CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced the winners of its 12th annual CME Group Trading Challenge. The four-week electronic trading competition is open exclusively to teams of currently enrolled graduate and undergraduate students around the world. The students compete on a real-time professional trading platform, provided by CQG, while learning about market events by accessing live Dow Jones newsfeeds and The Hightower Report. The competition is designed to offer students an educational and professional trading experience by giving them the chance to trade a variety of CME Group products across all major asset classes. This year brought record level participation with more than 500 teams made up of 2,000 students participating from 37 countries around the world.
"This year's record participation indicates that the next generation is taking an interest in our industry," said Terry Duffy, CME Group Executive Chairman and President. "Learning how to trade through hands-on techniques is a great way for bright young minds to get educated in risk management. CME Group wants to show students that finance is an exciting place where innovative people can make a real impact on the world."
"CQG is proud to be a partner in the CME Group Trading Challenge," said Rod Giffen, President of CQG. "We are committed to providing a superior real-time trading experience for students with diverse interests from business and finance to agriculture and economics. We would like to congratulate all the participants for making this year's Trading Challenge the best ever."
The following winning teams will receive a cash prize and are invited to attend a one-day market education conference at CME Group on April 10:
University – Team Name |
Final Simulated Account Balance |
Ozyegin University– OzU Invest |
$534,672.50 |
University of Alabama at Birmingham – UAB Blazers |
$490,287.50 |
Boston University – Big Hero Five |
$474,843.13 |
Carnegie Mellon University – Carnegie Mellon |
$458.655.00 |
CME Group has made risk-management education a top priority. In addition to offering interactive events like the Trading Challenge, CME Group provides education about the global economy and markets with a variety of tools. Recently, the company launched Futures Institute, an innovative new online platform for futures and options education, trading simulation and market research. The Futures Institute works with partners across the industry to distribute best-in-class education offering a blend of live instruction, interactive training modules, market research and training. In 2014, CME Group's risk-management endeavor was Futures Fundamentals, an innovative website that explains the role of futures markets in everyday life. The goal of the site is to make financial education an engaging experience for anyone, regardless of how well versed they are in the world of finance. Additionally, CME Group, in partnership with the National 4-H Council, offers a Commodity Carnival game and a new interactive app, Risk Ranch, which educates kids about managing risk in agriculture.