Frankfurt 2021 Derivatives Forum
Derivatives Forum

Derivatives Forum Frankfurt 2021

A new period is upon us and even though it’s tempting to look back, let’s look forward.

Originally planned as a physical event, the Derivatives Forum Frankfurt 2021 was held as virtual edition on 23-24 March 2021 with thought leadership insights, industry debates, keynote speeches and virtual networking opportunities. The Derivatives Forum is the leading European event focused on trading and clearing for derivatives and securities financing across asset classes. 

We are proud to present the following core themes:

Streams_Derivatives Forum



Agenda

Day 1: Tuesday 23 March
 

13:00 - 13:05

Welcome & Housekeeping Notes 
Annette Weisbach, Correspondent Germany, CNBC

13:05 - 13:10

Welcome 
Michael Peters, Chief Executive Officer, Eurex

13:10 - 13:30

Keynote: Current financial market policy priorities
Jörg Kukies, State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Germany 

13:30 - 14:10

Panel Discussion: 100 days of Brexit. Political and macro-economic developments within the EU and beyond – what are the implications for the financial markets.

Some 100 days post Brexit, this panel will discuss the Brexit deal and its implications on the European derivatives Industry and beyond. The Brexit trade deal was widely considered a UK success but has, to date, failed to provide a comprehensive deal on financial services and market access to the EU 27. At the same time, after almost seven years of negotiations, the European Union and China recently agreed on an investment deal. The Comprehensive Agreement on Investments (CAI), removing barriers to foreign investments in China for certain EU industries, including financial services and a new U.S. President, looks set to bring a change of attitudes to international co-operation between the U.S. and the EU.

  • What impact is Brexit having on derivatives trading in the U.K. and EU?
  • What is the real 'deal' and what disruptions are yet to come?
  • What impact will the CAI with China and the new U.S. president have on derivatives trading across Europe?

Moderator:  Annette Weisbach, Correspondent Germany, CNBC

Panelists:

  • Fiona van Echelpoel, Deputy Director General, DG Market Infrastructure & Payments, European Central Bank
  • Ludovic Subran, Chief Economist, Allianz
  • Johannes Pockrandt, Director, Co-Head of Government & Regulatory Advocacy, Deutsche Bank
  • Erik Müller, CEO, Eurex Clearing

14:15 - 14:55

Panel Discussion: Risk Management in times of COVID 19

One year since the pandemic hit Europe, this panel with the chief risk officers of leading exchanges across the globe, discusses the implications COVID 19 had on the financial industry and derivatives markets from a risk perspective.

  • What are the market participants’ experience with cleared and uncleared derivatives margins when volatility spike?
  • What were the implications on margin, processing and operational health of derivatives?
  • What will the risk management frameworks of the future look like? 

Moderator: Annette Weisbach, Correspondent Germany, CNBC

Panelists:  

  • Agnes Koh, Chief Risk Officer, SGX
  • Andrea Berni, Managing Director, Head of Exotic Trading EMEA, Goldman Sachs
  • Dmitrij Senko, Chief Risk Officer, Eurex Clearing

Panel Discussion: The evolution of the role of market making

Over the past five years, algorithmic trading firms have emerged from the shadows to become major providers of liquidity directly to institutional investors. As many banks have stepped away from market making activity, electronic liquidity providers have filled the void, bringing new processes and competition to the market.

  • How has the role of market makers changed in the last decade?
  • What role are ELPs playing in direct dealing with the buy side?
  • How has the role of banks in market making evolved and how did this impact liquidity?

Moderator: Will Mitting, Founder & CEO, Acuiti

Panelists:

  • Conor McCann, Head of European Derivative Sales, Susquehanna International Group
  • Eric Böss, Managing Director, Global Head of Trading, Allianz Global Investors 
  • Jonas Ullmann, Executive Board Member, Eurex

15:00 - 15:15 

Market Insights: 1 on 1
A Changing World – Market Access to China 

A changing world, UK-EU & UK-US, EU-US evolving relations and China's expanding range of investment options available to foreigners.  After QFII relaxation, changes to the market access scheme could allow new hedging methods. What does this mean for international trading firms and exchanges in 2021?

Moderator: Annette Weisbach, Correspondent Germany, CNBC

Speaker: Natasha Xie, Partner, JunHe

Market Insights: 1 on 1
Will micro contracts trigger more retail investors? 

Mini and micro contracts in the U.S. were a major success story of 2020 as retail investors flocked to futures markets. Retail trading in Europe has long lagged behind that of the U.S. but could smaller contracts encourage participation and bring new liquidity to European markets? Will there be a shift towards mini contracts across the board?

