OptionMetrics has launched IvyDB TradeFlow, a new data product built to give institutional desks visibility into buying and selling order flow, retail trading behavior and participation in zero-days-to-expiration (0DTE) options trading.

The launch extends the OptionMetrics IvyDB franchise, the options database widely used by quantitative researchers and risk teams. TradeFlow moves the vendor's coverage from end-of-day analytics toward order-level and flow-based data — a segment where buy-side desks have historically relied on patchwork sources or exchange feeds.

What does the new product cover?

According to the company's announcement, IvyDB TradeFlow provides institutions with three main analytical layers:

• Directional order flow — breakdowns of buying versus selling pressure in listed options, letting desks see which side initiates activity.
• Retail trading behavior — segmentation designed to isolate retail participation patterns from institutional flow.
• 0DTE participation — measurement of activity in same-day-expiry options, the fastest-growing and most flow-sensitive corner of the U.S. options market.

The 0DTE component addresses a gap that has widened as same-day expiry volumes have grown. Desks executing or hedging around index options have lacked consistent vendor data separating retail-driven 0DTE activity from dealer and institutional flow. OptionMetrics positions TradeFlow as filling that gap within a single database.

Why does flow segmentation matter for execution desks?

For buy-side execution teams, the value proposition is straightforward. Options order flow data feeds directly into several workflow decisions:

• Timing and slicing of options orders when retail flow is likely to dominate intraday volume.
• Hedging cadence for desks gamma-exposed to 0DTE supply and demand.
• Transaction cost analysis, where separating buyer-initiated from seller-initiated trades sharpens benchmarking.
• Model calibration, since flow composition affects implied volatility dynamics researchers try to measure.

Retail-versus-institutional attribution has become a standard question on equity desks following the retail brokerage boom. TradeFlow applies the same lens to options, where retail participation in short-dated contracts has been a recurring theme in exchange volume statistics.

How does it fit the OptionMetrics stack?

OptionMetrics describes IvyDB TradeFlow as a complement to its existing IvyDB databases, which cover historical options prices, implied volatility surfaces and related analytics. Firms already running IvyDB-based research can integrate flow metrics alongside price and volatility fields rather than stitching in a third-party feed.

That integration question is a practical one for technology teams: a new data product that reuses existing delivery mechanisms cuts onboarding time and schema work. OptionMetrics has not detailed pricing or delivery specifics in the launch announcement.

What remains to be seen?

The announcement states the product's coverage areas; it does not publish volume statistics, back-test results or coverage thresholds for the retail classification methodology. Desks evaluating TradeFlow against alternatives — exchange-proprietary feeds, broker color, or other flow vendors — will want to interrogate how retail activity is identified and how 0DTE participation is measured at the underlying and strike level.

OptionMetrics says IvyDB TradeFlow is available now. Adoption among quantitative research groups and execution desks, the vendor's core client base, will determine whether flow data becomes a standard part of the IvyDB workflow the way volatility surfaces have.