- 6 days ago
In a recent interview with Benzinga, Cathy Clay, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Derivatives at Cboe, Meaghan Dugan, Senior Vice President, Head of U.S. Options at Cboe and Alexandra Szakats, Vice President, Head of The Options Institute at Cboe, discussed their experiences being leaders in the options industry and their advice on how to succeed in the fast-paced, ever-evolving derivatives markets.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Hey, Fingers, it's Dan Leach, and I have a wonderful trio of guests for you today from CBO Global Markets.
00:07It's Megan Dugan, the SVP and head of U.S. Options, Ali Zakins, the VP and head of the Options Institute,
00:14and Kathy Clay, EVP and global head of derivatives.
00:17Welcome to One and All. It is so great to be with you all today.
00:21Great to be here. Thank you.
00:23Well, Kathy, let's start with you. Can you introduce yourselves and speak to your roles at CBO?
00:28Sure. So I'm Kathy Clay, global head of derivatives, as you mentioned.
00:33I lead our options and futures exchanges here in the U.S., our European derivatives exchange,
00:41and our global team of salespeople of Options Institute is part of the team,
00:46as well as CBO Labs, which is our product innovation arm for our derivatives business.
00:51Hi, my name is Megan Dugan. I'm head of options at CBO Global Markets.
00:55I recently joined back in February of this year, and I'm excited to be joining my esteemed team
01:00members here at CBO. My remit essentially is running the U.S. Options Markets.
01:05We operate for U.S. Options Markets, including our proprietary products, as well as our multi-list
01:10products.
01:11And I'm Ali Zakins. I lead the Options Institute, which is the education team here at CBO.
01:16The team and I are responsible for bringing high-quality and high-impact educational experiences
01:23and content to retail and institutional clients all around the world. And excitingly, this year,
01:30the Options Institute is celebrating 40 years in existence. So in 2025, we are celebrating even more
01:37the importance of education in global financial markets.
01:42It's awesome. Happy anniversary. 40 years is no joke. Well, Megan, let me go over to you. Can you
01:48shed some light on what it's like to work as a woman in finance?
01:52Sure. So thinking about this question ahead of time, you know, really maybe think of a couple
01:57of different points in my career that I just wanted to maybe highlight to be able to give some
02:01background. In my early years, my early career, I was treating on the Pacific Coast Options Exchange.
02:07Actually, I read along with Kathy, which we're very grateful to share a similar past.
02:14And at that time, as a young woman on a trading floor that was highly, very manual at that point
02:20in time, it looked, it looked, it feel very different than it does today. It was very much
02:25merit-based. So you either kind of like were able to swim to the other side or you're, or you're sort
02:31of sinking. And it did not really matter too much from a gender perspective. At the end of the day,
02:36if you didn't achieve your results, essentially you couldn't continue going to the next component
02:41of your career. So I learned that an early part, you know, from, from, from that standpoint is
02:47merit really what is everything and how you handle yourself and how you engage yourself in every
02:51situation. Though the gender change, definitely I was treated differently for sure. There were very
02:57few women, probably what Kathy, three, four of us on the trading floor.
03:01I think there were 12, 12 women out of about 550 traders.
03:05Yeah.
03:05That's amazing.
03:07Yeah. So it was much different from that standpoint. Yes. But again, if you couldn't hold up your end of
03:15the bargain, you couldn't really continue on to your path. So the curiosity and the tenacity of like
03:20continuing on and being curious and trying to help solve, you know, what you're looking to solve for
03:25at that point in your life is, is an area that, that from my earlier years in this career kind of
03:31started my foundation. As I continued on, I would say that as my lifestyle changed and for me,
03:39essentially having children and kind of having a family, flexibility became more of an asset into
03:45that, that world, into continuing my career, wanting to continue to advance and continue my ambition.
03:50But it looked and felt different because I was no longer 22 years old on the trading floor,
03:56but in my early thirties and, and having, having children. So, you know, I, I think that the
04:01flexibility aspect and the continued dynamic of knowing that everybody's lifestyles change
04:07as your career can adopt in your, your position and your company can help adopt, go along with you.
