ESG at CME Group
At CME Group, we believe in advancing policies that strengthen the integrity of our global company – from workforce empowerment, to corporate stewardship, to community commitment and sustainable solutions.
Workforce Empowerment
We invest in our team members through training, continuous development and fostering a culture of inclusion and innovation.
Sustainable
Solutions
As a global business operating in a complex environment, we work to develop both innovative and sustainable business solutions.
Community Commitment
We are deeply connected to, engaged with and invested in our communities through the CME Group Foundation and corporate giving.
Corporate Stewardship
Everything we do is based in strong governance practices and our culture of compliance, ethics and accountability.
Overview
At CME Group, we strive for excellence in all we do, and our efforts to improve never end. The same goes for our progress toward our environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals. We have developed a cohesive and actionable strategic framework that includes evolving and advancing our policies, goals and reporting.
As a global corporate citizen, we have responsibilities to all of our stakeholders. We aspire to transform the industry while always adhering to our values. Ultimately, it’s about earning and strengthening our stakeholders’ trust and making a positive difference.
We hope you will read our ESG Report to learn more the results we have achieved and our focus for the future. Within the report you will also find disclosures in accordance with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and EE0-1.
Latest news
Workforce Empowerment
At CME Group, diversity and inclusion are foundational to building a culture of innovation and mutual respect. We are focused on recruiting and retaining diverse talent through an expansive recruiting effort, internal development programs and open and honest communication. We’re driven by the belief that measuring our progress is key to achieving it, and that measurement starts with a baseline:
Total Workforce
69%
Male
31%
Female
Senior Managing Directors & Above
57%
Male
43%
Female
US Ethnicity
<1%
American Indian or Alaska Native
6.4%
Black or african american
<1%
Native hawaiian or pacific islander
1.5%
Two or more races
22.8%
Asian
6.2%
Hispanic or latino
55.9%
White
7%
Not reported
People Managers
71%
Male
29%
Female
Workforce Development and Engagement
10.4%
Voluntary turnover
53.5%
Open roles filled with internal candidates
11.6%
Employees promoted
To further enhance our transparency, we have published our Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO-1) data for the U.S. here.
Employee Well-being Week
Building on the success of our inaugural Employee Well-being Week in 2020, we held a 2021 virtual event centered around the theme of advancing mental and physical health. Over the course of a week, colleagues across the globe received insights and tips on a wide range of topics including stress management, personal goal setting, nutrition and fitness, cancer prevention and personal cybersecurity during sessions featuring prominent experts.
“CME Group’s Employee Well-being Week is another example of how much the company cares about its employees and their work-life balance. I was able to attend several sessions, and all were very informative. In particular, the session on nutrition really gave me pause to consider the amount of red meat I consume. Lots of great material covered!”
–
Nancy Kayzar, Infrastructure Operations Enterprise Management
“I started my CME Group career as an intern, so mentoring has always been really important to me. Through the D&I mentoring pilot, I was paired with a senior leader from the HR Division and really valued making real-life connections, discussing my career aspirations and learning from my mentor’s experience. The exposure I gained helped me move into a new role within HR a few months after the pilot ended and I couldn’t be happier.”
–
Colleen Smith, Professional Development
Sustainable Solutions
We have always developed products and services to meet our clients’ evolving risk management needs, and we understand the importance of developing both innovative and sustainable solutions. In 2021, we launched the derivatives industry’s first-of-its-kind Sustainable Clearing service and introduced two voluntary carbon offset tools: a Global Emissions Offset (GEO) futures contract and a Nature-Based Global Emissions Offset (N-GEO) future contract.
Our commitment to advance a more environmentally and economically sustainable future includes measuring and reducing our carbon footprint. We conducted an inventory of our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 2020 and 2021 to better inform our reduction strategy and future goals. Conducting and disclosing this inventory is a meaningful step in our efforts to evolve our internal sustainability initiatives. We will continue to report on these metrics each year and aim to make improvements where possible.
IN 2021: MORE THAN 47 MILLION OFFSETS WERE TRADED, WITH 6.55 MILLION OFFSETS DELIVERED IN SEVEN DIFFERENT DELIVERY CYCLES.
OUR E-MINI S&P 500 ESG FUTURES REACHED A PEAK OF $4.2 BILLION IN OPEN INTEREST, MAKING IT THE WORLD'S MOST WIDELY USED ESG EQUITY CONTRACT BY NOTIONAL VALUE.
