Jon has been with CTC for over 20 years, serving in a variety of senior leadership roles. Most recently, Jon served as Chief Investment Officer where he led the firm’s efforts to transform CTC’s core business and provide firm oversight of risk and profitability. Previously, Jon opened and led CTC’s London Office before returning to Chicago to lead CTC’s flagship Index Options Trading business. Jon later served as Global Co-Head of Trading. Jon is a member of CTC’s Board of Directors. Jon will take over as CEO on January 1, 2023.

Teamwork and collaboration are critical to CTC’s ongoing success, and Jon’s ability to draw out the best in people continually unlocks potential, opportunity, and results. Jon embodies CTC’s values, inspiring the team to do their best work together.

"Joining CTC 23 years ago was one of the best decisions of my life - I'm as excited and proud to be part of this collaborative and driven team today, as I was back then. I am truly humbled and honored to lead CTC in this next phase of our journey together," said Grodnick.

Daniel Feuser, the current CEO and Board Chair stated, "I have had the privilege of working with Jon for over 20 years. During this time, I’ve witnessed Jon drive business transformation and level up CTC’s culture time and time again. Jon is one of the primary reasons that CTC is such a successful and special firm today. From the Board’s point of view, there is no question that Jon is the best person to lead the next chapter at CTC." Feuser will remain CTC’s Board Chair.

About Chicago Trading Company: We believe in healthy financial markets. Each day, we help the world price and manage risk by deploying our deep expertise to make markets fairer, transparent, and more efficient. We actively trade in a broad spectrum of asset classes on derivatives exchanges around the world. Our culture is highly collaborative – our cross‐discipline teams work together to solve the toughest problems our markets have to offer.

We pride ourselves on our strong values, our entrepreneurial spirit, and our commitment to doing the right thing. We aim to cultivate a workplace that celebrates diversity where each person feels included, engaged, and empowered. We also strive to make a positive impact on our industry, the lives of our employees, and the communities to which we belong.

Our success is driven by our mutual commitment and teamwork coupled with our expertise in pricing and risk management. We win when we pull together. Our strength comes from the curiosity, ingenuity, and determination each of us brings to work every day. Our competitive advantage comes from our commitment to each other. We’re growing and would love to hear from you if you share these values.

Chicago Trading Company announced that it has joined the Pyth network, a next-generation oracle solution designed to bring real-world data on-chain on a sub-second timescale. CTC will initially publish cryptocurrency prices to the decentralized network and plans to expand into equities as the Pyth network continues to scale.

For further information, please see the press release.

CTC is proud to be a sponsor of the Booth Women Connect Conference. Check out this short video to hear what it’s like to work at CTC!

Dan has been with CTC in a variety of roles in 20 years with the company. Most recently, Dan served as Chief Strategy Officer, where he led the firm's efforts to evolve our core business and expand into new businesses. Previously, Dan served as Chief Operating Officer where he oversaw the Trading, Quant, Technology, and Operations functions of CTC, instilling greater cohesion and financial discipline throughout the firm. Teamwork fosters success at CTC, and Dan's character and talent are a force multiplier across the company, inspiring the team to do their best work together.

"I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity I've had these past 20 years to work with such an incredible team of collaborative, caring, and talented people. I'm also very excited about the road ahead as we continue to grow the firm and invest heavily in our future. CTC is a special place where we strive each day to improve ourselves and make markets healthier," said Feuser.

Transitioning from a founder-led Company is instrumental in CTC's evolution as an enduring firm. Eric Chern, one of the founders of CTC and outgoing CEO said, "This is a gratifying and special moment, a key milestone in our journey. Dan is clearly the best person to lead our incredibly talented team through the next phase and I am excited to see the potential he will unlock within our team." Chern will remain actively engaged, serving on CTC's Board of Directors and focusing on external engagement, advocacy, and corporate citizenship efforts.

Since 2010, we have occupied the 4th and 5th floors and we are very excited about the new 6th floor addition. This new space gives us more room for our teams to collaborate and new, state of the art technology to connect in ways we haven’t before.

CTC’s Chief People Officer, Brad Marsh, is excited about the potential this new space holds for our team. “We have been growing the past couple years and were really running out of places where we could co-locate teams so they could work together. It’s great to have room for the continued growth we are planning and exciting to think of the opportunity ahead of us.”

Joyce Stevens, CTC’s Office Manager, was involved in the project from start to completion and enjoyed the process of creating the new space from initial designs to completion and move-in. “There’s a draw to the space, people are really enjoying it and having fun. The process was really collaborative and seeing so many different teams work together to create the new floor was really exciting. I was happy to see that our trading floor on the 4th floor was visible from the 6th floor staircase, it helps the new space feel connected to our existing space.”

