Jane Street's Q4 2025 13F contains $96 billion in SPY put options and 17,120 total holdings. The firm's AUM has grown to $662 billion — explosive growth for a company that barely existed in the public consciousness a decade ago.
$96B in SPY puts. 17,120 positions. $662B total. Let's decode what this actually means.
The filing
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 13F AUM | $662B |
| Total holdings | 17,120 |
| SPY puts | ~$96B notional |
| Average position | ~$38.7M |
| Growth trajectory | Explosive — was ~$200B just 2 years ago |
$96B in SPY puts: what this reveals
Why a market maker holds $96B in puts
Jane Street doesn't own $96B in SPY puts because they think the market will crash. They hold them because:
Options market-making inventory: Jane Street sells options to institutional clients and hedges with other options. SPY puts are the most liquid options in the world.
Hedging long equity exposure: Jane Street's $662B in long equity positions creates massive downside exposure. SPY puts offset that risk.
Volatility trading: Put positions (combined with call positions and stock) create various volatility exposures. Jane Street trades volatility, not direction.
Regulatory capital efficiency: Holding protective puts against long equity positions reduces regulatory capital requirements.
What shows up in 13F vs. what doesn't
The 13F reports the put position's market value and underlying shares. It does NOT show:
- The strike prices (how far out of the money)
- The expiration dates (how long until they expire)
- The corresponding call positions (which would reveal the full strategy)
- Whether these are bought puts or written puts
Without this information, the $96B put number is a data point without context — impressive in scale but impossible to interpret directionally.
17,120 positions: the breadth of market-making
17,120 holdings makes Jane Street one of the broadest 13F filers:
| Filer | Positions | DNA |
|---|---|---|
| BlackRock | 50,216 | Passive (all index funds) |
| BofA | 28,105 | Bank (all business lines) |
| AQR | 16,934 | Quant factor |
| Jane Street | 17,120 | Market maker |
| Citadel | ~15,000 | Multi-strategy |
| HSBC | 11,612 | Global bank |
Jane Street at 17,120 positions means they make markets in nearly every liquid U.S. security — stocks, ETFs, and options across the entire investable universe.
The explosive growth story
Jane Street's AUM trajectory:
| Period | Approximate 13F AUM | Growth |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ~$100B | Baseline |
| 2022 | ~$200B | +100% |
| 2024 | ~$400B | +100% |
| Q4 2025 | $662B | +65% |
The firm has roughly 6x'd in 5 years. This reflects:
- Growing ETF markets: More ETF trading volume = more market-making inventory
- Options boom: Retail and institutional options activity has exploded
- Market share gains: Jane Street has captured share from competitors
- Crypto expansion: Jane Street has expanded into crypto market-making
Why Jane Street matters for 13F analysis
1. They show you where liquidity lives
Jane Street's top positions are the most liquid securities on Earth. Their position sizes correlate with trading volume, not investment views.
2. They distort institutional ownership data
$662B in positions means Jane Street is a top holder of hundreds of stocks. Retail investors searching "who owns TSLA" will find Jane Street near the top — but it's market-making inventory, not a bullish bet.
3. They're a proxy for market activity
Jane Street's AUM growth reflects the growth of total market trading activity. When their 13F AUM grows faster than the market, trading volumes are accelerating.
4. The put position is a market structure indicator
$96B in SPY puts tells you about the scale of institutional hedging demand and options market structure — not about anyone's view on market direction.
The bottom line
Jane Street's $662B / 17,120 position / $96B SPY puts filing is the most complex market structure document in the 13F database. Every number reflects the machinery of making markets, not the thesis of making bets.
Originally published at 13F Insight
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