“Sustainability has moved from the fringes of the financial sector to the mainstream in recent years. The industry has increasingly embraced a transition to a more sustainable and inclusive economic model, with support from governments, regulators, investors and the broader society. By including a focus on sustainability, exchanges, as core marketplaces for the design and trading of new products, can play an important role as drivers of genuine change.”
–
Julie Winkler, Chief Commercial Officer
“As global economies continue advancing their carbon reduction goals, market-based solutions like derivatives markets are providing transparency and price discovery along the way. CME Group’s voluntary carbon offset markets have been growing steadily since their launch, and we look forward to continuing to work with our clients and the industry to provide effective risk management solutions.”
–
Peter Keavey, Managing Director, Energy & Environmental Products
Office Recycling
Our Employee Resource Group SEED worked with our Facilities team to add composting bins in all cafes across our Chicago headquarters.
Industry Engagment
CME Group played a leading role in drafting new guidelines for derivatives exchanges to promote sustainable development, which were published by the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative and the World Federation of Exchanges.
Employee Innovation
In 2021, CME Group employees received a total of 83 new patents with awards totaling nearly $233,000.
Community Commitment
At CME Group, we value being a good corporate citizen and take an active role in social responsibility. Through charitable donations and volunteerism, we partner with our employees to build brighter futures in our communities.
Total giving
$7.7+ million
Scholarships
$743k
Matching gifts
$297k
EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEERING PAID DAYS OFF
230+
“CME Group’s Matching Gift Program demonstrates a commitment to supporting its employees and the community. The program helps advance my family’s contributions to causes we support, making us feel good about the impact we have.”
–
Michael Martineau, Corporate Procurement
“The paid day off for volunteering gives me a strong sense of purpose outside of my work responsibilities and demonstrates that the company cares deeply about employees making a difference in our local communities.”
–
Boon Yong Goh, Global Market Solutions & Services
“Whether it’s donating to a school or a fundraising effort for a friend, the company match has a real impact. Interest in employees’ causes shows the commitment of our leadership and encourages us to explore ways in which we can better our communities.”
–
Helen Flanagan, Client Development & Sales
Annual CME Group Tour Championship Benefitting St. Jude
CME Group enhanced its charity partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in 2021 by hosting a silent auction and a benefit concert featuring Jimmy Buffett the evening before the CME Group Tour Championship began. CME Group was honored to host hundreds of first responders as guests at the concert and tournament as a way of saying ‘thank you’ for everything they have done for their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. In all, 2021's charity efforts raised a total of $850,000 to support St. Jude’s mission.
CME Group Foundation
The CME Group Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, is a private foundation that strives to empower future generations through education, equipping today’s students to meet tomorrow’s challenges.
The CME Group Foundation awarded $3 million in grants to further support kindergarten readiness and K-12 programming across Chicago and Illinois in 2021.
In 2021, CME Group Foundation provided more than $625,000 in college scholarships to more than 35 Black and Latinx students through its Foundation Scholars program.
Corporate Stewardship
CME Group’s core values guide our business and are central to the trust we have established as a leading provider of risk management solutions for our clients. Our Board of Directors informs and enforces our core values and is keenly focused on the issues that matter most our company, clients, employees and other stakeholders.
Years average tenure on
cme group board
10
Years average age
63
Women
26%
Racially or ethnically diverse
13%
“The CME Group Board of Directors recognizes the importance of reflecting diversity from both an experience and background perspective. The Nominating and Governance Committee takes this commitment very seriously and will include candidates who bring racial and/or gender diversity in any search for a Board member it undertakes.”
–
Daniel R. Glickman, Board Member
Approach to Remote Work
We continued to evolve our practices and approach to remote work and returning to the office to prioritize the health, safety and well-being of our employees. We collaborated with our Employee Resource Groups to provide continued engagement to our colleagues.
- Adopted a flexible work model to help employees work with their managers to set a weekly schedule of in-office days and work-from-home days as we return to the office.
- Implemented a coordinated response to any new COVID-19 requirements.
- Piloted an onsite clinical mental well-being therapist for Chicago-based employees.
Cybersecurity
Our global economy has never been more dependent on the internet, meaning that cyber defense has never been more critical. In light of a constantly evolving digital landscape, CME Group has been advancing our systems, resources and processes to protect our company and our data.
- 99% of employees completed their annual cybersecurity training.
- 1,100 security incidents successfully managed.
- 29 million emails blocked by cyber controls, including more than 9,600 malicious messages.
We were recognized as Exchange of the Year by the 2021 Risk Awards for our ability to maintain operational resilience and price discovery on key financial benchmarks at a time of stress for both markets and individual institutions in 2020.
Contact Us
Connect with a member of our team to get more information about ESG at CME Group.