Moderator: Will Mitting, Founder & CEO, Acuiti

Speaker: Stefan Fröhlich, Head of Trading Academy, WH Selfinvest

15:15 - 15:25

Interview

Thomas Book, Member of the Executive Board, Trading & Clearing, Deutsche Börse

Annette Weisbach, Correspondent Germany, CNBC

15:30 - 15:50

Keynote: CCPs: evolving risks and supervisory responses

Klaus Löber, Chair of the CCP Supervisory Committee, European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)

15:55 - 16:35

Panel Discussion: Volatility investing in 2021

Given the current equity market, what can investors expect in terms of volatility and what strategies should they deploy for 2021. Looking at potential market catalysts, this panel will focus on efficient portfolio construction and hedges under the current volatility regime. 

  • How can you best compare long and short volatility strategies, while keeping a balanced risk exposure?

Moderator: Will Mitting, Founder & CEO, Acuiti

Panelists: 

  • Mikhail Krayzler, Senior Portfolio Manager, Allianz Global Investors
  • Stefan Wintner, Vice President Volatility Strategies, Dunn Capital Management LLC
  • Yanko Punchev, Senior Portfolio Manager Equities & Multi-Asset, Tecta Invest
  • Alexandros Vlavianos, Global Derivatives Spreads Trading Lead, Optiver Europe

Panel Discussion:  Digital Securities and Tokenization– the future of capital markets?

Digital securities represent the next stage of evolution in blockchain-enabled capital market innovation. Traditional securities are making their way into and onto the DLT infrastructure, offering the potential to streamline an ecosystem grown for decades and offer new solutions, efficiency gains and cost savings. A number of next exchanges are launching to offer trading in tokenized assets, while at the same time, banks and other financial institutions are exploring opportunities around digitizing securities, smart contracts and tokenization. 

  • When will Digital Securities exist? Who will Operate the Infrastructure?
  • Status of the new German legislation on electronic securities and the EU pilot regime's impact on DLT market infrastructures.
  • Tokenization – What asset will we see that are not liquid and tradable today and how is this related to the DLT

Moderator: Rudolf Siebel, Managing Director, BVI

Panelists:

  • Thomas Triebel, Sen. Manager Business Development International, MEAG Munich 
  • Benjamin Duve, Head of Digital Assets and Custody, Commerzbank
  • Jens Hachmeister, Managing Director - Issuer Services & New Digital Markets, Deutsche Börse

16:40 - 17:00

Keynote: Implications of EU Green Deal for the financial markets.

A European approach to ESG: Regulation, investments and data
Embedding Sustainability with Risk and Return to build a new investment paradigm.

Speaker: 

  • Charles Bristow, Global Head of Rates, FIF and MPM, J.P. Morgan
  • Chuka Umunna, Incoming Head of EMEA ESG, J.P. Morgan

17:05 - 17:45

Panel Discussion: Next generation EU Bonds and beyond

Markets expect Brussel's bond issuance volume to explode within the upcoming three years, creating a new pricing benchmark across the region while bolstering the euro's role as a reserve currency.

  • What are the implications for the European and international markets?
  • Will the new green bonds set a new standard for the European ESG market? 
  • What would be the impact on trading volumes of existing European fixed income futures?

Moderator: Annette Weisbach, Correspondent Germany, CNBC

Panelists:

  • Katrin Wehle, Managing Director SSA DCM Origination, Deutsche Bank
  • Jutta Frey-Hartenberger, Fixed Income Derivatives Product R&D, Eurex
  • Jean-Pierre Raes, Head of Investor Relations, European Commission

Panel Discussion: Product Innovation – What's next?

Several financial market dislocations, associated with heightened equity market volatility, impacted trading last year. What product innovations and hidden gems emerged from this? Has futurization progressed further? This panel will discuss the following products and use cases:

  • Equity Total Return Futures - listed futures aiming to replicate returns of traditional, bilaterally negotiated equity or equity index-based swaps.
  • Basket trade functionality (BTRF) allowing market participants to construct and modify a basket swap position in a set of underlying reference equities
  • Dividend Futures Trading in a year without dividends – how have market makers faired and helped in volatile times?
  • ETF options: where was the growth and how did the buy-side adapt their usage of ETF options in 2020?