Mike Allara, Chief Financial Office at CTC, discussed some of the most exciting parts about our new space. “The new classroom for CTC University can hold up to 100 people and this will be a big win for us. The booths in the café are already being utilized frequently and we’re seeing a lot of collaboration in the new smartboard conference rooms as well.”

We’re excited about our new space and it’s features, but we’re most excited to keep growing our team and investing in our future! If you’re interested in joining our team, check out our current job openings here: CTC Job Openings

On November 15th at the Markets Media 2018 Markets Choice Awards for Women in Finance, CTC’s Megan Spychalski was named a ‘Rising Star’. This award recognizes the most successful and respected women in the financial industry.

Megan is CTC’s Director of Data Management and Analytics and in her 11 plus year career at CTC, she has made remarkable contributions to CTC’s technology division. “I am most proud of the trust that others have placed in me to solve problems and build sustainable teams that are not afraid to evolve,” Megan said, when asked about the accomplishments she is proud of. “Markets Media created this award in recognition of women in finance and they see it is worth recognizing that women face different obstacles and challenges in the workplace. I’m humbled and honored to win this award and be recognized amongst such heavy hitters in this industry.”

Congratulations to Megan and all the winners from this year’s Women in Finance Awards!

On Friday, September 21, CTC’s Head of Market Structure, Steve Crutchfield, participated in a panel at the SEC-NYU Dialogue on Securities Market Regulation. The topic of the panel was the evolution of liquidity provision and liquidity resiliency. CTC believes that market structure and interaction with the markets should be made as simple as possible while still providing the necessary tools investors need in order to accomplish their goals. The current market structure “offers huge incentives for firms to make massive investments in speed,” noted Crutchfield. “This can come at the expense of pricing and risk management, to the detriment of investors.”

CTC supports action to improve trade prices for investors by slowing the markets slightly to a timescale that’s closer to what human investors actually care about: “I don’t think I’ve ever met an end user who cares about getting their fill in a microsecond rather than ten milliseconds, but there is a cost to investors if liquidity providers have to worry about events at that timescale,” Crutchfield said, adding that any liquidity provider who consistently regrets their trades one microsecond later may not be there providing liquidity next time it’s needed. Re-thinking market incentives, which currently put speed first, will result in better prices for investors, in both good and stressed times within the market.

On October 12th, a group of CTC team members attended the 2018 Booth Women Connect Conference. This conference brings together professionals of diverse backgrounds and creates an interactive forum for dialogue. It was an amazing day networking with a community of leading women professionals while listening to a wide variety of engaging speakers, panelists, insights and discussions. Our team enjoyed spending time with one another while discussing issues important to women today.

As part of our commitment to fair, open and transparent markets, CTC has invested in ErisX, a derivatives exchange and clearing organization that will include fully regulated digital asset futures and spot contracts on one platform. We believe that ErisX will be an important factor in making the digital asset space more transparent and more accessible to market participants.

For further information, please see the ErisX press release.

For Jennifer Paik-Chung, giving her children the best start in life meant instilling the value of service and volunteering as early as she could.

As it turns out, however, there aren’t many organizations where kids can volunteer. Paik-Chung, Chicago Trading Company’s Sr. Director of Technology Business Management, found a solution in the Honeycomb Project, a Chicago-based nonprofit that mobilizes multigenerational groups to help remedy issues such as poverty and pollution.

Her discovery was quickly embraced by her coworkers at CTC, many of whom have young families at home. Today CTC is a Honeycomb corporate sponsor, and a growing number of CTC families have jumped in to get involved with the organization.

“It’s fantastic to find opportunities to spend time with family, to do something great and give back to the community,” Paik-Chung said. “The marriage of the two things was fantastic.”

Her family’s volunteering has created opportunities to have conversations about important social issues such as hunger and environmental protection, giving her children a personal connection and investment in the topics.

“These projects allowed me to give back to the community without sacrificing precious family time while also teaching my children to be empathetic and have a deeper appreciation for what’s happening in the different communities around Chicago,” Paik-Chung said.

Honeycomb was founded on the belief that volunteering as a family allows parents to set an example for their children, while presenting a new perspective on the world, working together as a team and instilling in children a lifelong ethic of service.

We support SEC Commissioner Robert J. Jackson’s call to action.

