CHICAGO – March 26, 2024 – Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), the world's leading derivatives and securities exchange network, today celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Cboe Futures Exchange (CFE) and Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) futures trading. CFE was created to provide a liquid and transparent on-exchange volatility futures offering, with VIX futures being the first product to list in 2004.
On March 26, 2004, CFE was successfully opened for trading. 449 VIX futures contracts were traded on the fully electronic exchange. Based on the VIX Index, which has served as the premier indicator of U.S. stock market sentiment since its inception in 1993, VIX futures are among the most actively traded exchange-traded volatility futures in the world, with a total volume of 53.7 million contracts in 2023. VIX futures and the addition of VIX options in 2006 were a critical first step in making volatility a tradable asset class, reducing barriers to entry for investors and paving the way for the development of a comprehensive ecosystem offering additional futures, options and others include exchange-traded products (ETPs) that use these derivatives.
“Cboe was a pioneer in the volatility space, helping to establish volatility as a tradable asset class with the launch of VIX futures in 2004, and 20 years later, we remain steadfast in our approach to developing sophisticated strategies for exchange-traded futures,” said Laura Fuson, Vice President and Head of Futures at Cboe Global Markets. “Cboe Futures Exchange offers participants access to liquid and transparent risk management solutions and the ability to trade volatility related to important market events such as economic data or elections.” By continuing to work with our partners and customers, we aim to build on Cboe’s rich history of innovation and investors provide the tools they need to better manage their portfolios.”
VIX futures reflect the market's assessment of the value of the VIX index at various expirations in the future and can provide market participants with a variety of opportunities to shape their view of U.S. stock market volatility using trading strategies for risk management, alpha generation, and portfolio diversification to implement. The VIX index is designed to measure the expected 30-day volatility of the US stock market using S&P 500 index options. Through Cboe's global trading hours, VIX futures are available to investors around the world nearly 24 hours a day, five days a week.
Today, two decades after its launch, CFE continues to break down barriers to entry and bring complex businesses into the publicly traded, centrally cleared environment. CFE has grown beyond traditional VIX futures to now offer weekly VIX futures expirations, a smaller VIX futures contract size that is more accessible, and transparent and efficient risk management solutions for fixed income markets through U.S. corporate bond index futures and options on them Futures .
Together with Cboe Labs, Cboe's internal innovation arm, CFE is exploring additional product offerings, including new S&P 500 Variance Futures and futures tied to the Cboe S&P 500 Dispersion Index (DSPX), both of which are subject to regulatory review. Cboe's S&P 500 Variance Futures are expected to be cash-settled contracts based on the realized variance of the S&P 500 Index, and their design is expected to incorporate market feedback from previous Variance Futures contracts. Offered by Cboe uses. DSPX futures could potentially help investors manage their exposure to the S&P 500 Index and express expected diversification views. The goal of both products is to transform complex businesses into accessible, listed offerings.
Learn more about all of CFE's offerings at https://www.cboe.com/us/futures/.
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