Moderator: Will Mitting, Founder & CEO, Acuiti

Panelists:

  • Paraic Rogan, Volatility Strategist, Susquehanna International Group
  • Tobias Lindemann, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs
  • Amandine Hedges, Delta One Trading - Executive Director, J.P. Morgan
  • Stuart Heath, Director, Equity & Index Product Design, Eurex

17:50 - 18:05

Keynote: The economics of central clearing

Central clearing counterparties (CCPs) have a variety of economic rationales. The Great Recession of 2007-2009 led regulators to mandate CCPs for most interest-rate and credit derivatives, markets in which large amounts of risks are transferred across agents. This change led to a large increase in CCP studies. This keynote will survey these studies for you and walk you through the main findings.

Albert J. Menkveld, Professor of Finance, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 

Market Insights: 1 on 1
Lessons from the markets of 2020

2020 was an unprecedented year for derivatives markets. From the initial spread of COVID in the spring to the rapid repositioning in the wake of the Biden election victory in the fall, many lessons have been learned about managing risk and liquidity.

Moderator: Will Mitting, Founder & CEO, Acuiti

Speaker:

  • Marc Reinhardt, Head of Positional Trading, IMC

18:10

Agenda Outlook Day 2 


Day 2: Wednesday 24 March
 

09:00 - 09:15

Survey Results
Eurex and Acuiti are running a survey covering key questions on each of the five content streams. 
Presented by Will Mitting, CEO and Founder, Acuiti

09:20 - 09:40

Keynote: Digitalisation and the future of derivatives
James von Moltke, CFO, Deutsche Bank  

09:45 - 10:35

Panel Discussion: Bringing cleared repo to the buy-side

Evaluating the current state of funding markets: How can the buy side benefit from electronic execution and cleared repo?

  • What are the challenges for the European repo markets from both a buy- and sell-side perspective?
  • How the demand for collateral transformation and collateral optimization services is evolving and how cleared repo can benefit asset managers.
  • Can we learn anything from the U.S. with regards to centrally cleared buy-side repo?

Moderator: Duncan Wood, Global Editorial Director, Risk.net

Panelists:

  • Charlie Badran, Head of Repo, AXA Investment Managers
  • Richard Déroulède, Global Head of Prime Services, Societe Generale
  • Jan Mark van Mill, Head of Treasury & Trading, APG Asset Management
  • Matthias Graulich, Member of the Board, Eurex Clearing

Panel Discussion: The Role of CO2 price for a sustainable economy

With the recent change in power at the helm of the U.S. and the re-joining of the Paris Climate agreement in time for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 1 – 12 November 2021, carbon emission trading emerges further into the limelight. In this context and given further regulatory changes, the panel will discuss the role of CO2 pricing for financing a sustainable economy, the role of CO2 pricing for sustainable indices, and the reduction of CO2 emissions.

  • What impact could the sudden change in politics in the U.S. have on global carbon pricing and emission reductions?
  • How can CO2 pricing be incorporated into sustainable indices?
  • What should be the interplay between markets and state support in achieving climate goals?

Moderator: Stella Farrington, Head of Content, Energy Risk, Risk.net

Panelists: 

  • Farah Abi Morshed, Innovation Manager, ABN AMRO Clearing Bank
  • Rodolphe Bocquet, Global Head of Sustainable Investment, Qontigo
  • Tobias Paulun, Chief Strategy Officer,  European Energy Exchange

10:40 - 11:20

Panel Discussion: ESG in Fixed Income

ESG funds are set to outnumber conventional funds by 2025. As more firms have the mandate to make their entire portfolios ESG compliant, the application of ESG principles to fixed income has become mainstream among asset managers. How can derivatives help the growth of ESG funds, as well as fixed income strategies?

  • What role can ESG linked indices play and what's the difference between the instruments linked to them (ETFs, derivatives)?
  • What use cases do you see for fixed income ESG derivatives?
  • How do these products relate to more traditional credit products, and what differentiates them?

Moderation: Will Mitting, CEO and Founder, Acuiti

Panelists:

  • Abel Elizalde, Global Head of Credit Market Strats Team, Goldman Sachs
  • Dennis Hänsel, Global Head of ESG Advisory, DWS
  • Lee Bartholomew, Head of Fixed Income Derivatives Product R&D, Eurex

11:25 - 11:45

Keynote: Asset allocation and risks at the zero lower bound
Christian Müller-Glissmann
Managing Director, Head Multi Asset Research, Goldman Sachs

11:55 - 12:40

Panel Discussion: The Future of ESG Derivatives: Overcoming Key Challenges

What issues need to be addressed to facilitate the development of an ESG derivatives market? This panel will discuss the need for standardized terms and products, the role of market education and the importance of regulatory clarity and consistency.

