The Quant / Financial Engineering Podcast Options Primer
Mar 10, 2026
Nikhil Jaisinghani, options investor and founder of Titan Strategic Income Fund with a math and economics background. He outlines why a trading philosophy matters. He warns against predictive option trading, complexity, and leverage. He explains put-selling mechanics, managing assignment, and treating options as risk management rather than forecasts.
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Options Lose Value When Used To Predict Direction
- Options are often misused as prediction tools which fails because most traders cannot consistently out-predict the market.
- Nikhil Jaisinghani argues the market is smart in aggregate, so strategies not relying on frequent correct directional bets perform better.
Avoid Complex Option Structures Without Rationale
- Avoid jumping into complex option structures without understanding why they should make money and the risks they carry.
- Nikhil warns against chasing sophisticated spreads (iron condors, double diagonals) unless you have a clear, tested rationale.
Make Selling Puts Your Core Options Strategy
- Sell puts as a core, repeatable strategy because put premiums are inflated by demand for downside protection and generate attractive risk-return.
- Nikhil runs a fund selling mostly out-of-the-money puts and backtests show favorable outcomes.