It is very difficult to separate the concepts of volatility and risk, the two are intimately intertwined. Look no further than the pending Federal Reserve rate decision at time of this writing. Most traders have taken to the sidelines to wait for the decision from the Federal Reserve. Will they raise rates? Will they keep rates the same? Will they not? This is been the permeating question during this last quarter. It is also a question of value. How much does the answer impact in the markets. As a result, strategies are formed, and bets are placed, and risk is....
Cybersecurity: A New Frontier for IBs and CTAs
The importance of cybersecurity has taken many industries by storm, and the futures industry is no exception. Indeed, CFTC Chairman Timothy Massad has recognized cybersecurity as “the single most important new risk to market integrity and financial stability.” The CFTC has been active in cybersecurity awareness for a couple of years, but the agency’s recent laser-like focus has made cybersecurity awareness an imperative rather than a consideration. The CFTC began to take earnest steps with respect to cybersecurity in February 2014, when it issued CFTC Advisory No. 14-21, which outlined the best practices for meeting cybersecurity responsibilities. In the....
NIBA in Washington, DC
On November 9, the NIBA will travel to Washington, DC to meet with various members of the CFTC as well as other industry participants, such as the CMC. Melinda Schramm — [email protected], Steve Petillo — [email protected] and Mike Burke — [email protected] will represent the NIBA in meetings with the Commissioners, staff and other personnel. Please contact Melinda, Steve or Mike if you have questions or issues you would like to have discussed. Your questions can be presented anonymously....
NIBA Announces the Formation of its first-ever Advisory Group
NIBA is excited to announce the formation of the NIBA Advisory Group (AG). NIBA, now in its 25th year, is proud to have a distinguished group of individuals working together on initiatives which will grow the association, and help members service their customers more effectively. Individuals serving on the AG each have a unique knowledge of the futures industry, and each has agreed to share their expertise for the benefit of NIBA members. The Advisory Group (AG) will meet in Chicago early December; the term of membership is 2 years. AG Members for 2015 to 2017 include: * Dan Basse,....
October Chairman’s Letter
Dear Members – On November 9, the NIBA will be in Washington, DC to meet with members of the CFTC, as well as other industry participants. Steve Petillo, Mike Burke and I want to bring those issues which are most important to YOU to the attention of the Commissioners. Please forward your suggestions and questions for the CFTC to anyone of us prior to October 30. On October 12, the University of Illinois sponsored a symposium entitled “How Should We Measure Futures Investment Performance?” Organized by Dr. Paul Peterson, U of I Urbana-Champaign featured four presentations — two presented by....
Cybersecurity: Before & After the Breach
Security breaches are quite prevalent in the media today. Many security experts feel it’s not a question of if your company will suffer a breach of your information, but when. A panel at the NIBA Annual Members Meeting recently explored this topic. Preparation for a potential event is key to being able to address it. Information Technology (IT) enterprises of all sizes need to know exactly what data they have, where it is stored, and what the potential threats to the data are. Even small companies need to pay attention to the basics of securing their computing environment. These include:....
Symposium on “How Should We Measure Futures Investment Performance?”
Stock and bond investments have a number of commonly accepted performance benchmarks, such as the S&P 500 and the BarCap indexes. But with futures-related investments – particularly actively managed ones – evaluating performance can be challenging. Join us for an interesting and informative session that examines these issues from different points of view, with presentations by four recognized industry experts: Hilary Till, Solich Scholar, J.P. Morgan Center for Commodities, University of Colorado-Denver and Principal, Premia Capital Management LLC Galen Burghardt, Director of Research, COEX Partners Inc. Mark Shore, President and Chief Investment Officer, Shore Capital Management LLC Jerry Nolan, Director....
Symposium on “How Should We Measure Futures Investment Performance?”
Stock and bond investments have a number of commonly accepted performance benchmarks, such as the S&P 500 and the BarCap indexes. But with futures-related investments – particularly actively managed ones – evaluating performance can be challenging. Join us for an interesting and informative session that examines these issues from different points of view, with presentations by four recognized industry experts: Hilary Till, Solich Scholar, J.P. Morgan Center for Commodities, University of Colorado-Denver and Principal, Premia Capital Management LLC Galen Burghardt, Director of Research, COEX Partners Inc. Mark Shore, President and Chief Investment Officer, Shore Capital Management LLC Jerry Nolan, Director....
NFA Rep Panel Wrap-Up
The NIBA conference was kicked off with the NFA Reps Panel led by Rodney Dow. Mike Burke and Paul Georgy, current IB reps to the NFA Board as well as James Koutoulas and John Roe, current CTA reps to the NFA Board participated in the panel. The panel started with a lively discussion about the proposed NFA Interpretive notice related to cyber security. Additional topics covered were the NFA process involved in created the interpretive notice as related to cyber security, CTA capital requirements as well as the functions of the NFA board and the workings of the various....