The CQF Trading Simulator fully backs up the lecture and workshop lessons so that delegates can try out new ideas in a realistic setting, incorporating real-time events based on live data from the ever-fluctuating marketplace. Again, this is included in the CQF course for no additional charge.

Technical requirements: Our simulations are internet-based and will run in your browser. They therefore require no separate downloads or installation.

Core features:
Equity, FX, Money Markets, Fixed Income
The simulator is based on a repertoire of authentic scenarios which track price changes in underlyings and derivatives across a range of asset classes – ideal for demonstrating hedging techniques, product types, and the strategies specific to a given market.

Instructor-generated scenarios
Scenarios can be comprised of historical data, random walks or instructor-designed scenarios designed to illustrate and rehearse particular market behaviours. Random walks are generated using a range of algorithms from the theoretical literature to model price changes, interest rates and volatilities.

Structured teaching approach
Instructors can initially demonstrate a model or approach within the assumptions of that approach and then stress-test it against real-life market behaviours. For example, we start by demonstrating delta hedging in a Black-Scholes ‘lognormal’ landscape before adding in jumps, volatility clustering and other outliers.

Interactive parameter setting
Instructors can change parameters mid-scenario, ensuring a close and timely response to the learning needs of the moment. For example: in a multiplayer trading session the implied volatility structure of an option can be altered in real time in a nondeterministic way, or traders’ positions can be annulled in order to start afresh. The instructor can therefore respond to questions using the simulator for demonstration or inject new market behaviours without interrupting the flow of a trading session.

A range of option greeks
The main option greeks are displayed in real time: delegates see all delta, gamma and vega exposures and ways to hedge or speculate on these.

Fundamentalist and technicalist strategies
A charting module and the greeks display described above give delegates practice in quantitative analysis; but equally, scenarios may contain news flow – given in both text and rich media formats – to encourage the analysis of fundamentals, and their effect on market prices.

Multiple interaction types
Whether your focus is proprietary or flow trading, or brokerage, the simulation environment is designed to meet your needs. Traders can quote spreads to each other in a peer-to-peer OTC market – this is either done totally through the system, or through outcry or via brokers and settled on the system afterwards. Alternatively, traders can concentrate on risk management strategies by trading with automated artificial-intelligence traders on both the buyside and sellside.

Single or multi-player mode
Delegates can use the simulator in scheduled trading sessions in which they trade concurrently with one another or with artificial-intelligence-driven computer traders. Alternatively, they can run a scenario by themselves in order to explore and test a trading strategy against a repository of randomly generated or historical scenarios.

In-depth reporting
The most valuable lessons of any simulated trading session are often learned in the debriefing. The simulation’s sophisticated reporting package tracks the success rate of trades, compliance with exposure limits, trading volume, frequency and profit and loss statistics for both open and realized positions.