Last week, SEC Commissioner Robert J. Jackson spoke at George Mason University regarding the state of America’s securities markets. We wholeheartedly support Commissioner Robert J. Jackson’s call for a holistic review of the structure of our securities markets and his goals of enhancing U.S. market structure and furthering investor protection.

Commissioner Jackson suggests it’s past time for the SEC to assess the securities market structure that’s evolved in the U.S. over the past few decades, and its unintended consequences: excessive exchange proliferation, continual market data fee hikes, exchange regulatory immunity from litigation, and persistent conflicts of interest in the execution of agency orders (including those due to certain exchange rebate programs). He is concerned that these practices “don’t look like the kind of competition that American investors deserve.”

The Commissioner goes on to highlight a path forward for the SEC, stating that “it’s time to put the ‘exchange’ back in the Securities and Exchange Commission.” This includes the developing pilot program to test the effects of rebates on market conditions, a reassessment of the process under which exchanges make rules and set prices, a review of current limits on exchanges’ civil liability for trading errors, and a reassessment of well-intentioned SEC rules that may actually encourage market fragmentation to the detriment of investors.

We look forward to what we hope will be a fruitful industry-wide effort to preserve and enhance the vital role healthy, efficient securities markets play in our nation’s economic success.

Commissioner Jackson’s full remarks can be found here: Unfair Exchange: The State of America's Stock Markets

CTC is proud to celebrate and showcase the work of women entrepreneurs as a sponsor of a groundbreaking pitch contest for female founders of early-stage technology startups.

On September 27, 2018, the inaugural AnitaB.org PitcHER™ competition will bring ten finalists to Houston, Texas, during Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC), the world’s largest gathering of women technologists. The contest will support and encourage women entrepreneurs who are leading early-stage technology startups focused on empowering women, families, or children. The finalists will compete for a total of $65,000 in prize money, to be split among the top three and an Audience Favorite.

“Entrepreneurs have the power to fundamentally change our way of life through innovation and disruption,” said Brenda Darden Wilkerson, President and CEO of AnitaB.org. “The AnitaB.org PitcHER competition will support women founders as they make an impact on their communities, and bring attention to funding disparities for female-founded startups. We hope this new event will inspire other women technologists to pursue their entrepreneurial passions.”

Finalists will be competing for a total of $65,000 in prize money, split among the top three winners and an Audience Favorite. This groundbreaking event is produced by AnitaB.org in partnership with digitalundivided, with support from Kapor Capital.

“We’re proud to support the inaugural AnitaB.org PitcHER competition, which will identify startups that demonstrate the power of impactful, high-growth tech companies while simultaneously diversifying the tech ecosystem,” said Freada Kapor Klein, Partner at Kapor Capital. “Everyone wins when we encourage, support, and invest in these startups.”

“digitalundivided is honored to co-host the inaugural AnitaB.org PitcHER competition,” said Kathryn Finney, digitalundivided CEO. “As an organization dedicated to the advancement of women entrepreneurs, we love seeing women take the stage to pitch ideas, and we bring a keen eye for discerning sustainable business models. We hope PitcHER will inspire all women to become fearless tech entrepreneurs.”

A dozen leading organizations across a wide range of industries stepped forward to fund this inaugural event. A pair of Premier Sponsors — Abbot and Chicago Trading Company — are joined by ten Event Sponsors: Blizzard Entertainment, CenturyLink, The Cloud Native Computing Foundation, Hyperledger, Home Depot, Kapor Capital, OpenTable, ThoughtSpot, Volvo, and WePay.

"Michael Allara, Chicago Trading Company's CFO for the past eight years, doesn't pull any punches. He's actively expanding the way CTC uses financial information, but freely admits he doesn't want any part of helping IT defend their judgment calls about new technologies. Read on to hear why he's excited to see CIOs using IT data to define priorities and provide context for decision-making."

"We value and are known for our ability to work collaboratively. Prior to using Textio, both the hiring managers and recruiting would work together, but lacked a true process to support it. And unfortunately, that left us with a lot of inconsistencies in our job descriptions. When we implemented Textio Hire, we immediately saw how the software supported our team-oriented culture. Now we could easily have recruiting and hiring managers collaborate on job posts in the platform. It made it so easy for people to work together on a job post to get the best results."

"Since using Textio our job postings look better. They read better. People respond to them better. In some cases, it’s helped us clarify one role versus another because it cleaned up our writing a little bit. We think about what we are really trying to say."

Chicago Trading Company is excited to announce that, upon completion of our six‐month apprenticeship program, Code Platoon graduate John Cibula will join CTC full‐time as an Associate Software Engineer.

