As if the financial industry hasn’t seen enough of a market shake-up in recent months, a new futures exchange is set to launch in early 2008. The exchange, backed by heavy hitters in the capital markets, will serve as a low-cost alternative in the existing futures market. The exchange will start trading U.S. Treasury futures and then move into currencies, stock indexes and wheat products.
Founders of this new venture were concerned that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group, a working collaboration of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, had cornered the futures market and inflated prices. To bring competition to the futures industry, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, Citigroup, Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of America and Deutsche Bank have formed an alliance to spawn this yet unnamed futures exchange.
Other investors in this exchange include the online company e-Speed, which will provide electronic trading platforms and three Chicago based trading firms: Peak 6, Getco and the hedge fund giant Citadel.
Robert Hamada, a former Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) director, recently spoke with the Chicago Tribune about the new exchange. He said that the founders of the new futures exchange wanted to prohibit the CME Group from becoming a “monolithic monopolist.”
“What keeps prices down is the potential for competition,” Hamada explained.
While many believe the industry needs this competition to thrive, others see this move as a sign of a major industry overhaul.
John Lothian, a futures broker, reminded investors of Cantor Fitzgerald’s attempt at forming an exchange in 1999 and of BrokerTech, a combined effort by investment banks in 2001. Both failed as competitors but did prove successful as change agents.
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New Futures Exchange to Compete with Chicago Mercantile Exchange
NewsAs if the financial industry hasn’t seen enough of a market shake-up in recent months, a new futures exchange is set to launch in early 2008. The exchange, backed by heavy hitters in the capital markets, will serve as a low-cost alternative in the existing futures market. The exchange will start trading U.S. Treasury futures and then move into currencies, stock indexes and wheat products.
Founders of this new venture were concerned that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group, a working collaboration of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, had cornered the futures market and inflated prices. To bring competition to the futures industry, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, Citigroup, Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of America and Deutsche Bank have formed an alliance to spawn this yet unnamed futures exchange.
Other investors in this exchange include the online company e-Speed, which will provide electronic trading platforms and three Chicago based trading firms: Peak 6, Getco and the hedge fund giant Citadel.
Robert Hamada, a former Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) director, recently spoke with the Chicago Tribune about the new exchange. He said that the founders of the new futures exchange wanted to prohibit the CME Group from becoming a “monolithic monopolist.”
“What keeps prices down is the potential for competition,” Hamada explained.
While many believe the industry needs this competition to thrive, others see this move as a sign of a major industry overhaul.
John Lothian, a futures broker, reminded investors of Cantor Fitzgerald’s attempt at forming an exchange in 1999 and of BrokerTech, a combined effort by investment banks in 2001. Both failed as competitors but did prove successful as change agents.
Read more
Ring in the Russian New Year at a Vodka Tasting
NewsCelebrate the Russian New Year by catching up with friends and networking new contacts at the Financial Women’s Association vodka tasting.
How To Get a Big Year-End Bonus…In Case You Haven’t Prepared in Advance
Money TalksContributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine
In the ideal world, you would use January to reflect on goals accomplished and to set the stage for next year’s performance review and bonus discussion. However, if it’s January and you haven’t prepared for this year’s bonus talk yet, then you need to focus on last-minute moves:
Are the final bonus figures still being calculated or are the checks already in payroll? If your company’s culture is open to this type of inquiry, ask your manager when the bonuses are determined and where your group is within the process. Aside from your manager, experienced colleagues or your mentor may know this information. Where you are in the bonus decision cycle impacts what you can negotiate for. If your department has just received the allotment for its group, then lobby away. If the checks are already cut, then you have to accept that the die is already case and start setting the stage for next year.
Is the company having a banner year or have targets been missed? Read those company status memos that you may have tossed aside. Read the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, press releases and industry news analyses. Even if you are a star individually, the total company pool impacts your share and more importantly impacts how you should ask for your share. Being aggressive during a down year may rub people the wrong way. Definitely ask for what you deserve but temper your style based on the company mood. If it’s a big profit year, then you should feel more confident to ask away. Read more
Harvard Business School Profiles: Lina’s Private to Public Transition
Analysts and AssociatesContributed by Lauren Davis
Attending Harvard on an academic fellowship, Lina already has a summer position lined up with a prestigious investment bank. So, while her classmates are scurrying to presentations and networking events for summer employment, she is thinking farther ahead about her long term employment prospects. “It’s tempting to think the decision is still two years off,” she says, “but I know I have to start making some decisions now.”
Lina worked in finance for several years after college, taking a position in New York at one of the largest global investment banks. Her decision to pursue a private sector finance job surprised her friends and family, who knew she aspired to work in public service and give back to the community in her native Jamaica. When she visited her home country over vacation, she endured some teasing about selling out and becoming “part of the system.” She admits that she had a hard time coming to terms with her decision, saying, “It took about a year for me to stop apologizing for myself.”
