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Firms nominating themselves for derivatives house of the year should be strong across a number of product classes. Submissions should include details of how the dealer has best met the needs of clients and responded to market influences over the past 12-18 months. Pitches should include examples of specific, innovative deals and can include investment capabilities as well as trading and risk management. Explanation of why the deal(s) stand out against other market activity and what they achieved for the customer and wider market is required. Customer references or testimonials are welcomed.

This award is for energy or commodity firms showing outstanding risk management capabilities. The award considers the firm’s internal risk management function and/or the external risk management they offer clients. It will consider the firm’s approach to market, counterparty and liquidity risk as well as other risks such as climate risk. Submissions should outline risk and capital management processes, policies and systems, and describe any improvements made to the risk and capital management functions at the firm over the last year to 18 months. Particularly important is how teams have responded to market changes and how the risk function has contributed to overall strategy and performance. Ideally, the value of the risk function will be demonstrated in one or more case studies, showing how the firm has managed a particular source of exposure, or anticipated or responded to a market move.

The Climate Risk Manager of the Year category is open to any energy or commodities firm, bank or trader that can demonstrate leadership and innovation either in its internal approach to climate risk (monitoring, measuring, modelling and mitigating its own climate risk) or through work with clients to manage their climate risk. The award considers the firm’s approach to both transition and physical climate risk. Submissions should include details of how climate risk is approached within the organisation, whether it’s integrated into the risk framework, how it’s measured and modelled and what climate progress the firm or clients have made as a result of this climate risk management work. Details on how the firm is tracking its progress towards its climate goals such alignment with the Paris Accord, Science-Based Targets, lowering emissions etc, are also key.

This category recognises commodity derivatives markets participants that work directly with clients and/or through brokers, to make markets and provide liquidity across various commodity markets. Market access, volumes traded, response times, ticket sizes and reliability during periods of market stress will all be considered. Details on how the firm manages risk will be required. Including client references or testimonials is a good idea.

Entrants for this award should be active in the oil and refined products derivatives markets in Europe and/or North America. They may be performing risk management and hedging activities for their own firm or for clients, and/or providing market liquidity. The submission should include details of deals that show the entrant outperforming over the past 12-18 months in the oil and refined products markets. The examples need to make it clear why the deal stood out, what was unique and innovative about it and what it achieved for the firm or client, or wider market.

Entrants for this award should be active in the natural gas and/or LNG derivatives markets in Europe and/or North America. They may be performing risk management and hedging activities for their own firm or for clients, and/or providing market liquidity. The submission should include details of deals that show the entrant outperforming over the past 12-18 months in these markets. The examples need to make it clear why the deal stood out, what was unique and innovative about it and what it achieved for the firm or client, or wider market.

Entrants for this award will ideally be active in several electricity markets across Europe and/or North America. They may be performing risk management and hedging activities for their own firm or for clients, and/or providing market liquidity. The submission should include details of deals that show the entrant outperforming over the past 12-18 months in these markets. The examples need to make it clear why the deal stood out, what was unique and innovative about it and what it achieved for the firm or client, or wider market.

Entrants for this award should be active in one or more mandatory emissions trading schemes or voluntary markets in Europe and/or North America. The entrant should be active in the derivatives markets – futures, forwards, swaps, options – either for hedging their own obligations or carrying out risk management for clients, and/or providing market liquidity. The submission should include details of deals or other work that show the entrant outperforming over the past 12-18 months in the emissions markets. The examples need to make it clear why the trade stood out, what was unique and innovative about it and what it achieved for the firm or client, or wider market.

Entrants for this award should be active in trading or structuring financial products that improve a firm’s environmental performance and/or enable a firm to address environmental risk. Entrants need to demonstrate that their activity spreads beyond emissions markets into areas such as: green bonds; structuring loans that incentivise greener behaviour; environmental indices; use of environmental and ESG derivatives; renewable energy certificates; PPAs etc. The submission should include details of deals or other work in environmental products that show the entrant outperforming over the past 12-18 months. The examples need to make it clear why the work stood out, what was unique and innovative about it and what it achieved for the firm or client, or wider market.

Entrants for this award should be active in the weather derivatives markets either using them to hedge against weather risk, carrying out risk management for clients, structuring trades, developing new trades, or providing market liquidity. The submission should include details of deals or other work that show the entrant outperforming over the past 12-18 months in the weather derivatives markets. The examples need to make it clear why the trade or work stood out, what was unique and innovative about it and what it achieved for the firm or client, or wider market.

Entrants for this award should be active in the physical and financial base metals markets in Europe and/or North America. They may be performing risk management and hedging activities for their own firm or for clients, and/or providing market liquidity. The submission should include details of deals that show the entrant outperforming over the past 12-18 months in the base metals markets. The examples need to make it clear why the deal stood out, what was unique and innovative about it and what it achieved for the firm or client, or wider market.

Entrants for this award should be active in the precious metals derivatives markets in Europe and/or North America. They may be performing risk management and hedging activities for their own firm or for clients, and/or providing market liquidity. The submission should include details of deals that show the entrant outperforming over the past 12-18 months in the precious metals markets. The examples need to make it clear why the deal stood out, what was unique and innovative about it and what it achieved for the firm or client, or wider market.

