Why Small Caps Are Heating Up — And How Cboe’s RUT Options Let Investors Play It

Our guest for this episode is Rick Rosenthal, Director of Business Development at Cboe Global Markets (Cboe: CBOE), where he focuses on helping advisors and wealth managers utilize options-based strategies. He joins Tim Gerdeman, Vice Chair, Co-Founder, and Chief Marketing Officer of Water Tower Research, for a timely discussion on derivatives positioning in the U.S. small-cap market.

Rick explains why Russell 2000 (RUT) options have become a go-to vehicle for gaining or hedging small-cap exposure, highlighting structural advantages versus IWM, rising zero-DTE retail activity, and how investors are using protective puts, spreads, and volatility-harvesting strategies. The conversation also explores macro drivers behind the rotation into small caps, volatility signals from the RVX index, and Cboe’s plan to expand RUT trading to Global Trading Hours in 2026, introducing new access points for both institutional and retail participants.