04:13That is always a great space to be in. If, if they don't, then, you know, it's not a great fit,
04:18but you, but you really try to make solutions around sort of the different parts, spots in your
04:22life and lifestyle that you're at. Because as men do too, we all need to juggle different things to be
04:30able to continue moving in, in both directions, your, your home lifestyle, as well as your professional
04:35career side. So I would say those two, those two areas sort of experiences are sort of what one,
04:42I wanted to sort of bring out in this conversation today, because it really depends on the audience
04:47that's listening and, and, and seeing this, um, in what part of their lives that they are currently in.
04:52It's beautifully said. I mean, I can't make over to you what, what has been being a trailblazer
04:56like for you?
04:57Yeah, I think the numbers speak a bit for themselves. When you have a dozen women out of 550 available
05:03seats on a trading floor, uh, it speaks to the difficulty of being a woman in an environment like
05:08that, an environment where a lot of women just wouldn't choose to be, uh, in that, you know,
05:14situation. But I would say that I think early on, and Megan probably experienced this as well.
05:20There was an early recognition of taking what may be a perceived weakness or vulnerability and
05:26actually turn it into a strength. The fact that there were so few women in each of the trading pits
05:31meant that our voices actually stood out a bit more. So when we're responding to a broker call
05:37for an order, our voices actually are different from the rest of the crowd. And so you kind of
05:42are actually able to capitalize on a difference that could have been perceived as a, as a difference
05:47that wouldn't serve you well, but actually turned out to serve us quite well. And I think that's an
05:51early lesson that women in any career can take forward is how do I take what is perceived of me
05:56and actually turn that into a strength and see the positive side of, of that side. So I think,
06:02uh, you know, Megan, I don't know if that's your experience, but it seemed like that played out
06:05well on the floor. Yes, absolutely. I definitely agree with you. We definitely stuck up, stood out.
06:11It definitely turned, you turned it on its head, which is just a great way to advance thing.
06:16Allie, when it comes to you, what's the experience been like for you?
06:18Yeah, I, I would add, and I totally agree with what Kathy and Megan shared, but I would,
06:23I would say it's also exciting. Um, especially the specific area that we work in, um, derivatives markets,
06:29they are fast paced and they're filled with a lot of really smart people and really creative
06:36individuals and teams. And I know that that was a really big draw for me when I joined the space.
06:41I wanted to work with people who I always felt had more experience, who were smarter than I was,
06:47because I knew it would level me up. Um, so to Megan's point, it was about working hard. It was about
06:51staying curious. Um, my gender, I think thankfully had actually less to do with, um, my ability to
06:58progress in the space and in my career. And to this day, I get to invite a lot of creative solution
07:04and problem solving into the mix and keeps it really interesting. Let me stay with you here. I
07:09will get to Kathy and Megan about this as well, but when it comes to, you know, women consider your
07:14career in finance, what advice would you give them? Yeah. So thinking about this one, one thing that I wish
07:19that I heard a little bit earlier on in my life was that there are a lot of paths to explore when
07:24you hear the word finance. Um, I think when you're in college, it's really easy to consider the roles
07:30of trader or banker, these sort of codified known, uh, existences in our space, but there are so many
07:38other rules that exist that are lesser known and equally as valuable and important to keeping our system
07:45alive and running really smoothly, uh, and evolving even. So I would suggest exploring those paths.
07:52And in order to do that, you have to meet with people, you have to ask for the introduction, you
07:56have to connect with the new person, and then you have to be brave and, and ask about their experiences
08:02and try to understand a little bit more of the landscape, because there could be a role out there
08:06that is in finance, that is possibly a better fit for you and plays into your skill sets even more
08:12strongly than you just haven't heard of it yet. That's a fantastic advice, Allie. And Megan,
08:16back to you and obviously the landscape changed a lot. You know, you and Kevin talked about ways
08:20being trailblazers and how that can obviously help things as well. But when you look at, you know,
08:24someone, you know, a woman wanting to get in finance right now, what would you tell them?