This category is open to all firms that offer trade finance to energy or commodity firms, whether it be transactional finance, working capital agreements or structured trade finance such as tolling agreements, repo, pre-payment or inventory financing. Submissions should demonstrate innovation in trade finance, providing examples that show why the firm’s offering stands out against other activity in the market.

The winner of this category needs to demonstrate participation, in a key role, in a wide array of commodity deals over the past year to 18 months. Typically, the deals will involve investment in commodities infrastructure and facilities, or M&A-type investment. The submission should include several examples/case studies of innovative deals showcasing the entrant’s outstanding abilities in deal sourcing, structuring and/or placement over the past 12-18 months. The examples should demonstrate why each deal stood out, what was unique and innovative about it and what it achieved for the firm or client, or wider market. They should also show why the entrant’s role was key to the deal.

This category is open to all brokers from the largest interdealers to the smallest boutique brokers. Entrants should be able to demonstrate outperformance in the market segments in which they operate in terms of market knowledge, calibre of clients, speed of matching clients, technology offered etc. 

The Commodity Exchange of the Year should be able to boast a range of achievements – from volume growth to product or geographic expansion. Risk management and resilience will be key considerations. Submissions should include details of successful product launches and technology initiatives during the last year.

This is an award for bank research units or independent research houses. Pitches should focus on the quality, uniqueness and usefulness of the research, as well as talking about the organisation and marketing of the research. Examples of research should be detailed in the entry along with a focus on how the research is used by clients and an assessment of its impact.

The Climate risk advisory firm of the year is aimed at consultancies and specialists that provide information, practical help and hands-on guidance to firms on how to assess, manage and mitigate transition and/or physical climate risk. This could include developing and providing climate models and other approaches and techniques to measure and monitor climate risk, helping firms comply with environmental legislation and also enabling them to meet any environmental targets and goals they have, such as alignment with the Paris Accord, Science-based targets etc. Submissions should include examples of how you have helped firms in the past 12-18 months to manage their climate risk through, for example, offsetting emissions in various environmental products and markets, helping firms navigate renewables or switch into greener business practices and ultimately helping energy firms transition from polluting to non-polluting businesses.

The Hedging advisory firm of the year award is aimed at consultancies and specialist advisory firms that provide independent advice to derivatives users. Entries need to demonstrate a spread of capabilities, from work on hedging programmes, to deal pricing and structuring, portfolio valuations or restructuring. They should provide several examples of how the firm has helped its clients during the past 12-18 months.

The Technology Advisory firm of the year award is aimed at firms that specialise in commodity trading and risk management systems selection and implementation. Entries should include real examples of tech advisory work done with clients over the past 12-18 months, explaining what the impact has been. While the main focus will be on CTRM software, other technologies that aid the risk function can also be discussed. Firms should talk about what they brought to each project and how they do things differently to other firms.

The CTRM software house of the year award is open to software vendors that develop and sell core CTRM software systems to firms that trade and hedge commodities. The award acknowledges achievement, innovation and performance in this space over the past 12 months. Details of new products, updates and improvements, new clients and repeat business should be included in the entry.

The Technology firm/technology product of the year award is open to commodity specialist software developers, but also to banks and commodity firms that have carried out outstanding work in the field of technology over the past 12 months. The category moves beyond CTRM software to consider, for example, enterprise software, logistics, operations and scheduling software, freight software, as well as analytics, algorithms and model development and the use of newer technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning, neural networking etc.

This category is open to data and analytics specialists that offer an array of commodity data sets and sources to traders as well as providing sophisticated analytics and analytics tools. Entries should include details of the impact of the offering on clients.

This category encompasses all OTC derivatives platforms, such as single-dealer, multi-dealer, MTFs, OTFs, etc. Entrants can highlight success in a range of ways: increased volumes, product or geographic scope, adaptation to regulatory change, popular or creative trading protocols or order types, reliable technology, etc.

The entrant for this award needs to have played a key role in the deal, which could be an infrastructure investment, an M&A deal, the provision of trade finance, a hedge, structured notes or indices, or the creation of an investment vehicle. The submission should focus on just one deal, giving a high level of detail such as the structure of the deal, tenor, size, timeline etc, with explanation of why the entrant’s role was key. It should demonstrate why the deal stood out, what was unique and innovative about it and what it achieved for the client and wider market.

The innovation award celebrates creativity and innovation and is open to any firm operating in or serving the commodity trading and risk management industry. The entry should be for a single new product, service, technology or risk practice, rather than for a firm in general. The submission should explain what the innovation is, why it is creative and ground-breaking and what it achieves for the firm, its clients and/or wider marketplace. The winners may also be selected from pitches in other categories.

The newcomer of the year award is open to any firm operating in, or serving, the commodity trading and risk management industry that has launched, or entered the commodity markets, during the past three years. The entry should explain what the company/product/service does, why it was set up and what it has achieved so far.