Finance & economics | Get rich quick

Hedge funds make billions as India’s options market goes ballistic

The country’s retail investors are doing less well

National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. (NSE) building in Mumbai, India.
Photograph: Getty Images

Hedge funds take great pains to hide their inner workings. So a recent court case in which Jane Street sued two former employees and Millennium Management, another fund to which they had jumped ship, was immensely pleasing to the firm’s rivals, since it offered a rare view into one of the industry’s giants. Among the revelations: Jane Street’s “most profitable strategy” did not play out on Wall Street, but in the unglamorous Indian options business, where the firm last year earned $1bn.

Explore more

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Get rich quick”

From the May 4th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

illustration of a stern-faced man in a suit with a green tie, set against a bright green background. A small building with a flag is depicted in the pocket of his suit

The great-man theory of Wall Street

Why finance is still dominated by bold individuals

Hong Kong’s property slump may be terminal

Demographics and geopolitics will make a recovery harder


A float is inflated in preparation for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Why everyone wants to lend to weak companies

An unanticipated side-effect of Donald Trump’s election victory


American veterans now receive absurdly generous benefits

An enormous rise in disability payments may complicate debt-reduction efforts

Why Black Friday sales grow more annoying every year

Nobody is to blame. Everyone suffers

Trump wastes no time in reigniting trade wars

Canada and Mexico look likely to suffer