The Derivative · 2026-06-18 · 1h 17m
On this episode of The Derivative, Jeff Malec continues Chicago Month with a deep dive into the past, present, and future of derivatives and volatility at Cboe with two of its stars. First up, Cboe Global Head of Derivatives Rob Hocking traces Chicago’s rise as the world’s derivatives hub, from the Board of Trade’s agricultural hedging roots to SPX and VIX becoming the center of global risk transfer. Rob walks through life in the OEX and SPX pits, the culture of open outcry, the evolution from Hull and DRW to “the dark side” at the exchange, and how today’s liquidity, zero‑DTE flows, and concentrated market‑making still hold up under stress. He and Jeff dig into whether the derivative can ever outgrow the underlying, why S&P 500 remains the benchmark despite megacap concentration and global basis risk, and how Cboe balances the floor’s high‑touch block business with a mostly electronic market. Then Mandy Xu, Head of Derivatives Market Intelligence at Cboe, joins to break down the current volatility regime.
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