John was the first apprentice to join us as part of a partnership Code Platoon, a Chicago‐based nonprofit that provides developer boot camps for U.S. military veterans. John completed Code Platoon’s immersive 14‐week program in May 2017 and joined CTC as an apprentice in June of this year.

“In partnering with Code Platoon we hoped to work with smart, motivated, mature team players who fit our culture,” says Brad Marsh, CTC’s Chief Information Officer. “John has been all of that, plus a talented engineer. We’re thrilled to welcome him to our team.”

CTC developed and evolved its apprenticeship program to help Code Platoon graduates deepen their programming skills through on‐the‐job skill development. As the first apprentice, John completed a six month project, received formal training in our coding languages, worked closely with a mentor and received regular feedback.

“Any company that wants to start an apprenticeship program would do well to look to CTC as a model,” says Code Platoon Executive Director Rodrigo Levy. “They made an extraordinary effort to design and adjust their program and process in order to onboard a Code Platoon graduate. John’s success is a reflection of CTC’s commitment to our veterans.”

In January, CTC will welcome a new Code Platoon into its apprenticeship program, marking a new phase in what both CTC and Code Platoon hope will be a long and fruitful collaboration.

A group of leading financial-services professionals recently named Chicago Trading Company's Lauren Rauch a 'Rising Star,' an award recognizing the most talented and accomplished women in the industry.

Lauren, our Global Head of Risk Management, was recognized at the third annual “Markets Choice Awards: Women in Finance” luncheon held in New York on November 7. The event convened hundreds of investors, executives, traders and other market professionals.

During her 15 plus years with CTC, Lauren has routinely demonstrated how valuable women’s contributions can be in an industry long dominated by men.

“I’ve always felt a part of CTC and that my contributions really mattered and were highly valued, from my first day on the trading floor through starting my family and, now, in a leadership role,” Rauch said. “This award validates that – and I’m grateful for the continued support and opportunity to make a difference at CTC.”

Eric Chern, CEO of the CTC Trading Group, said it was an honor to have one of the firm’s own celebrated along with some of the most esteemed women working in the financial markets.

“This award acknowledges what we’ve known around here for quite a while: that Lauren is a leader in our firm and in our industry, exemplifying the best of what CTC is all about,” he said.

The Women in Finance luncheon was part of the Global Markets Summit at Markets Media Week. Candidates were selected based on interviews with colleagues, customers and competitors, as well as submissions from Markets Media subscribers. An advisory board made the final selections.

CTC has partnered with Code Platoon, a Chicago-based non-profit program that provides developer boot camps for U.S. military veterans.

Code Platoon transforms veterans into software developers, teaching its students full-stack development in an immersive, 20-week program. Graduates of the program emerge with training that makes them eligible for paid internships and full-time employment as web developers.

As a Code Platoon partner, CTC has committed to hiring students into our apprenticeship program.

In an industry historically dominated by men, Chicago Trading Company is strongly committed to diversity and inclusion. Illustrating that commitment, we held the Women in Proprietary Trading event in our Chicago offices on August 15th. We invited female college students interested in this sector of the finance industry.

The students heard from a handful of successful CTC team members who described the firm’s work, its unique culture, the company’s professional opportunities and our workplace benefits. One speaker, Lauren Rauch, began as a trader at CTC more than 15 years ago. She is now a Partner and the firm’s Global Head of Risk Management.

In her remarks, Lauren shared her insights about women in trading, “I have friends that work in different industries that I know would make good traders. I find it troubling that more women don’t pursue this industry, because it makes for an interesting, challenging, and rewarding career.”

Steve Crutchfield, CTC’s Head of Market Structure, kicked off the event with a welcome speech. He explained what CTC does and the important role that market making plays in the health of our financial system.

“The Trading industry presents new challenges every day,” Crutchfield said. “And everyone at CTC is eager to learn. We believe our collaborative, team-based culture is unique among trading firms.”

Jennifer Paik Chung, CTC’s Director of Technology Business Management, spoke about careers for women in proprietary trading and technology. She began her journey in Financial Services 25 years ago – “Back then, there were very few women in this business and firms were far less welcoming to women. Today, commitment to diversity and inclusion is at an all-time high,” she said. As for advice, Chung encouraged women at the event to: “find a company that matches your values, take on new – even risky – challenges, and be the best at what you do.”

The event also included a panel discussion featuring CTC employees describing what they liked most about working at CTC and some practical career advice for women interested in a career in Proprietary Trading.

