Family & Company Background

The Hanley family’s association with the commodities industry began in 1923 when Thomas Hanley Sr. began his career as a runner with Bache & Co. in the old Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) building. Through hard work and perseverance, Thomas Hanley Sr. climbed his way up the ladder and eventually became an Independent Broker. During his developing career Mr. Hanley discovered the business from "the ground up" — the philosophy that, to this day, Hanley Group continues to incorporate in its Trader Development Program. He made it a point to expose his sons to this ideology of the business and it wasn't long before his son, George, took to the industry, beginning his career in commodities trading.

George Hanley began trading in 1977 at the Mid America Exchange and in 1981 moved on to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, but it was 1983 when George Hanley began his long standing affiliation with the Chicago Board of Trade. Since the launch of his career, George Hanley has traded at the New York Mercantile Exchange, the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange, the New Orleans Rice and Cotton Exchange, the Swiss Options and Financial Futures Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange — all the while his expertise centered around Soybean Options and Futures. Always acting as a pioneer and constantly seeking out new products and new exchanges to the trade, George Hanley served as an integral part of the 1984 launch of Soybean Options and Futures trading at the CBOT. He has since established himself as one of the premier traders of the product.

Following the rise of his success in the Soybeans Options 'pit', George Hanley founded Hanley Group in 1986. Drawing from his vast experience in various products, George Hanley sought out to create a firm that centered on low risk, high opportunity trades in the grain markets. In 1989 the firm began to expand into the New York markets and along with expansion came growth of the firm's organizational support structure. The firm began the development of the Trader Support/Training Program. The program was designed to provide each trader with optimal technical support, cutting edge research and development, and mentoring.

Hanley Group became a member firm at the CBOT in 1998 — underscoring its commitment to its core operations in the Agricultural Options and Futures. Seeing a push toward electronic trading, Hanley Group established their first off floor electronic trading desk which focused on US equities. In January 2000, Hanley Group commenced operations at the Chicago Board Options Exchange trading equity options and establishing itself as a Broker Dealer.

Today, Hanley Group continues to be a driving force in the Agricultural Options and Futures. Recently, Hanley Group was selected to participate in the Market Maker program for electronic agricultural options at the CBOT/CME. The firm also made a push to expand its electronic capability by becoming a member firm at the New York Board of Trade/Intercontintal Exchange (NYBOT/ICE), the Kansas City Board of Trade (KCBOT), the Minneapolis Grain Exchange and the COMEX exchange.