It’s been a turbulent year on markets, with the FTSE staging a recovery over the last month. Of course, for the average investor, the return over ten years has been minimal; perhaps even negative, depending on the specific section.

Many investors are turning to riskier strategies to claw back some of their losses. For example, the adventurous are dipping their toes into the world of options. These are financial derivatives that that quantitative analysts use to hedge against uncertainty in the markets.  Of course, investors need to appreciate the risk involved as well.

This education can be through self-study, or via a course. For those keen on the former, many online courses are available, with a number of websites containing free financial modeling spreadsheets.  These websites often teach the fundamentals of option pricing math. For example, binomial option pricing is a remarkably simple concept that has broad applicability across many financial sectors.

Of course, these riskier investments are, obviously, riskier. Potential traders need to fully appreciate what can go wrong (and, potentially, what can go right).