Jenny's Background and Peak6:

  • Jenny started her career on the trading floor in Chicago.
  • She co-founded Peak6 in 1997 with $1.5 million in seed capital as a proprietary options trading firm.
  • Peak6 has evolved into a multi-billion dollar financial services, trading, and technology firm.
  • Peak6 owns Apex FinTech Solutions, a SaaS-based clearing and custody firm with 220 B2B clients and $120 billion in assets.
  • They have tens of millions of end customers and provide technology for more than 60% of fintechs out there.

Gender Differences in Finance:

  • Jenny highlights that gender differences are still prevalent in the financial world.
  • She mentions that women are half of the voters and more than half of college graduates but have not made significant progress in finance.
  • Participation rate is a key difference between men and women when it comes to investing. Women participate less despite having similar abilities.

Poker Power Initiative:

  • Jenny introduces Poker Power, a company committed to teaching poker to one million women.
  • The goal is to teach women important life skills such as strategy, risk-taking, and capital allocation through playing poker.
  • Currently, less than 10% of the over 110 million poker players worldwide are women.
  • Poker Power has already taught tens of thousands of individual women and partnered with companies to teach their employees.

The Importance of Risk-Taking:

  • Jenny emphasizes the importance of risk-taking for success, particularly for women who may be hesitant to take risks.
  • Repetition of risk is crucial for building confidence and developing risk management skills.
  • Taking calculated risks is essential for growth and advancement in various fields, including finance.

Managing Inventory at Peak6:

  • Peak6 manages positions in around 3,000 to 4,000 stock names with associated options positions out of nearly 6,000 stocks with listed options available.
  • They carry inventory on their books and focus on managing it effectively, similar to a grocery store managing its products.
  • Technology plays a significant role in managing billions of messages per second and monitoring market movements.

The Current Market Environment:

  • Jenny mentions that the current market environment feels reminiscent of the dot-com era due to factors like AI and uncertainty.
  • The Federal Reserve's decisions, inflation rates, sector rotation, and exogenous events can impact the direction of the market.
  • Peak6 is long volatility and prepared for potential market shifts while acknowledging the possibility of being wrong.

Effects of Poker on Women's Confidence:

  • When women learn poker and gain experience through playing hands, they start gaining confidence in other areas of life as well.
  • They become more comfortable with taking risks, speaking up in meetings, and embracing failure as part of the learning process.