Protective put (against futures)

Also called: Married put, Futures + long put

Hold long futures and buy a put: the futures keep the upside, the put caps the loss below its strike for the cost of its premium.

Payoff sketch (per unit, index points)

At expiry

Today (7 days left)

Net premium

Debit 87 pts

Max profit

Unlimited above the chart

Max loss

−318 pts (₹20,649 per lot)

Breakeven

25,118

Legs: Buy futures · Buy PE ATM −200. Illustration, not live prices: an index at 25,000, strikes 100 points apart, Black-Scholes premiums at 13% implied volatility, 7 days to expiry, 6.5% interest, no skew and before charges. Rupees per lot use a NIFTY lot of 65.

How it works

The put pays everything below its strike, so the most the combination can lose is the distance from the futures entry to the put strike, plus the premium.

At expiry the payoff is the same as a long call at the put's strike (put-call parity).

When traders use it

Keeping a long futures (or share) position through an event while capping the damage of a sharp fall.

Greeks

Delta	Positive: 1 plus the put's (negative) delta.
Gamma	Positive.
Theta	Negative: the insurance decays.
Vega	Positive.

Profit, loss and margin

Max profit	Unlimited above the breakeven.
Max loss	(Futures entry − put strike + put premium) × quantity.
Breakeven	Futures entry + put premium.
Margin	The futures margin; many brokers reduce it for the hedge. The put premium is paid upfront.

In India

Futures are marked to market daily and need SPAN plus exposure margin; STT is charged on the sell side (0.05% from 1 April 2026 in Arthfy's cost model). Index futures expire monthly.
A long option that finishes in the money is exercised automatically. STT is then charged on its intrinsic value at the exercise rate (0.15% from 1 April 2026 in Arthfy's cost model), instead of the sale rate on the premium (also 0.15%) that applies when the option is sold before the close. See the lesson on the STT exercise trap.
SPAN margins the whole position, so a defined-risk spread usually blocks far less than its short leg alone. Brokers grant the hedge benefit only when the protective leg is actually in the account, which is why the long leg is usually placed first.

Arthfy numbers

At expiry this has the same payoff as a long call at the put's strike; Arthfy's history of that shape is on the long call page. See Long call.

Try it in the F&O hub

Opens the tool with this structure on today's NIFTY chain. Reading is free with an Arthfy account; some runs use free attempts.

Open in the builderPayoff, Greeks, scenario grid and charges on today's NIFTY chain

Open the option chainLive premiums, IV and Greeks

Single options

Long call

Hedges with futures

Collar (against futures)