The trading participants in the derivatives market are as follows:
1. Hedgers
The process of managing the risk or risk management is called as hedging. Hedgers are those individuals or firms who manage their risk with the help of derivative products. Hedging does not mean maximizing of return. The main purpose for hedging is to reduce the volatility of a portfolio by reducing the risk.
2. Speculators
Speculators do not have any position on which they enter into futures and options Market i.e., they take the positions in the futures market without having position in the underlying cash market. They only have a particular view about future price of a commodity, shares, stock index, interest rates or currency. They consider various factors like demand and supply, market positions, open interests, economic fundamentals, international events, etc. to make predictions. They take risk in turn from high returns. Speculators are essential in all markets — commodities, equity, interest rates and currency. They help in providing the market the much desired volume and liquidity.
3. Arbitrageurs
Arbitrage is the simultaneous purchase and sale of the same underlying in two different markets in an attempt to make profit from price discrepancies between the two markets. Arbitrage involves activity on several different instruments or assets simultaneously to take advantage of price distortions judged to be only temporary.
Arbitrage occupies a prominent position in the futures world. It is the mechanism that keeps prices of futures contracts aligned properly with prices of underlying assets. The objective is simply to make profits without risk, but the complexity of arbitrage activity is such that it is reserved to particularly well-informed and experienced professional traders, equipped with powerful calculating and data processing tools. Arbitrage may not be as easy and costless as presumed.