Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (MRSH) Expected Move

Expected move estimates the probable price range for a given period based on at-the-money options pricing. It reflects the market consensus for volatility over the selected timeframe.

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (MRSH) operates in the Financial Services sector, specifically the Insurance - Brokers industry, with a market capitalization near $81.47B, listed on NYSE, employing roughly 95,000 people, carrying a beta of 0.58 to the broader market. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. Led by John Q. Doyle, public since 1987-12-30.

Snapshot as of Sep 30, 2026.

Spot Price
$170.79
Expected Move
7.7%
Implied High
$183.96
Implied Low
$157.62
Front DTE
16 days

As of Sep 30, 2026, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (MRSH) has an expected move of 7.71%, a one-standard-deviation implied price range of roughly $157.62 to $183.96 from the current $170.79. Expected move is derived from at-the-money straddle pricing and represents the market's pricing of a ±1σ move. Roughly 68% of outcomes should fall within this range under lognormal assumptions, though empirical markets have fatter tails.

MRSH Strategy Sizing to the Expected Move

With Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. pricing an expected move of 7.71% from $170.79, risk-defined strategies sized to the implied range structurally target the modal outcome distribution. Iron condors with wings at the ±1σ expected move boundaries collect premium against the ~68% probability that spot stays inside the range under lognormal assumptions; strangles set wider at ±1.5σ or ±2σ target the tails but pay smaller per-trade premium. Long-vol structures (long straddles, ratio backspreads) profit when realized move exceeds the implied move, the inverse trade: they bet against the lognormal assumption itself, capitalizing on the empirically fatter equity-return tails.

How to read the MRSH implied-range chart

The shaded range above shows the one-standard-deviation implied price band at each listed expiration, derived from ATM implied volatility scaled to days-to-expiration. The front-tenor expected move is 7.71%, anchoring an implied range of approximately $157.62 to $183.96. Under lognormal assumptions, roughly 68% of outcomes fall inside that band; 95% fall inside ±2σ; 99.7% inside ±3σ. The empirical equity-return distribution has fatter tails than lognormal, so true tail-outcome frequency is moderately higher than these closed-form numbers suggest.

MRSH expected move and event pricing

Expected move widens with √time: a 5% 30-day move corresponds to roughly a 2.5% 7.5-day move and a 10% 120-day move. MRSH term-structure is in backwardation (slope -0.022), so near-dated tenors price in disproportionate vol - usually because of a known event in the front-month window.

Sizing MRSH structures to the expected move

Iron condors with wings at ±1σ collect the modal-outcome premium; ±1.5σ widens probability of inside-range to ~87% but cuts collected premium roughly in half. Strangles do the inverse trade - they pay against the same lognormal distribution, profiting when realized exceeds implied. Calendar spreads bet on the slope of the term structure rather than the level. MRSH put/call volume ratio currently at 0.16 indicates speculative call flow dominates - look for upside-skewed sentiment. The expected move is the inputs the chain is pricing, not a forecast - realized moves above or below are normal under any distribution.

Learn how expected move is reported and how to read the data →

MRSH one-standard-deviation implied price range by days-to-expiration, with current spot marked as the midpointMRSH Implied Price Range by Expiration$120$140$160$180$200$220100d200d300d400dDays to ExpirationImplied Price Range ($)
Shaded band shows the ±1σ implied price range (~68% probability under lognormal assumptions) at each expiration; the center line marks current spot. Bands widen with longer DTE since volatility scales with √time.

Per-expiration expected move for MRSH derived from ATM implied volatility at each listed expiration. Implied high/low bounds are computed as $170.79 × (1 ± expected move %). One standard-deviation range under lognormal assumptions, roughly 68% of outcomes fall inside.

ExpirationDTEATM IVExpected MoveImplied HighImplied Low
Oct 16, 20261626.9%5.6%$180.41$161.17
Nov 20, 20265124.7%9.2%$186.56$155.02
Jan 15, 202710723.6%12.8%$192.61$148.97
Mar 19, 202717025.1%17.1%$200.05$141.53
Apr 16, 202719825.7%18.9%$203.12$138.46
Jan 21, 202847826.3%30.1%$222.19$119.39

Frequently asked MRSH expected move questions

What is the current MRSH expected move?
As of Sep 30, 2026, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (MRSH) has an expected move of 7.71% over the next 16 days, implying a one-standard-deviation price range of $157.62 to $183.96 from the current $170.79. The expected move is derived from at-the-money straddle pricing and represents the market consensus for a ±1σ price move.
What does the MRSH expected move mean for traders?
Roughly 68% of outcomes should fall within ±1 expected move and 95% within ±2 under lognormal assumptions, though equity returns have empirically fatter tails than log-normal predicts. Strategies sized to the expected move (iron condors at ±1σ, strangles at ±1.5σ) target the typical outcome distribution; strategies that profit from tail moves (long-vol structures, ratio backspreads) target the tails the lognormal model under-prices.
How is MRSH expected move calculated?
The expected move displayed here is derived from at-the-money implied volatility scaled to the chosen tenor: expected move % is approximately ATM IV times sqrt(T / 365), where T is days to expiration. An equivalent straddle-based form: the ATM straddle (call + put at the same strike) is roughly sqrt(2/pi) times spot times IV times sqrt(T/365), so the implied one-standard-deviation move is approximately 1.25 times ATM straddle divided by spot. The two formulations agree once the sqrt(2/pi) constant is reconciled.