative and Derivatives Strategy at JP Morgan, who explained how investors and traders are using VSTOXX futures and options in a market with plenty of sources of potential risk.

European and emerging-markets shares took the biggest hit following the start of military action against Ukraine, with the STOXX Europe 600 Index paring its outperformance to the STOXX USA 900 Index for the year. Energy and mining stocks have fared the best this year as concerns about supply disruptions have lifted the price of commodities.

The futures’ price and trading volume have jumped this year. If the French presidential elections this April were to trigger market volatility as did the vote five years ago, activity in VSTOXX futures could pick up further in coming weeks.