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March 2005 (Issue: 05/Q2)
In This Issue
Welcome to the latest edition of Connections, our corporate newsletter. 2005 has been a busy year for Rand thus far, offering our valued customers new opportunities for growth and success. In this issue, we explore the new CBOT Denali broker-to-broker trade matching system. Denali has been a critical development within the industry, and Rick Jacobson, Rand’s Vice President of Clearing Services, shares his thoughts on the value this straightthrough processing brings to the futures industry. We are also pleased to feature Mary Ellen Heim as a Rand employee you should know. Mary Ellen, recently appointed as CFO, has been with the Rand family for seven years. Her dedicated service to our customers and the industry has made her a valuable member of our team. We are excited to offer a sneak peak at our latest print advertisement launching in time for the FIA annual meeting in Boca Raton, FL. This ad completes a three ad series, emphasizing Rand’s commitment to our customers and can also be viewed in the March issues of both FOW and FO Week. I hope you will enjoy this issue, learning more about Rand and our business, and as always I welcome your questions, comments or concerns. I can be reached directly at 312.559.8886 or by email at manning@randfinancial.com. I look forward to hearing from you! Very truly yours, Michael A. Manning President & CEO
EMPLOYEE FOCUS Chief Financial Officer Mary Ellen Heim Mary Ellen Heim may be new to the position of CFO, but she is no stranger to Rand or the futures marketplace. A member of the Rand team since August of 1997, Mary Ellen brings over twenty years of experience in the commodities industry to this latest advancement in her career. Reflecting on her time in the industry, Mary Ellen told Connections that she enjoys the challenge of working in the fast-paced atmosphere that an FCM environment provides. Mary Ellen described her co-workers’ dedication to meeting the goals and objectives of Rand as confirmation of their teamwork and loyalty to the firm. As CFO, Mary Ellen works externally with exchanges, banks and other clients with regard to software, fees and investments. “The competition for customers’ business in today’s market is fierce – especially with the shift towards global trading” Mary Ellen said. She believes Rand is unique in its ability to respond to these changes because, as a boutique-sized firm, Rand can quickly listen to customers, employees and industry professionals for insight into what changes are needed to best compete and then work to implement those changes rapidly and effectively. Aside from the typical financial skill set needed in her position, Mary Ellen explained, “CFOs should possess integrity, objectivity and flexibility. Analyzing small pieces of information as part of the whole picture is absolutely essential. Then, taking the analysis, developing and implementing a plan using the most efficient and cost-effective path leads to our success.” One of the biggest challenges she faces as Rand’s CFO is managing multiple and diverse projects with competing demands on resources and time – a condition that must be met in order to meet the goals of the firm. Mary Ellen also strives to achieve a healthy balance between her personal and professional life. She commutes daily from Frankfort, IL, but what does she do when she’s not stuck in traffic or riding the rails? You might find her curled up with a good murder mystery novel – anything written by Patricia Cornwell. And on Sundays during football season, it’s a guarantee that she’ll be parked in front of the TV rooting for the Bears. I enjoy shopping for unique gifts” she told us. “I also bake. I like trying different recipes and entertaining guests…especially around the holidays!” Considering Mary Ellen’s experience in the industry, mathematical skill set and diverse hobbies, it is clear that she has the right mix of ingredients to be a great CFO!
Denali at the Chicago Board of Trade:
An Interview With Rick Jacobson In January 2005, the Chicago Board of Trade implemented Denali, a platform designed to consolidate the various ways traders communicate on the floor. Rick Jacobson, Vice President of Clearing Services for Rand, spoke with Connections about the new platform and how it has affected member firms trading in the pits. Primarily, Denali is a front-end matching engine for open outcry trades. Once the trades are matched, they are forwarded on to clearing. Prior to Denali, there was no single system pulling together the various trade sources. Things like handhelds and the order routing system for example all stood alone and order flow worked differently on each device. With Denali, straight-through processing is now available to the open outcry pits. “Denali has brought many benefits to member firms, including Rand. For example, RandConnect,® our electronic routing system, sends orders directly to the broker in the pit, but there were challenges when it came to the broker confirming these trades with a floor trader. The broker’s electronic trade would be endorsed immediately but the local who was still using trading cards would need to send the order to his or her clearing firm, where it would be keypunched and eventually matched. With Denali now in place and floor traders utilizing handheld trading devices, both sides of a trade are connected to the same matching system. Now, the floor trader can immediately enter trade data on his handheld where it is accepted and matched by Denali, thus completing the trade. Denali has also helped get fill information out of the pit and back to customers much faster than in the past.” “Additionally, Denali benefits the floor traders using the handheld devices because it provides them with up-to-theminute position status throughout the day as well as calculating profit and loss. Denali also sends notifications of un-matched trades, which otherwise would not be discovered until late in the evening or even the next morning. Eventually, as more and more floor traders migrate to handhelds, I would expect see a reduction in the number of out-trades that our back office staff has to deal with each day. The number of trades that are manually keypunched would also be reduced. Having said this, as long as the floor trader has the option to go back to writing trade information on trading cards – especially in fast markets, we’ll still need to maintain a data entry department. It should also be noted that at this time, Denali is only targeted to futures markets. It does not handle options or paper orders. So our keypunch staff remains essential to our operation.” Overall, the introduction of Denali has extended great benefits to the floor community, and Rand has been pleased with the compatible integration of electronic communication and open outcry. |
Exchange News
On February 24th, 2005 Rand was officially recognized as the first US based FCM member of MEFF (Spain’s futures and options market). “Rand is very pleased to be the first US based FCM with direct access and membership to MEFF. It is a growing market with strong leadership.” Mike Manning, Rand CEO, said. Many of our customers have expressed interest in the IBEX 35 futures and options contracts. Rand will be the first US firm to connect to the MEFF Chicago trading hub using the metropolitan Ethernet network connected to separate hosts in Barcelona and Madrid. |
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On December 9th, 2004, Rand hosted its annual holiday luncheon with a delicious catered spread of pastas, sandwiches and sweets. Rand customers Ron Seliga and Mike Crouch of Kottke Associates, LLC were just two of the many friends we welcomed. Thanks to everyone who came and joined us in this celebration of the season! |
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Rand Happenings New Additions: We welcome the following new employees to the Rand team: Chyla Crowder – Retail Grain Desk Robert Guico – IT Department Congratulations to our Rand employees on their new babies: Randy Kolacki, Institutional Grain Desk – Twins! A boy and a girl Tom O’Brien, Operations - Girl Mark Umlauf, Operations - Girl Andre Tate, Operations - Girl Rand recognizes outstanding effort by awarding a “Gold Rand Watch” to those employees whose performance exemplifies teamwork and great customer service. At our annual Oktoberfest party, Mike recognized the following people: Sean Granger – IT. Susan McNicholas – Operations. Tom O’Brien – Operations Pam Riley – CBOT Data Entry. Rob Skelton – Global Execution Desk |
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