Give the customers what they need - wherever they are in the world.
CME Group's education program is now being tailored to match the different needs of customers around the globe. Now, with a more global- regional approach, CME Group will address the specific trading interests of a particular geographic region as well as particular trading styles, reflecting CME Group's growth abroad and expansion at home, says Kate Darcy, CME Group director of market education.
"We're expanding our offerings globally and customizing them for different trading needs," Darcy says. "We're also assessing how our customers prefer to receive such information - whether it is online, in person or perhaps in a more written format, such as a strategy or white paper."
The move is a departure from the prior emphasis,which was more focused on the member community in Chicago and on the in-person course format. While the members will continue to be a focus, the approach will reach out to a more diverse customer base, which includes proprietary traders, banks, institutions, hedge funds and the individual traders. The content will focus on how CME Group products can be applied to a variety of trading objectives and can provide a more efficient alternative to other products.
As the expansion moves into new areas in Europe, Asia and Latin America, the challenges become even more centered on explaining just what futures are and how they work. There is also a focus on simply gaining access to our markets in certain regions, Darcy says. This is due in part to the popularity of the over the counter cash markets and in some cases, additional government restrictions, which have made the adoption of futures slower than in the United States.
However,CME Group continues to uncover areas where traders are looking for new opportunities - whether they are simply looking for increased volatility or perhaps a more efficient way to layoff risk. Regardless of the objective, traders are gravitating toward CME Group as a way to trade across asset classes on a single platform, while also having the peace of mind that they will be able to get in and out of their trades when the market is at its most volatile.
"When it comes to education, we look at what sectors are moving, where the volatility is and of course where the next emerging market will be," Darcy says. "We've also made our educational content more modular so, as our customers grow and change, they can more effectively pick and choose what topics specifically interest them."
With the new Trading Knowledge Center on cmegroup.com, visitors can now quickly search for educational materials by topic, by asset class and/or by format. This allows traders who are interested in various asset classes to quickly see what is being offered across the board - all on a single page. In an effort to bring the highest quality content to the new Web site and to traders globally, Darcy indicated that they will be working with some of the world's leading universities, as well as a variety of market analysts and commentators, in order to develop material that is timely and relevant to today's markets.
"The ultimate aim of the new CME Group education direction is to produce a broad range of educational materials and vehicles customized to local users based on where they live and what they trade, "Darcy says." And while this evolution will not happen overnight, the process is well underway.
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