A trap door could open up under the S&P 500 when this influential options trade expires next week

A trap door could open up under the S&P 500 when this influential options trade expires next weekListen(4 min)Listen(4 min)A large institutional options fund may have contributed to some of the recent volatility in the S&P 500. That fund is expected to reset its positions on March 31, which could mean the market is in store for even more choppiness next week.The fund is the JPMorgan Hedged Equity Fund JHEQX, and the goal behind it is pretty straightforward. It aims to protect investors when the S&P 500 SPX goes down by limiting those losses — but it does so by also limiting upside, meaning the portfolio’s gains are capped.About the AuthorGordon Gottsegen covers retail investing for MarketWatch.Joseph Adinolfi is a markets reporter at MarketWatch. A Dow Jones CompanyCopyright © 2026 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved.