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Article
Can Individual Investors Use Option Strategies and the Tax Code to Their Advantage?
The Journal of Wealth Management (2017)
  • Bryan Foltice, Butler University
Abstract
This article tests whether high-income earners can earn excess risk-adjusted returns by annually exploiting the asymmetric U.S. tax treatment of long-term capital gains and losses using at-the-money (ATM) options. In this article, we run an initial analysis that tests the returns of the previous 50 years, from 1966 through 2015, that buys $3,000 of one-year ATM call options on the S&P 500 (SPY) to determine excess risk-adjusted returns for individuals of various taxable income levels. Additionally, we run a Monte Carlo simulation, based on long-term historical returns, standard deviations, and correlations, to test the robustness of the initial results for a risk-neutral investor. We find that call options can provide increased annual performance returns for all income levels. Furthermore, we conclude that these strategies also provide excess risk-adjusted returns for high-income earners in the 28% and higher income tax brackets.
Keywords
  • Wealth Management,
  • Taxes,
  • Taxable-Income,
  • Business,
  • Economics,
  • Finance,
  • Business Law
Disciplines
Publication Date
Summer 2017
DOI
10.3905/jwm.2017.20.1.047
Publisher Statement
© 2017 PMR. All rights reserved.
Citation Information
Bryan Foltice. "Can Individual Investors Use Option Strategies and the Tax Code to Their Advantage?" The Journal of Wealth Management Vol. 20 Iss. 1 (2017) p. 47 - 52
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/bryan-foltice/11/