Spot Trading L.L.C

Spot Trading LLC is an investment advisory firm that operates as a proprietary trading company. The company was founded in 1999 by Robert Merrilees, who served as CEO until 2013 and has continued to take an active role in the firm as Chairman, and is based out of Chicago. Spot Trading began with a focus on off-floor trading of equity options with five members and since then has expanded to become one of the leading proprietary trading firms. The firm has a technology focused perspective and conducts both fundamental and quantitative analysis in house to make its investment decisions, utilizing an integrated trading strategy focused on collaboration across a variety of disciplines to create long term stability and enterprise value. Spot Trading operates through a variety of activities including research, analysis, software development, and IT infrastructure development. Spot Trading also places a high emphasis on learning and development for its employees, providing in house training, a tuition reimbursement program, and various professional development allowances. The company currently allocates its assets in a variety of sectors including information technology, consumer discretionary, finance, energy, industrials, materials, health care, and consumer staples sectors, among others to a lesser degree, in order of decreasing allocation. Spot Trading has been named one of Chicago’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For for half a decade and has also been honored as a National winner in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Spot Trading currently has 52 employees, all of which are investment professionals, and is currently owned in majority by Robert David Merrilees, the original founder of the firm, and Spot Holdings LP, the company’s holding company, with the remaining ownership split amongst various key executives. The company has a current market value of just over $10 billion, which is a decrease from its highest market value of over twice that amount a year ago.