08:28Yeah, I would say, don't forget to ask for what you want, right? I think one big thing that young
08:36folks, I think, tend to not be as, as vocal or confident to be able to confident their voice
08:42to be able to kind of articulate things that they were looking for. So I would say that, you know,
08:47it's important to be able to state the obvious. Sometimes let's, let's have a realistic conversation
08:51with, you know, a couple of mentors and kind of look at the lay of the land and see what, what,
08:56what, what kind of insights passion for you and what insights, you know, an area of learning and
09:00growth. But, but don't forget to sort of speak up and, and kind of ask for what you want as well,
09:06because sometimes if you can't articulate it, then it, it's not, it doesn't come to fruition
09:11and it continues to kind of evolve in sort of like a, like a kind of linear way. And not necessarily
09:17as, as dynamic as maybe you're looking for. So I think that it can be true of career progression
09:23and it can be true of compensation conversations when people get very uncomfortable around talking about
09:29asking for additional compensation for their, their roles. Um, I think it doesn't hurt to ask
09:34what you want. Oh, it's obviously very important advice as well. Kathy, what about you?
09:38Yeah. I mean, I think we get a real world example every summer when 50 to 60 interns
09:43come into SIBO. And of course I want every one of them to go into finance because of course I'm
09:48biased and I think finances is so great for a multitude of reasons, not just a great profession,
09:52but what it teaches you in terms of managing your own finances, your own economic outcomes,
09:59and so forth. But I've noticed as these intern groups come in that they're as varied as we are
10:04as individuals. And yet there tends to be some path. I think as Ali was alluding to there's,
10:10there's some path that resonates with individuals, whether I'm a, I'm a people person. I want to be
10:16talking to people. There's all these great sales rules and myriad financial institutions, or I'm a quant.
10:22I really like to be in the data. I want to do heavy compute, uh, complex problem solving.
10:28There's rules for those types of people in finance. I mean, I think if you named
10:32any interest or characteristic of an individual, you can find that position in a financial context.
10:39So I'm always pushing the interns into finance. I always want to keep them interested in what finance
10:44can offer. And I do think there's potentially a home for anyone, unless you're really just against
10:49capitalism and want to, you know, go into nonprofits or something.
10:53Yeah. Well, I don't think anyone feels that way, but no, it's, it is, it's a fascinating time to be
10:57alive. And, and listen, it's a great time. Gender shouldn't matter, but to be able to keep further
11:01things makes it just that much better. And being here with three girl bosses is pretty awesome for me.
11:05I'm very honored and humbled to be able to talk to you guys today. So you can talk to other people
11:09about what it's, you know, taking to get involved with this. And if I can stay with you, Kathy,
11:13and I want to talk to Megan about this as well, how does SIBO create access to its markets and reduce
11:18barriers for retail traders around the world? So it's, it's what we spend a lot of our time on.
11:23And Ali of course helps with the options Institute and the curriculum that she is distributing globally
11:29through our partners and clients, but really it comes down to understanding how the client needs to
11:34access us and which channels are available for that client to come to us. And if you think about a U S
11:40client, it's going to be a very different pathway than say an Asia Pacific client. And so our job is
11:45to really understand where that client is in their own journey and understand how we might help them
11:50connect the dots to get access to our markets. Because many of these individual traders really
11:56know of our proprietary products, S&P 500, the VIX really well known. It is the access challenge and it
12:02starts with getting them the data, frankly, they can't trade unless they have the data. So a lot of times
12:07we're trying to knock down barriers just to get them the market data. It means that we need to keep
12:11market data fees lower for retail traders so that that's not just another obstacle or barrier that
12:16they have to overcome. And then when they come to our exchange, we need to provide them a safe,
12:20good environment with the trade. And that means curating pools of liquidity with our other clients
12:25to make sure that they have a good trading experience. So there's all these responsibilities we
12:29feel as an intermediary exchange, bringing these clients, you know, into the central location to
12:35express their sentiment and hedge their risk, etc. But that is our job to make sure people can
12:40have access and then a good experience on our exchanges. Megan, your thoughts on that? I help execute
12:45that. I help try to work very closely with all of our teams to be able to really drill down to the
12:53workflows. Because as Kathy mentioned, it's very much how do we make things easy for people to
12:58connect into us. And because that is from a thinner perspective, not possible to go into a US broker
13:07dealer to who are members of our exchange to gain access into our markets. There's a series of
13:16levels and layers, I should say, to be able to make sure that we have open pathways. So we have
13:21introductions to broker dealers that are members of our exchange. And we do this pretty broadly across
13:27all of our members because we are seeing so much more interest coming from the AsiaPAC region,
13:31and specifically coming into the US to trade US products. So we want to be closer to the end
13:37client. But we also need to ensure that we're connecting them with a group of broker dealers
13:43that do provide that access and that connectivity point into the exchange itself. But we also really
13:50want to tell our story and continue to educate to Ali's area and specialty. That's really important
13:58to us. We want people to understand the nuances and the great benefits of trading options across the
14:03globe, and how accessible they are, and how, you know, they do help fit sort of a lot of variety of different
14:09portfolios. So we it's really a multifaceted effort, as Kathy mentioned, and, you know, I'm just happy to be
14:16part of it and seeing how much we're really is. It's a big focus of ours here at CBO this year.
