Quantitative Investment Strategies: Vol Lock: A New Option Format for Robust Exposure to QIS

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Quantitative Investment Strategies: Vol Lock: A New Option Format for Robust Exposure to QIS

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May 14, 2026 07:00 AM GMT

Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc+MQuantitative Investment Strategies | Europe Stephan M Kessler

Quantitative Analyst

Vol Lock: A New Option Format Stephan.Kessler@morganstanley.comAlexandre Daband +44 20 7425-2854

Alexandre.Daband@morganstanley.com +44 20 7677-0628

for Robust Exposure to QIS Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC

Krystal Qian

Vol Lock is a new option format to access QIS that fixes maturity Quantitative Analyst

Krystal.Qian@morganstanley.com +1 212 761-1788

and strategy exposure while dynamically adjusting the strike to Aristeidis Tentes

realized volatility. Compared with Vol Target and Timer Options, Quantitative Analyst

Aris.Tentes@morganstanley.com +1 212 761-1235

it delivers stable exposure and superior performance across

Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc+

defensive and income QIS portfolios. Mingyong Liu

Mingyong.Liu@morganstanley.com +44 20 7677-0963MWe introduce Vol Lock, a new option format providing more stable and Morgan Stanley Europe S.E., Copenhagen Branch+

predictable exposure to Quantitative Investment Strategies (QIS). Options on Jakob Christian Lorenzen

QIS indices are attractive to institutional investors because they cap downside risk Jakob.Lorenzen@morganstanley.com +45 32 75 57-14

and may offer capital efficiency. However, writing options on proprietary indices is

QuantWise highlights research that incorporatesdifficult for sellers due to unhedgeable volatility risk. Existing solutions, such as Vol

a robust quantitative approach in ourTarget and Timer Options, overcome these shortcomings by adjusting leverage and

investment analysis.maturity, respectively, imposing meaningful trade-offs.