Hi, I'm Blake, the Founder of OptionsAU.
I've got a derivatives problem.
My fascination with the options market began in university, particularly with how options are priced, the unique strategies they enable, and their diverse use cases. Whether it's hedging a portfolio, speculating on price, or generating cash flow, there's no doubt that option contracts are the most versatile and valuable tools in finance.
OptionsAU was created to change the narrative around options. They are often misunderstood; many finance experts will claim, "Options are too risky, they use leverage, and they require margin which can cause margin calls (haven't you seen the movie!?)"
To that, I say, "Yes, that can be true. But it really depends on how you use them." Strategic use of options within an equities portfolio can actually reduce risk, increase consistency of returns, and provide negative correlation to other assets. The first step to understanding this is learning about it.
Australia's biggest "Low-risk" LICs, including AFIC and ARGO both use derivatives in their portfolios. Check out their annual report!
My first professional job immersed me in derivatives, from supporting an options trading platform and the ASX Options Trading Game to creating and offering over-the-counter packaged options products to High-Net-Worth investors. This exposure to diverse traders and unique strategies allowed me to clearly see what was effective and what wasn't. That's what I want to share with you.
What to expect from us
OptionsAU is built for savvy self-directed traders to become better asset managers of their own portfolios, using the tools that the institutions use but never talk about. The content provides education, insights, research and more to help you hone in on your skills and make the most of the products available to trade and 'leverage' the advantages of options contracts.
We want to provide resources to enable you to make better traders, by reviewing concepts and providing insights with the best quality possible. Value is the number one focus. Derivatives are a tough concept to grasp, so sharing our learnings will hopefully help and empower traders to reap the rewards.
OptionsAU is for the people and we cant wait to grow the community of educated, experienced traders within our network. Testing ideas to the extreme, thinking outside the normal portfolio contruction rules, creating new ideas.
That's the story behind OptionsAU. I hope you'll stick around, subscribe to our newsletter (below), and gain valuable insights into learning and using options in your portfolio.