Welcome to this month’s edition of MetroTrade Monthly, our monthly newsletter where MetroTrade President David Klotz shares his experiences and insights from the futures and derivates industry.
I was able to attend four straight days of industry events recently, starting with the AFM Tech Day 2026, followed by two days at the FIA Expo Conference, and finishing up at PhillipCapital’s Trading Asia Symposium.
AFM Tech Day
The Association of Futures Markets is a not-for-profit association founded to promote and encourage the establishment of new derivative and related markets and to organize international conferences to promote communication among its members with periodic information and experience sharing.
Over the years, I have attended various AFM events globally, and I was fortunate enough to attend this year’s AFM Tech Day as a representative of the NIBA.
This event started with a bang, with Dr. Richard Sandor delivering the keynote and reminiscing on his fifty years of industry experience and innovation.
I love Doc, and will happily listen to him expound on pretty much anything, from artwork to carbon credits. I especially love it when he expresses his amazement that some of his innovations – treasury bond futures, the Chicago Climate Exchange, and AFX to name a few – took off and found mainstream acceptance. It really makes me wonder what products and innovations of his never saw the light of day.
The other session that stood out to me was the Exchange Solutions panel, moderated by the most interesting man in futures, Pat Kenny. The panelists were Julie Winkler, Chief Commercial Officer of CME Group, Brett Harrison, the CEO of Architect X, and Sam Tegel, the CEO of ElectronX.
Architect X and ElectronX are two brand new exchanges focused on very specific (and in their minds, underserved) areas of the derivatives space, while Julie Winkler is (in my humble opinion) on the short list to someday replace Terry Duffy as the CEO of CME Group.
My key takeaway from this panel was that these three folks, while all coming at the market from very distinct perspectives, get ‘it’. They are not building products and expecting the masses to come to their doorstep, but rather going into the market, gathering feedback, and creating products tailored to the demographic.
As this industry tends to build up and tear down quickly, it was refreshing to hear perspectives that were rooted in practicality and experience.
FIA Expo
Where to start….
FIA Expo used to occupy three cavernous exhibition halls deep within the Hilton Chicago on South Michigan Avenue. Today, it barely takes up two-thirds of the available Exhibit Hall space at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk. This is not FIA’s fault – the industry has consolidated and grown at the same time, leaving fewer (and simultaneously, larger) vendors and exchanges available to promote their wares.
Where the FIA could do a better job is by making Expo more accessible to a wider swath of the industry, by making attendance cheaper and creating programming earlier and later in the day to allow people who can’t necessarily leave their desks to attend before or after market hours (or before or after their shift if the 24/7 push comes to fruition in 2026).
Also, because they rely so heavily on sponsorships, FIA events have a conspicuous ability to favor the flavor of the month. A few years ago, at Boca (and then again at Expo) it was crypto, while this year it was event contracts.
While listening to Terek Mansour discuss how disruptive and innovative Kalshi is, I continuously had flashbacks to listening to SBF say the same things about FTX. This is not to say that Kalshi and FTX are remotely the same, but that the event tends to create opportunities for players to talk their book on a large stage.Personally, I am talked out of event contracts. They are not new (see the evolution of NADEX from 2004 to today), nor are they particularly innovative. What is innovative is the use of the Commodity Exchange Act to get around state gambling commissions with sports futures contracts.
I have also now counted the following groups as either currently offering or planning to offer event contracts in the near future:
- Kalshi
- RobinHood
- Crypto.com
- Polymarket
- Coinbase
- DraftKings
- FanDuel
- Fanatics
This is a lot of competition for a product that offers no leverage to the trader, cannot be B-booked, and where the exchange can only charge a penny per contract in fees. I can’t help but feel that some of these vendors are getting into the space as a hedge and that their commitment to on-exchange futures may be fleeting.
My other big takeaway from Expo this year is that 24/7 trading is inevitable. I agree with the proponents that in the long term it will lower participant risk and is required to remain viable with other industry players (namely spot crypto and crypto-native derivatives players).
However, in the short to medium term it will increase costs, create friction between customers, vendors and counterparties, and stress systems that are not currently set up to support 24/7 access.
PhillipCapital Trading Asia Symposium
My last event of the week was the Trading Asia Symposium hosted by PhillipCapital. This event was held in the 6th-floor ballroom of the Union League Club of Chicago – an event space that never fails to inspire awe (although I do miss the Monet that used to reside on the 2nd floor landing).
It was wonderful to catch up with old colleagues, friends, and clients from around the globe before the event began.
Revisiting the theme of executives who ‘get it’, it was refreshing to hear the opening remarks of Filippo Lecchini, the CEO of PhillipCapital Inc., and the keynote by Justin Lewellyn-Jones, the CEO of Trading Technologies. These gentlemen also understand that disruption cuts both ways, and embracing new technologies leads to responsible innovation.
Conclusion
In reflecting on these four days of industry events, it becomes clear that the derivatives and trading landscape is at a fascinating inflection point. From Dr. Richard Sandor’s historical perspective to the forward-looking discussions about 24/7 trading and innovative market solutions, the industry continues to evolve rapidly. While challenges like market consolidation, technological disruption, and regulatory navigation persist, the underlying spirit of innovation remains strong.
The executives and thought leaders I encountered – whether from established exchanges like CME Group or emerging platforms like Architect X and ElectronX – share a common thread: a commitment to understanding market needs, adapting to changing dynamics, and creating solutions that serve traders’ evolving requirements.
As we look ahead, it’s evident that the futures markets will continue to be a space of dynamic transformation (sometimes faster than we are comfortable with), driven by leaders who aren’t just anticipating change but actively shaping it.