Celebrating 40 Years of Options Education

Rooted in Education

Education has always been fundamental to the growth of the options industry. In 1973, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, now Cboe®, introduced the world to listed options, revolutionising financial markets and creating instant demand for options-based education. As the market expanded, Cboe understood the immense value of education — essential to the industry’s growth — and began offering educational resources like primers, how-to guides and mock trading sessions for professional traders in Cboe's trading pits. It soon became clear the need for knowledge and training extended far beyond the trading floor.

In 1985, Cboe established The Options Institute (The OI), marking the industry's first dedicated educational team focused exclusively on options education. At first, our strategy concentrated on in-person learning opportunities including seminars, courses and events for both experienced and aspiring market participants. Our efforts have evolved over time, reflecting changes in the industry, the expansion of product availability and scaling with the growth of new audiences and stakeholders, including the recent wave of retail investors trading listed options through digital platforms.

This year, we’re taking time to reflect on 40 years of The OI and our efforts to empower investors through hands-on education and innovative learning practices. In today’s information-saturated world, the need for trustworthy, unbiased and accessible financial education has never been greater. The Options Institute continues to lead with a focus on experiential learning, leading edge technology and a global vision to help investors all over the world navigate the markets with confidence and clarity.

Evolving With the Markets

Our mission at The OI is to increase investor IQ by delivering high-impact, trustworthy and inclusive educational experiences for investors of all levels. In 2020, we formally expanded our educational mandate to include retail traders and investors, ensuring that market participants of all backgrounds and experience levels had access to new programs and a curriculum designed just for them. We’re committed to meeting audiences where they are on their educational journeys by delivering tailored programming suited for different learning styles. Today, The OI’s offerings include live, instructor-led courses, webinars and events, plus on-demand content like articles, videos, glossaries and interactive learning tools. We continue to build with an eye for sustainability and scalability, helping us continue to offer best-in-class education for the broadest audience possible.

Our team is steeped in the constantly evolving financial marketplace and our roster of coursework continues to expand beyond options, exploring a broad range of financial markets and derivatives-focused topics including digital assets, blockchain and defined outcome ETFs. One of our most popular courses is Decision Theory, which introduces students to the concept of risk management and thoughtful decision-making, even with imperfect information.

Cboe instructors teach alongside members of The OI’s Adjunct Faculty Program — highly qualified professionals with years of experience in capital markets or academia. Equally important, all OI instructors bring a passion for engaging with students and sharing their first-hand experiences with the financial markets.

From foundational courses like Options 101 to more advanced series like Practitioner’s Perspectives: Options Strategies, we are proud to deliver exceptional learning experiences all year round.

Focusing on Financial Literacy

The numbers are clear; students gain a tremendous advantage in their personal finance journey when they receive financial education. According to the FINRA Foundation National Financial Capability Study¹, students with higher levels of financial aptitude are more likely to save for emergencies, spend less than their income and take steps to plan for their long-term financial future.

Source: Highlights From the FINRA Foundation National Financial Capability Study, 2022

That’s why at the heart of The OI’s mission is the goal to increase access to financial education and empower all investors to pursue their own sustainable financial future. To inspire the next generation of investors, we launched a new educational initiative in 2023 called Level-Up Learning, founded on the principles of transparency, practice and connection. This initiative expands our educational role and reach by partnering with Chicago-based and national organisations to develop and distribute a financial literacy curriculum that includes lessons about capital markets, risk management, saving and investing.

Using an interactive approach, The OI’s financial literacy curriculum promotes curiosity about the financial markets, risk-taking and financial decision-making, encouraging students to be life-long learners who seek reliable investing resources to empower their own financial health.

Expanding access to education means making more room at the table. Most recently, our financial literacy partnerships have included a pilot program for college students and faculty at National Louis University, as well as tailored programming for Chicago Public Schools, Anahuac University, Mercy Home and the Greenwood Project. Participants surveyed after these programs expressed meaningful positive changes including turning to more reliable sources for financial advice and increased interest in opening savings accounts, building budgets and exploring investing goals via a brokerage firm account.

Connecting With Investors Across the Globe

The OI is stepping up to meet a global need for meaningful financial and derivatives education by expanding access to our programming worldwide, as more investors seek access to U.S. markets, listed options and Cboe’s proprietary products. That means collaborating with financial exchanges like the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), South Africa’s multi-asset class stock exchange, and the nuam exchange, created by the merger of the Santiago, Lima and Colombia stock exchanges, to provide bespoke investor education.

This year, after completing a comprehensive retail investor survey in partnership with CEDX, Cboe's pan-European equity derivatives marketplace, we launched new educational efforts in Europe, offering online courses and regionally adapted multilingual content. Collaborating with retail broker partners on a shared vision to expand access to quality education and welcome new investors, we are focused on producing content for this growing audience on topics like risk management, income generation, capital protection and the benefits of trading listed options and index-based derivatives. We’ve engaged with local experts to ensure we are providing tailored, culturally relevant and impactful education that meets these investors’ particular needs and goals.

The OI team will continue to develop new content and resources, building on our decades of educational experience and success. In addition to English, Spanish, Hindi, Russian, Dutch and German content, we plan to launch Italian and French programs in the second half of 2025.

Building the Future of Learning Experiences
As financial markets evolve and investors continue to accelerate the use of options, the need for financial education is more important than ever before. We have a vision to further scale our efforts and adapt programming and content to support investors and retail broker partners in the Asia-Pacific region.

Key to achieving this growth, we are excited to launch a new interactive learning platform before the end of the year. The easy-to-use educational portal will provide a comprehensive user experience where learners can peruse courses, opt into different learning paths, find supplementary class materials and register for learning opportunities all in one place. Investing in new technology solidifies our commitment to connecting with diverse learners and investors in today’s noisy marketplace.

For more than half a century, Cboe has been committed to investor education, expanding access and evolving with the rapid changes to financial and technological landscapes. The demand for trusted and reliable content shows no sign of slowing down. Building upon 40 years of innovative educational practices, The OI will continue to reach new audiences and empower the next generation of investors by providing best-in-class learning experiences from trusted educators, while embracing new markets, learning styles and audiences all over the world.

About the Author

Alexandra Szakats is Vice President and Head of The Options Institute, the education arm of Cboe Global Markets. In her role, Ally combines her expertise in complex system structures with more than 15 years of experience creating revenue-generating solutions for global capital markets teams. She began her career at Barclays Investment Bank as a product strategist, where she developed a scalable approach to commission revenue growth while leading the global Equity Derivatives education program. Prior to Cboe, Ally designed client trade analytics systems for the securities division of Wells Fargo and led the end-to-end delivery of consumer-facing technical solutions at American Express.

The information provided is for general education and information purposes only. No statement provided should be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell a security, future, financial instrument, investment fund, or other investment product (collectively, a “financial product”), or to provide investment advice. © 2025 Cboe Exchange, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

_{1. Highlights from the FINRA Foundation National Financial Capability Study, 2022, NFCS-Report-Fifth-Edition-July-2022.pdf.}