CTC looks forward to hosting additional Women in Finance Events in the coming months.

Mel Williams, Jr. has joined Chicago Trading Company (CTC) as its Chief Legal Officer. In this new role, Williams will lead the company's Legal and Compliance departments. He joins CTC from the U.S. Small Business Administration, where he served as General Counsel.

As reported in the Marian Monitor Summer 2017 issue, CTC options trader and Marian High School alum Tina Deneweth Murphy spoke to students, faculty, alumnae and parents as part of STEM Week.

Murphy presented on the foundations of trading, CTC’s areas of expertise, and how to prepare for a career in the industry. Additionally, she shared personal lessons learned as a female working in a male dominated industry. Murphy and CTC would love to see some of the MHS students in a future college internship class.

CTC's commitment to citizenship means we invest in the places where we live and work. That takes many forms, including collaborations between our team and the non-profits near to our hearts in pursuit of authentic and lasting impact.

One of those, Autism Speaks, is dedicated to promoting solutions, across the spectrum and throughout the lifespan, for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. It does that through advocacy and support, increasing understanding and acceptance, and advancing research into causes and interventions.

CTC has participated in the annual Autism Speaks Walk for several years and the firm's 2017 team was once again among the top three donors. We believe in Autism Speaks' vision: "our strength as a community is powered by love and built on the commitment of individuals." And we look forward to coming together again in 2018 to enhance the lives of people living with autism.

CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced that starting July 10, 2017, CME Group will launch both futures and options based on the Russell 2000® Index, as well as basis trade at index close (BTIC) functionality on the futures contracts, pending regulatory approval.

The full list of new contracts available to trade follows:

• E-mini® Russell 2000® Index Futures
• Options on E-mini® Russell 2000® Index Futures
• Weekly Options on E-mini® Russell 2000® Index Futures
• Options on E-mini® Russell 2000® Index Futures - End-of-Month
• E-mini® Russell 2000® Growth Index Futures
• E-mini® Russell 2000® Value Index Futures

"We're pleased to bring the Russell 2000® index back to CME Group where traders will now be able to access major equity indices on a single platform," said Tim McCourt, CME Group's Global Head of Equities. "Offering these new products at CME Group will provide our customers a more cost-effective opportunity for global exposure using futures and options, with margin offsets of up to 70 percent against the S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow Jones indices."

The Russell 2000® Index is the standard recognized benchmark measuring the performance of the small-cap segment of the U.S. Stock Market. With the growing popularity of passive investing, indexing data has become more valuable for investors. In August 2015, CME Group and London Stock Exchange Group announced a partnership to list derivatives contracts based on Russell indexes.

"We are excited to continue providing robust liquidity in Russell 2000® options as they transition to CME Group's platform," said Frank Bednarz, Global Co-Head of Trading, CTC Trading Group, L.L.C. "These are powerful tools for investors seeking to manage risk in the important small-cap segment."

"Equity Index futures and options are among the top products traded by our futures clients," said Dan Ryba, Vice President of Futures Brokerage at E*TRADE. "We look forward to CME Group offering the Russell 2000® futures and options, which further complements their equity offering."

"As a trader, having the Russell 2000® at CME Group provides me with cost efficiencies and greater flexibility to trade against other index products like the Dow and S&P," said professional trader Morad Askar of FuturesTrader71.com. "I'm glad to see it will be trading on CME Group in July and look forward to trading the contract."

CME Group's new Russell 2000® Index futures and options products are an efficient hedge to cash index options, with the choice of flexible execution through BTIC. Through greater certainty and precision, and enhanced flexibility, BTIC trades can mitigate jump risk and re-establish equity index exposure.

E-mini® Russell 2000® Index futures and options, E-mini® Russell 2000® Growth Index futures and E-mini® Russell 2000® Value Index futures will be listed by and subject to the rules and regulations of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. For more information, please visit www.cmegroup.com/russell2000.

As the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) is where the world comes to manage risk. Through its exchanges, CME Group offers the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals. CME Group provides electronic trading globally on its CME Globex platform. The company also offers clearing and settlement services across asset classes for exchange-traded and over-the-counter derivatives through its clearinghouses, CME Clearing and CME Clearing Europe. CME Group's products and services ensure that businesses around the world can effectively manage risk and achieve growth.

CME Group, the Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Globex and E-Mini® are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), and Kansas City Board of Trade (KCBT) are trademarks of Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc., New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and ClearPort are trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc.  Russell 2000® is a trademark and service mark of the Frank Russell Company, used under license.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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