Moderator: Liam Kennedy, Editor, IPE

Panelists:

  • Neha Coulon, Global Head of ESG Solutions, J.P. Morgan
  • Rodolphe Bocquet, Global Head of Sustainable Investment, Qontigo
  • Kari Vatanen, Chief Investment Officer, Veritas Pension Insurance
  • Philip Shucksmith, Fund Manager, Newton Investment Management
  • Zubin Ramdarshan, Head of Equity & Index Product Design, Eurex 

12:45 - 13:25 

Panel Discussion: How has the (trading/clearing) infrastructure evolved on the sell side?

The market infrastructure to access vital trading, clearing and collateral management solutions evolves as new technology emerges. In the FX markets, as in many other markets, regulation has led to change in the bilateral market and the usage of clearing solutions. This panel discusses the changes that have marked the banks and how these will be a driving force to remain competitive.

  • What are the industry's key changes and what drives banks to review their existing infrastructure and business models?
  • What makes the FX market special to other asset classes and what are industry options to identify efficient alternatives?
  • What role plays OTC clearing in the FX market and what could the market look like in 3-5 years?

Moderator: Julia Schieffer, Founder & Editor, DerivSource

Panelists:

  • Jochen Litzinger, Director, Acting Cluster Lead, Commerzbank
  • Richard Thompson, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder, Sernova Financial
  • Jens Quiram, Global Head FX Derivatives, Eurex


Panel Discussion: Creating alpha in a beta world.

When investment managers say their goal is to “generate alpha,” they basically aim to generate a higher return while assuming a similar amount of risk as compared to the benchmark against which they measure their performance. 

During volatile markets, active managers tend to outperform more often than when it is not. Quality active managers not only beat passive investment during downturns, but their outperformance grows with larger market losses. Despite this outperformance, passive funds have been steadily growing net inflows in recent years, outpacing active managers. 

  • How do investment managers create Alpha?
  • How to identify and select investment managers capable of delivering Alpha
  • Follow the money? Asset flows in active versus passive investment strategies

Moderator: Matthias Knab, CEO, Opalesque

Panelists: 

  • Tilo Wendorff, Managing Director Absolute Return, Prime Capital AG
  • Marcus Storr, Member of the Board, FERI Trust Luxemburg
  • Neil Servis, Chief Executive Officer. Serone Capital Management LLP

13:30 - 14:10

Panel Discussion: The evolving role of Collateral Management (transformation)

Efficiency in collateral management has been a central focus for asset managers and their sell-side partners for some time now. However, the COVID-19 crisis exposed collateral movement weaknesses across the market, which has now taken center stage. In addition, asset managers are increasingly applying ESG considerations to collateral management, adding a further consideration to baskets and collateral calculations.

  • How do asset managers that have already adjusted their investment policies to be ESG-compliant manage money market activities using GC Bond Baskets?
  • Collateral movements around COVID
  • Where is there room for optimization and automation in the movement of collateral?

Moderator: Julia Schieffer, Founder & Editor, DerivSource

Panelists: 

  • Coen van Walbeek, Global Head Treasury & SBL, ABN AMRO Clearing Bank
  • Phil Simons, Global Head of Sales, Fixed Income Derivatives Funding & Financing, Eurex
  • Max Verheijen, Director Financial Markets, Cardano

Panel Discussion: The Future of FX - Understanding the impact of new capital and margin requirements

In preparation for the Uncleared Margin Rules and as part of the assessment of capital-efficient alternatives to existing workflows and business models, the FX market shows growing demand for exchange-listed alternatives.

  • What are the drivers motivating institutions to trade and clear exchange-traded FX derivatives?
  • What impact is regulation having on the market?
  • The role of automated and electronic trading in creating liquidity and greater use of clearing?

Moderator: Lukas Becker, Markets Desk Editor, Risk.net/FX Markets

Panelists:

  • André Besant, Managing Director, Head of GFX Germany, Deutsche Bank
  • Robbert Sijbrandij, Head of Institutional FX Trading, Flow Traders
  • Jens Quiram, Global Head FX Derivatives, Eurex
  • Christoph Hock, Head of Multi-Asset Trading Desk, Union Investment

14:15 - 14:55

Panel Discussion: ESG priorities in securities financing transactions

Can Securities Finance transactions be Social Responsible Investments? This panel will look into what Responsible vs. Sustainable Securities Finance transactions mean and how best practices are being established. How are these best practices evolving across the U.S. and Europe?

