Managing Market Risk with Protective Puts

Mark is a portfolio manager for a large investment firm. He is currently reviewing a diversified portfolio that includes both equity and fixed-income instruments. Given the recent macroeconomic data indicating a potential interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, Mark is concerned about how this might affect the portfolio's market risk exposure. He has been considering various strategies to mitigate potential losses due to market fluctuations. In this context, he needs to decide which of the following strategies would be most effective in managing market risk for the equity portion of the portfolio.