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Top Female CEOs of 2007
Breaking the Glass Ceiling2007 might not have been a good year for the market overall, but there is some good news. This past year, Fortune 500 companies with a female CEO at the helm did better than ever.
A recent story by Del Jones of USA Today, entitled “Female CEOs Make More Gains in 2007,” analyzed financial performance data from Fortune 500 companies in 2007 and concluded with some encouraging news for women in business. First, women-led companies increased from 9 to a record high of 12 this past year, making up 2.4% of the Fortune 500. That might not seem like enough, but the better these women perform, the more they will lay the groundwork for future female CEOs.
There’s more good news. For the second year in a row, stock performance of female-led companies at least mirrored that of companies led by men. While women also lead many medium and small businesses in the United States and abroad, this study focused only on the largest public companies. However, these highly visible companies set the trends in business that investors and entrepreneurs take note of, and so the performance of these female CEOs is carefully monitored by industry observers.
The Glass Hammer would like to recognize the top six highest performing female CEOs on 2007, calculated according to the methodology of the USA Today study, which measured the overall stock price gain of female-run Fortune 500 companies.
Congratulations to these high-performing female CEOs in 2007. In a bad year for many companies, these women proved that they have the experience, wisdom and insight to grow and improve their companies and increase stock prices, even in an uncertain economy. We look forward to hearing about the next generation of female CEOs following in their footsteps.
The Black & White Soiree and The Power of One
Pipeline, What's OnEvery year, I host a traditional holiday party called the Black and White Soiree. It’s a gathering of about 60 friends in my small vintage apartment. My friends Alanna and Megan help with the cooking because, as my mother would say, I am domestically challenged. I managed to make cookies but I told people they were for only decoration. They didn’t look edible although they managed to disappear, along with the other hors d’oeuvres.
Each year at the party, we raise money for a different charity. This year, we asked our guests to make an optional donation to breast cancer research. In honor of our charity, Megan found light pink M&Ms that I put out in crystal cocktail glasses. Then we also served Oreos, marshmallows and Hershey kisses to follow the theme. It was a classy affair made even fancier by the dress code. I requested black and/or white attire, no jeans.
The party took place on Saturday, December 15th, and Chicago had a horrible snowstorm that night. I remember looking out the window around 3 p.m. wondering if anyone would show up because of the weather. In the end though, I was impressed with the turn out. Inside we stood in my warm orange-spiced kitchen while a blizzard spun snow around us. I kept the keg on the porch so we never forgot how nice it was to be indoors. The room was filled with the scent of cloves and wine.
Most people drank sangria, except for those who braved the cold to get a beer from outside. We all raised our glasses and toasted to recent engagements, promotions and babies on the way. Our black and white outfits were decorated with light pink ribbons in the name of breast cancer research.
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New Year’s Resolution: Five Tips for Getting Out of Debt
Money TalksGood. That means you are ready to do something about your debt problem. Earning a high salary is a great opportunity to gain financial security as a relatively young person, but its not the whole story. You need to take control of not only how much you earn, but how much you spend as well, and be willing to make the hard choices in terms of cutting back on expenses and luxury items in order to get a handle on your debt issues. Here, The Glass Hammer helps you get a jump-start on your New Year’s resolution with five tips to help you become debt free in 2008.
Come home early one night and put those Excel skills to work at home. The first step in making a budget, scary as it is, requires taking stock of the actual amount of money you spend in a given month. To do this, save all your receipts for a month – restaurant meals, bar tabs, cab rides, beauty treatments, impulse shopping trips, and especially ATM withdrawals. The true dollar amount might shock you into submission, but it is important to have an accurate idea of your “expenses.” Then, make a list of all of the expenses that you anticipate on a monthly basis going forward – rent, utilities, food, credit card bills, entertainment, transportation, etc. Write these down in an Excel spread sheet that has two columns for each month – “Actual” and “Expected.” The idea is to work towards making numbers converge. Read more
How To Get an Amazing Year-End Bonus
Expert AnswersIt doesn’t get much better than receiving an amazing bonus after you’ve worked hard all year. However, bonus season can be fraught with anxiety. But it doesn’t have to be that way and in fact, it should not be that way. Here are some sure fire ways to plan ahead in the New Year ensure that you get the amazing bonus that you deserve next time around.
Write down your three top priorities for 2008 and review it with your manager. Make sure the two of you are on the same page because nothing brings in the bonus dollars like clarity and transparency. Try to set aside an hour for this discussion, but no less than half an hour. Many of us let the urgent crowd out the important, but there is no better time spent in January than ensuring that your list of objectives is understood and approved by your manager. Give this a lot of thought BEFORE the meeting. Make no mistake about it, your good work is a direct reflection on your manager, who by the way, really cares about his or her bonus as well!
