Stock pros are as hedged as ever under record-smashing S&P rally

With the S&P 500 notching a new record every day this week while YOLO traders snap up tech bets like it’s GameStop Corp. all over again, cries of complacency in the stock market are everywhere. 

Yet in the world of equity options at least, there’s strong evidence the professional class is keeping its head in the market melt-up.

Big institutions are still paying a decent premium to hedge the S&P 500 Index compared with how tranquil the benchmark has actually been lately. Demand for protection is also intact at around the long-term average.

So even as the Cboe Volatility Index falls to around