1. What’s new with options on Dividend futures?

Our suite of options on S&P 500 Annual Dividend futures will be expanding beginning May 11, 2026, pending regulatory review. Mid-Curve options will complement our existing offering, allowing market participants to express a view on longer-dated underlying Dividend futures through shorter-dated options contracts. 

2. What are options on S&P 500 Annual Dividend Index futures?

The S&P 500 Annual Dividend Index futures calculate the accumulation of all ordinary gross dividends paid on the S&P 500 index constituent stocks that have gone ex-dividend over a 12-month period. The amounts are expressed as dividend index points.

Market participants can hedge risks and express a view with a wide variety of options strategies, or trade dividend volatility directly through delta hedged options structures.

3. Why are we expanding these products?

The demand to trade and risk manage dividend exposure via listed Dividend futures and options has accelerated over the last few years. Based on the success of S&P 500 Annual Dividend Index futures, market participants have looked for access to a product that allows for trading dividend index volatility through complex option strategies.

With the expansion into Mid-Curve options launching May 11, pending regulatory review, traders will have additional capability for view expression.

4. What is the underlying index to each of the contracts, and where can I find the methodology?

The underlying index for S&P 500 Annual Dividend Index futures is the S&P 500 dividend point index. Dive deeper into the methodology for the index.

5. What are dividend index points?

Dividend index points specifically refer to the level of index points that are directly attributable to the dividends of index constituents for a set period and are reset on a periodic basis. They represent dividends as a fraction of the index level itself. Typically, they only capture regular dividends and calculate this on the ex-date of the respective constituents within each index, as defined in the index methodology.

6. Over what period are the dividend points in the index accumulated?

Specifically, the cumulation period for an annual contract starts on the day after the expiration of the mostly recently expired contract, continuing up to and including the expiration day of the nearest subsequent contract, typically, the third Friday of December. All regular dividends for each constituent stock going “ex” within the cumulation period will be included in the annual dividend index after conversion into dividend index points.

7. How are “special” or “extraordinary” dividends treated?

In general, “special” or “extraordinary” dividends are not included as dividend points in the respective annual dividend indices. Instead, the underlying parent cash index adjusts for this event with a divisor change. This means that, if the S&P 500 index adjusts for a special dividend by making a divisor change, then the annual dividend index won’t capture that particular dividend event. For more details, please refer to the respective index methodology rules.

8. What are the contract specifications for these options?

CONTRACT TITLE Options on S&P 500 Annual Dividend Index futures*
RULEBOOK CHAPTER CME Rulebook 365
GLOBEX AND CLEARPORT CODE
  • SDA
  • 1SM*
  • 2SM*
  • 3SM*
TRADING HOURS Globex Pre-Open:
Sunday 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time/ET
Monday - Thursday 5:45 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. ET Globex: Sunday 6:00 p.m. – Friday 5:00 p.m. ET, with a daily maintenance period from 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. ET ClearPort: Sunday 6:00 p.m. - Friday 6:45 p.m. ET, with no reporting Monday - Thursday 6:45 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET
CONTRACT SIZE $250 x S&P 500 Annual Dividend Index
PRICE QUOTATION U.S. dollars and cents per index point
MINIMUM PRICE INCREMENT AND FINANCIAL EQUIVALENT Premium > 5.00 index points: .05 ($12.50) Premium <= 5.00 index points: .025 ($6.25)
MINIMUM PRICE FLUCTUATION 0.025
FINAL SETTLEMENT PRICE FLUCTUATION SDA:0.01 1SM, 2SM, 3SM: .05
SETTLEMENT METHODOLOGY Deliverable into financially settled futures contract
STYLE European
LISTING SCHEDULE
  • SDA: Five (5) annual December contract months
  • 1SM: Four (4) nearest quarterly (Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec) plus three nearest December contracts
  • 2SM: Four (4) nearest quarterly (Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec) plus two nearest December contracts
  • 3SM: Four (4) nearest quarterly (Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec) plus nearest December contract
INITIAL LISTING SCHEDULE
  • SDA: Dec 26, Dec 27, Dec 28, Dec 29, Dec 30
  • 1SM: 1SMM6, 1SMU6, 1SMZ6, 1SMH7, 1SMZ7, 1SMZ8, 1SMZ9
  • 2SM: 2SMM6, 2SMU6, 2SMZ6, 2SMH7, 2SMZ7, 2SMZ8
  • 3SM: 3SMM6, 3SMU6, 3SMZ6, 3SMH7, 3SMZ7
TERMINATION OF TRADING
  • SDA: Trading terminates at 9:30 a.m. ET on the third Friday of the contract month
  • 1SM, 2SM, 3SM: Trading terminates at 4:00 p.m. ET on the third Friday of the contract month
BLOCK TRADE MINIMUM THRESHOLD 100 contracts subject to a 15-minute reporting window
GLOBEX MATCHING ALGORITHM F-FIFO 100%

*Mid-Curve options will be available starting May 11, 2026, pending regulatory review.

9. What are the codes?

Options Contract UNDERLYING INDEX GLOBEX BLOOMBERG FRONT MONTH REUTERS
Annual SPXDIVAN SDA ASDA TBD
1-year Mid-Curve SPXDIVAN 1SM TBD TBD
2-year Mid-Curve SPXDIVAN 2SM TBD TBD
3-year Mid-Curve SPXDIVAN 3SM TBD TBD

10. What are the fees?

Options on S&P 500 Annual Dividend Index futures are listed on the CME DCM and follow the CME Group fee schedule.

View fee schedule

11. What are the margin requirements?

Margin requirements will be set by the clearing house based on market conditions and subject to change.

12. Are margin offsets available between these dividend options and related Dividend futures?

Yes, margin offset will be available between related S&P 500 Dividend Index futures and options. 

Learn more about margins:

13. Where can I find a visual representation of the expiration offering available starting May 11?

The following graphic is designed to provide more clarity around the arrangement of options expirations relative to their underlying futures.

Equity Index Dividend futures

Harness the potential to hedge or express a view on the U.S. dividend market, regardless of the price movement of the benchmark indices.

Find out more

All examples in this report are hypothetical interpretations of situations and are used for explanation purposes only. The views in this report reflect solely those of the author and not necessarily those of CME Group or its affiliated institutions. This report and the information herein should not be considered investment advice or the results of actual market experience.