Who Are the Core Customers of CBOE Global Markets Company?

Institutional investors on CBOE-pension funds, asset managers, and hedge funds-use SPX and VIX options to hedge large equity exposures; as of fiscal 2025, institutional flows account for a majority of notional hedging volume across index derivatives.

Retail traders on CBOE remain significant: early-2026 data show retail participation in short-dated options at record highs, with 0DTE SPX contracts representing about 50% of SPX option volume, driving order flow and fee revenue growth.

CBOE client types are mixed: primarily institutions and professional traders, plus a large active retail base. Market makers and proprietary trading firms provide liquidity; broker-dealers and clearing members connect end clients to CBOE markets.

Institutional investors on CBOE remain the most commercially important segment by notional and fees in 2025, but retail-driven 0DTE flow materially boosts traded volumes and liquidity. For FX, corporate treasurers and banks using Cboe FX for NDFs and spot trade execution are key revenue contributors.

The core customers of CBOE Global Markets remain concentrated in U.S. options trading where institutional investors on CBOE, market makers at CBOE, hedge funds trading options on CBOE, and retail traders on CBOE drive volume; U.S. Options accounted for roughly 45% of derivative trading revenue in fiscal 2025.

Secondary demand is in broader North American derivatives and market data: pension funds and CBOE participation, asset managers using CBOE derivatives, and broker-dealers that access CBOE markets keep liquidity deep, while market data customers of CBOE Global Markets include regional banks and retail brokerages.

CBOE Global Markets is strongest in reach and revenue mix in the U.S. options ecosystem and in market data: clearing members and customers of CBOE and proprietary trading firms on CBOE platforms sustain high daily volumes; in 2025 trading and clearing fees plus data comprised a majority of total revenue, with Data and Access Solutions growing at a ~8-9% CAGR through 2025.

Demand grew fastest in Asia – Pacific after integration of Australian and Japanese exchange hubs onto a unified technology stack; foreign institutional investors using CBOE and local market makers expanded activity, driving APAC derivatives growth of mid – teens % year – over – year in 2025. Meanwhile, democratization of data pushed mid – sized firms to buy premium feeds, boosting data revenues globally.

Cboe accelerates uptake among ETF issuers, crypto firms, and foreign institutional investors by offering a unified global matching engine and common APIs; in 2025 it reported mid-single-digit revenue contribution from new listings and digital asset services while leveraging existing clearing members to onboard counterparties quickly. See Brand Story of CBOE Global Markets Company for context: Brand Story of CBOE Global Markets Company

Market makers at CBOE and institutional investors on CBOE remain loyal because VIX and SPX derivatives still generate the bulk of liquidity and fees; in 2025 these products accounted for roughly 40-50% of derivatives ADV (average daily volume) and underpin market data sales to asset managers and hedge funds trading options on CBOE.

Repeat demand comes from clearing members, broker-dealers that access CBOE markets, and proprietary trading firms on CBOE platforms; stickiness rises from integrated clearing relationships and proprietary indices, driving high renewal rates for market data and connectivity services among institutional investors and market makers at CBOE.

Cboe Labs-focused capital allocation is the key growth lever: concentrated R&D spending enabled pilot ETP listings and a custody/clearing-friendly digital asset roadmap, supporting revenue diversification while preserving the core derivatives franchise that pension funds and asset managers using CBOE derivatives rely on.