  • What is best-practice in Securities Finance transactions from a SRI perspective? 
  • How to incorporate clients’ ESG priorities and guidelines in financing transactions?
  • Can ESG market standards for financing transactions be set?

Moderator: Will Mitting, CEO & Founder, Acuiti

Panelists:

  • Christian Schuetze, Head of Cross Asset Financing DACH & Nordics, Societe Generale
  • Eicke Reneerkens, Head of Securities Lending, Union Investment
  • Michael Gaynor, Senior Credit Research Analyst, BBVA

Panel Discussion: What comes after the CCP discounting switch?

Despite the severe disruptions to businesses across 2020, financial market participants have continued to make meaningful progress towards IBOR transition and the use of RFRs. A crucial part of this reform was the CCP discounting switch, but with this now accomplished firms can start to reflect on what the next practical steps should be.

  • How, should firms go about implementing the ISDA fallback or alternatives? 
  • What are the implications for portfolio management, and from a market perspective what does this mean for liquidity and trading opportunities?

Moderator: Helen Bartholomew, Editor-at-large, Risk.net

Panelists:

  • Ales Lipensky, Head of Derivatives Funding, Deutsche Bank
  • Clement Cordier, Head of Derivatives Clearing Services, HSBC Continental Europe
  • Thilo Rossberg, Head of FICC Markets, LBBW
  • Stephan Blanke, Head of Derivatives, KfW Bankengruppe
  • Andreas Franke, Head of Risk Methodology OTC, Eurex Clearing

15:10 - 15:25

Market Insights: 1 on 1

The Changing Shape of Derivatives Markets

Disruption is shaping our industry at an unprecedented pace. New market models, the pandemic environment, regulatory requirements and the growing demand for sustainable investments fundamentally reshape the derivatives markets. What trends will remain in 2021? What will be the drivers for growth, and what is needed to emerge successfully out of the current situation?

Moderator: Annette Weisbach, Correspondent Germany, CNBC

Speaker:

  • John Keogh, Chairman ExCo, Susquehanna International Group

Market Insights: 1 on 1

Focus: EU Taxonomy

ClimatePartner is specialized in the environmental impacts that are key to the current goals of the EU Taxonomy. This Market Insight shall provide insights into the taxonomy principles, the results of the analysis and prospects for the next steps in EU regulation.

Moderator: Hugh Wheelan, Co-founder and Joint Managing Director, Responsible Investor 

Speaker: Julia V. Bewerunge, Manager Carbon & Finance, ClimatePartner 


15:30 - 16:10

Panel Discussion: Creating value through algorithms

Beyond the Algorithm – The future of trade execution. This panel will discuss the value of algorithms and the application and use-cases of machine learning in trade execution. What are the benefits of using multiple streams of data to identify and navigate uncertain markets? Topics will also include a look at how data visualization comes into play when measuring performance and how to measure the true cost of trading.

  • What are the applications and use cases of machine learning in execution analysis?
  • How is data optimized to achieve algorithm-based analytics?
  • How to source datasets and understand the significance of different data?
  • What are the major challenges in using large datasets for execution analysis and how to overcome them?

Moderator: Will Mitting, Founder & CEO, Acuiti  

Panelists: 

  • Peter Ho-Spoida, Data Analytics Lead, Market Data + Services, Deutsche Börse
  • Shankar Narayanan, Head of Research, Quantitative Brokers

16:15 - 16:35

Keynote: EU finance policy: what is driving the day?
Bjarke Smith-Meyer, Finance Reporter, POLITICO Europe 

16:40 - 17:30 

Panel Discussion: Financial markets in 2021 and beyond

2020 will go down in history as a pivotal year that brought changes that defined a generation. But what will be the long-term changes in financial markets? Outside COVID, Brexit, ESG, new rules around clearing and the continued acceptance of digital currencies, what are the dominant themes that may provide the basis for innovations for years to come? 

  • What role do financial market infrastructures and banks play – what is the role of politicians and regulators?
  • Quantitative Easing – what's next?
  • Euro-Bonds – is the European debt concept here to stay?
  • Regulations and the overall impact on the derivatives industry? 
  • Digital Euro – will there be a public digital currency system?

Moderator: Annette Weisbach, Correspondent Germany, CNBC

Panelists: 

  • Troy Rohrbaugh, Head of Global Markets, J.P. Morgan  
  • Angel Ubide, Managing Director and Head of Economic Research for Global Fixed Income, Citadel  
  • Bjarke Smith-Meyer, Finance Reporter, POLITICO Europe

17:35

Closing Remarks