Oct 31, 2014
Advisors Option 24: Listener Mail Extravaganza
It is all listener mail today on the Advisors Option, so let’s dive in.
- Question from Luke Davis - Hi, I am wondering whether advisers are legally enabled to use any strategy that an individual might use in his own account. In other words, if I allow an adviser to invest a portion of my assets, may he use them for day trading, arbitrage strategies, etc.? I have heard of U.S. based un-registered advisers doing this for foreign clients, but refusing to do it for domestic clients, and am wondering if there is some compelling reason why they could not register and do so. Thanks
- Question from Frank - My advisor has expressed concern in the past over the time commitment and complexity that come with using options strategies. He says I am the only client who requests them so he would be spending an inordinate amount of time for just one account. What strategies would you suggest to minimize his time investment and make him more open to the possibility of using options? Thanks for this program.
- Question from Lucas Nuel - Got a question for Randy from Swan. He talked about buying two-year LEAP puts and then rolling them at the one-year mark. Why the two-year period? Would it be cheaper and perhaps more effective to use one-year LEAPS and perhaps rolling them when they hit the six or perhaps four-month period? That would save on the initial premium outlay but also avoid the rapid time decay period that occurs in the final few months of an options life. Can he talk a little more about the thought process that went into selecting the longer-term put vs shorter-term as well as the roll period.
- Question from Mitch76 - Can you talk about the place that individual equity options should have in your portfolio vs. broad indexes. Judging from previous episodes it seems that the bulk of your focus is on indexes. Is that due to the volatility risk posed by individual names like APPL, NFLX, etc. Would an overlay or “holy grail collar” approach even be as effective in individual names vs. indexes or are they better suited to premium harvesting strategies like iron condors. Great program touching on a very underserved area of the options market.
- Question from Timothy Andrews, Spokane, WA - Can you talk about the influences of 60/40 tax treatment on your option strategies?
- Question from Neal Magny - Question for Advisors Option. What questions or topics would you like to see on any forthcoming options certification or test for for financial advisors? Trading? Regs? Bit of both? Thx.
- Question from TheInca - This may be a touchy subject, but it is important - What is an appropriate pay rate for option advisors? 2/20%? Some flat hourly rate? since they are doing more, should they get more? What should I look for when I am picking one of these guys?
- Question from J. Ingrisali - Hello everyone and thank you for your time. I would like to know what you consider to be an appropriate level of options involvement for a typical financial advisor. Should I just expect them to have a basic understanding of income and risk management - aka protective puts, covered calls and collars? Or should I expect them to facilitate my active trade mentality with strategies such as iron condors, butterflies, time spreads, etc. I guess what I am asking is how active should my advisor be with options? If I expect him to help me adjust and roll my positions, am I asking too much from a guy with dozens of other clients?