I am a portfolio manager and a writer. My specialty is option-based portfolios, the fastest growing segment in investing and the most promising area of innovation, especially for life-cycle and target date DC retirement plans. My primary interest is in product development for a next-generation ...more

I am a portfolio manager and a writer. My specialty is option-based portfolios, the fastest growing segment in investing and the most promising area of innovation, especially for life-cycle and target date DC retirement plans. My primary interest is in product development for a next-generation QDIA target date fund/ETF. I am also very interested in education. I write about expected utility as a complimentary framework to mean-variance, and about the implications for options as tools for reshaping risk and return profiles of portfolios. One of the things I enjoy very much is simplifying the subject of options. I made a discovery of sorts when I realized how to reproduce the Black-Scholes formula with a few simple steps, and how to present the ideas in a visual format. It is probably the least painful way to learn about options, option pricing and structured securities. I talk about the discovery and its applications in Visual Quantitative Finance: A New Look at Option Pricing, Risk Management and Structured Securities, Pearson/FT Press. If you are an educator, or you are involved in setting curriculums, and would like to know more about this teaching method, I will be happy to assist you in any way I can. Related Terms: Covered call/protective put/combination strategies Buffer funds and ETFs/Defined OutcomeSM (Innovator) and Target OutcomeTM (Cboe Vest) Mean-variance and expected utility analytical frameworks Volatility as an asset class and short volatility risk premiums Volatility regime shifts and tactical risk managementless