Fence (also known as a Dutch Rudder) is an

investment strategy In finance, an investment strategy is a set of rules, behaviors or procedures, designed to guide an investor's selection of an investment portfolio. Individuals have different profit objectives, and their individual skills make different tactics an ...

that uses options to limit the range of possible returns on a

financial instrument Financial instruments are monetary contracts between parties. They can be created, traded, modified and settled. They can be cash (currency), evidence of an ownership interest in an entity or a contractual right to receive or deliver in the form ...

. A fence consists of the following elements: *

long Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

position in a financial instrument (e.g. a share,

index Index (or its plural form indices) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Index (''A Certain Magical Index''), a character in the light novel series ''A Certain Magical Index'' * The Index, an item on a Halo megastru ...

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...

) * long put (normally with a

strike price In finance, the strike price (or exercise price) of an option is a fixed price at which the owner of the option can buy (in the case of a call), or sell (in the case of a put), the underlying security or commodity. The strike price may be set b ...

close to or at the current spot price of the financial instrument) *

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

put (with a strike price lower than the bought put - e.g. 80% of the current spot price) * short

call Call or Calls may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Call, a type of betting in poker * Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage Music and dance * Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...

(with a strike price higher than the current spot price). The expiration dates of all the options are usually the same. The call strike is normally chosen in such a way that the sum total of the three option premiums is equal to zero. This investment strategy will ensure that the value of the investment at expiry will be between the

on the short call and the strike price on the long put. Thus possible gains and losses (the value of the financial instrument minus the cost of acquiring it) are confined to a specified range. However, if the price of the financial instrument falls below the strike level of the sold put the investor will start participating in any further price declines of the financial instrument.

References

{{Derivatives market Options (finance) Investment Financial risk management