You should put specific deadlines on paper for your quarterly, mid-year and year-end goals. Everyone wants to do more strategic work rather than focus on day-to-day responsibilities. What better strategy is there than to use these goals to build upon each other towards an outcome that will benefit you, your manager, and your company? Ensure that these deadlines are realistic and do not over-promise. Under-promise and over-deliver and those bonus dollars should fly to you at year-end!
Only Santa checks his list twice … you need to check it every quarter to ensure you are on track. And let your manager know what you are doing, which will impress upon him or her how serious and committed you are. Schedule a mid-year review of your objectives and your accomplishments to date. Remember, there are many things you can’t control (the economy, your CEO’s decisions, etc.) so control what you can and you’ll be in a much better place. Stay close to your objectives and make the necessary adjustments to ensure you complete what you need to.
Few of us do this and many of us can benefit from this investment of time and energy. When you are home, turn off your Blackberry and set aside some time to think about how you can improve your work. Perhaps you can think about a better way to format a report, or an easy way to ensure your work is shared with people that will benefit from it. Perhaps your department can better leverage the work done by another group. Think about how to do things better and write your ideas down.
There are many benefits to having mentors in your field or in another field:
Mentors can help you navigate your career and they can also be guardian angels when you need someone to watch your back. Cultivating this type of relationship can pay off down the line, both in terms of your bonuses and non-monetary compensation.
Now its time to schedule a year-end discussion with your manager. If you’ve followed steps 1-5, your year-end meeting will be filled with positive feedback, and will lead to the desired outcome in terms of bonuses. Your bonus should be a good one because you’ve planned well, you’ve constantly innovated, and you’ve gotten exceptional advice along the way. You are now in the best possible position to receive an amazing year-end bonus. Enjoy it because you’ve earned it!
All information is copyright © SixFigureStart 2007. Caroline Ceniza-Levine and Connie Thanasoulis are two founding coaches of SixFigureStart, a career coaching firm for people in six-figure careers (www.sixfigurestart.com). Ask a question or give us your feedback at 212-501-2234 or at info@sixfigurestart.com.
Happy Holidays
NewsHappy New Year. We will return on the 2nd January with more articles to aid and inform you.
Theglasshammer.com is for the people, so if anyone wants to contribute a guest blog or be interviewed do get in touch with our Editor erin@glasshammer2.wpengine.com
We also want you to write in and tell us about events that other women could attend for networking, and please do put us intouch with your women’s network leaders for further collaboration.
In the New Year we will be following an editorial calendar which will look like this:
News Articles everyday of the week. If the press are writing about issues that are important to women in finance, we will give you our very own take on it.
Mondays- Voice of Experience interviews- we interview women who have broken the glass ceiling and have made it to the top. What advice do they have for our readers? Mondays are also a chance for us to interview outstanding human beings who contribute to society greatly (as well as being excellent in their careers!). Look out for these articles under Spotlight on People.
Tuesdays- Work/life issues. How to have it all. We also cover Returner Programs on Tuesdays- so if you are looking to off-ramp or perhaps return after a career break, then watch this space!
Wednesdays- Career advice on to “how to” get to the next level. Expert answers from career coaches, lawyers, peers and mentors.
Thursdays- Industry news. We get deep into the functions of different parts of the sellside and buyside. We cover industry events.
Fridays- Fridays is when we can all have a little fun. Tune in for some hilarious true life tales from our writers and readers about what its like to work in financial services. We also cover ” passions” and we would love to hear what you live to do on the weekends! Evolved People have interesting lives.
May be 2008 be personally and professionally fulfilling.
Cheers,
Nicki Gilmour
Publisher
Passions: Sailing the High Seas
PassionsLife has a habit of throwing the unexpected my way, however, so when my husband developed a sudden and irrational longing to pursue yachting, I sighed. Why doesn’t he have a yearning to lie by a sun-drenched pool with an exotic drink and a stack of books? Still, if he’s going to have a mid-life crisis, I suppose I’d rather be there for him (lest he run out and buy a sports car while I’m not looking). So, with a quaking heart, I signed up with him for a five-day ‘Competent Crew’ course in the Mediterranean.
Turns out, we had a ball. Yes, there were scary moments. Like when we were in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in Morocco, and I was manning the helm and came out of the lee of a large rock and hit a force seven wind with all sails up. The boat heeled over to a 45 degree angle, I yelped and struggled to keep our course as the churning sea rushed up over the stanchion rails and we were tossed around like a cork in a washing machine. We graduated from that watery baptism without mishap, only to encounter an even stronger wind, with a tidal tug around Europa Point on Gibraltar, but more of that later.
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