14:22That's awesome. Let's go to the source. Let's go right to Ali here. Along with those initiatives,
14:27how is CBO, Ali, looking to bring education to global investors? We know it's an incredible time
14:31to be involved in investing, but there's a lot to learn. It's true. And I think Kathy and Megan
14:36summed it up really well. You know, knocking down barriers is what we're responsible for doing,
14:42and lack of education or lack of awareness to products is a barrier. So that's what the Options
14:47Institute is trying to solve for and has been solving for in its very tenured history. What's
14:53really exciting is that we're moving into a more international arena, thanks to Kathy's leadership
14:58and the rest of the CBO. It's a brand new chapter for the Options Institute and for myself personally,
15:04to bring education to such a global investor base and not just focus on the US, which has been our
15:09our bread and butter for some time. So to do this well, it means we really needed to know what we
15:15were going to do and understand who we were going to be offering education to. So the current and
15:20prospective learner basis. And one of the resounding things that we learned in doing our research is
15:26that students want to be met where they are. Just like Kathy said, clients want to be met where they
15:30are and their needs filled. So that means for us providing education that actually helps that student
15:37where they are and helps them build competencies and skills that have them move and change the
15:42behavior and put it into practice. So we design and launch content that is in a range of formats and
15:47experience levels to do that. And then finally, when you think about going global, you can't ignore
15:54the language piece. So meeting students where they are in their native language is really important.
16:01So we've started broadcasting our education offerings into Europe and soon to be in APAC,
16:06and we are instructing in local language. So Spanish, Hindi, Dutch are a couple of examples.
16:10There are many more to follow on the roadmap. So it's a pretty incredible time. It's an incredible
16:16undertaking. But, you know, when you think about what SIBO does and has excelled at for many,
16:21many years, which is creating really high quality markets and really high quality products to manage
16:26risk. The Options Institute is complementing that dialogue all across the board and making sure that
16:33we're helping investors make really great decisions. And Allie, I know the Options Institute is
16:37celebrating 40 years. That's an incredible amount of time and really an incredible, you know,
16:42institute as well. It's incredible. It's a very important milestone and I'm very honored to be at the
16:47helm to celebrate 40 years. It also is a testament to SIBO's commitment to education. You know,
16:54our firm launched the first option contract in 1973. And just 12 years after that,
17:00they founded the Options Institute. So the commitment to education has been there since
17:04the beginning really of our history. And though we initially were formed as a team to educate
17:10traders on the floor and then some clients of ours, we've really evolved as a team and we offer
17:16services to such a broad range of current and potential investors. And the fact that SIBO has
17:23backed that and has made that such a core part of its identity for so many years is really an
17:28exceptional milestone. And we're really proud to be able to be here and celebrate all of those
17:34accomplishments. Megan Dugan, SVP, Head of U.S. Options. Allie Zakins, VP and Head of the Options
17:39Institute. And Kathy Clay, EVP and Global Head of Derivatives from SIBO Global Markets. That was an
17:45absolutely fascinating conversation. Thanks so much for joining me today. It really was a true pleasure
17:50talking with each and every one of you.
Recommended
1:03
|
Up next
2:21
0:37
24:18