Before an audience of about 200 industry professionals, Parse Partners Founder Phuong Trinh moderated a panel that included Fiona Tramontana, General Manager, Distribution, Markets at ASX Limited; Gerben van Veldhuijsen, Head of Corporate Strategy APAC at Optiver; Clement Cordier, Head of Derivatives Clearing Services Asia-Pacific at HSBC; Catherine Ford, Strategic Relationship Director at LSEG and Nicholas Scarf, Chief Executive Officer at Plus500AU.

Trade and the macroeconomic guessing game

It is highly unlikely that 2025 will mark the end of globalisation but uncertainty around tariffs on imports to the US saw spikes in volatility in April that entered the record books. “In the futures market, we saw the largest volume and number of transactions on 7 April which were three-and-a-half times a normal non-roll day” Tramontana said. “Four of our largest six volume days ever were in April.”

Despite a doubling in the volume, Ford said the market functioned as expected. “The resiliency of the market as a whole is something we should all be proud of,” she said. “In times of stress, people look for that substantial pool of liquidity for the benefits of netting and credit risk mitigation.”

It bodes well for derivatives markets for the year ahead, said van Veldhuijsen. “In terms of where liquidity trends are heading, we are observing that fragmentation is definitely flowing through to a surge in trading activity in certain markets,” he commented.

Despite large outflows from US-based assets that followed the ‘Liberation Day’ announcements about sharp increases to tariffs, Scarf said the trading infrastructure performed well. “We were able to digest a huge move,” he said.

Towards 24/7 trading

Higher volumes triggered by events in other time zones also led the panel to focus on trading hours. Between 30 and 40 per cent of volume of Australian Futures occurs overnight, where global players mostly access Australian and New Zealand products. But not all products are available across the entire trading window. The panel heard that constrained access to less liquid assets creates concentration that can provide greater certainty around bid offer spreads.

It might sound like a small step to shift from operating five-and-a-half days to 24/7, but it would require a “very meaningful effort”, Cordier said. First, the margin framework is not made for 24/7 and changing it would probably push up costs. Then there is the issue of managing margin calls over weekends, which could also invite a margin buffer. But, he added, “Those additional costs could be higher than the benefits.”

According to Scarf, other markets that have achieved 24/7 trading might have pre-funded margins or settlement mechanisms that rely on stablecoins. “It’s going to require a huge shift to open futures up past Saturday morning for us,” he said.

In Australia, news that the Trump administration would largely reverse its tariffs broke about 3.15am on 10 April. In the ten minutes following the announcement, the SPI surged 235 points. ASX had tweaked the volatility controls in 2020 during Covid to re-calculate the Anomalous Order Thresholds (AOT) every 15 seconds and to calculate a 30 second VWAP, to then set the ranges for the next 15 seconds. “In our view, the updated Volatility Controls worked perfectly that night – striking a balance of not preventing natural market forces but preventing disorderly surges (caused by any ‘fat fingers’),” Tramontana said.

Products on the wish list

Derivatives products are forged on an anvil of innovation. If there’s a problem that can be solved with a new type of derivative contract, someone will be working on it. Yet short-duration options contracts, which have been popular in the US and Europe for decades, still haven’t caught on in Asia.

It’s a missed opportunity, said van Veldhuijsen, because weekly and daily options offer precision in hedging for many market participants. “It’s not just market makers who use them for risk management. Short-dated options are used by institutional and sophisticated retail investors,” he said. “You see real spikes around specific volatile events.”

Different tastes prevail in different markets, too. Single-stock options are widely used in the US, Hong Kong, India and Australia, whereas index derivatives are more commonly used in Japan, Korea and Taiwan, van Veldhuijsen said.

Tramontana told attendees the Australian trading community is interested in short-dated options and the ASX is watching what’s happening overseas.

How to attract tomorrow’s talent

Derivatives clearing is a niche corner of the finance sector that must work hard to lure new talent, attendees at the FIA forum heard. To attract the best, employers must talk the same language as graduates.

Cordier raised emojis as an example. If applicants are more inclined to use them, why shouldn’t employers? “It’s very important to adapt how we communicate if we want to attract a new generation to our industry,” he said. “They can start showing you how you can use emojis to ask for a tighter price on a trade.”

Ford noted that LSEG’s graduate program has attracted talented new staff members over the past two years. “They bring fresh ideas; it’s been a great success.”

Anything that boosts diversification of thought and breaks a tendency towards ‘group think’ in the sector can only help, Scarf added.

Optiver also has a good record of drawing recruits from Australian universities, van Veldhuijsen said, so much so that the local branch is “almost an export hub for talent” destined for its operations in the US, Europe and India. “Australia should recognise that the sophisticated and high-quality jobs that are created here are something to be proud of,” he said.

Conclusion

The derivatives ecosystem proved its resilience in April 2025 as volatility rocked markets. With rising volumes and shifting geopolitics, derivatives markets remain central to navigating uncertainty. The panel members concluded that longer trading windows and innovative products could bring wider appeal for options and futures traders, fuelled by the injection of new talent.

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