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Kent Horsager, MGEX President and Chief Executive Officer
A 1966 Piper Aztec twin-engine propeller airplane makes an unusual metaphor for a commodity futures exchange. Or at least until recently. That’s why things are different these days at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange
(MGEX): Kent Horsager, president and chief executive officer, thinks the airplane metaphor is perfect: “It’s a metaphor for our philosophy because it’s known as a workhorse of a plane.”
Since taking the reins of the MGEX in June 2000, Horsager has not stopped doing just that: working. Working on fine-tuning the Exchange’s mission in the futures industry’s time of transition to technology-based markets. Working with the board of directors in choosing a technology partner for the Exchange’s electronic trading venture. And working on his personal transition from trading firm owner and director of the Minneapolis Grain Exchange to president of that same exchange.
“We were fortunate to attract Kent to this position. Though the field of candidates was strong, he was an obvious choice due to his experience and track record with the Minneapolis Grain Exchange,” says John Miller, chairman of the MGEX board of directors and president and chief executive officer of Miller Milling Company.
This transition is just one more step in his agriculture-related career path; a path that most recently included a stop as owner of a trading firm in Minneapolis and serving on the MGEX board of directors for nine years, three as chairman. Prior to that, he was a merchant for Cargill, Inc., a lecturer at the University of Mainz in Germersheim, Germany, and a marketing consultant for Superior Farming Company in Germersheim.
Over these 15 years he has spent in the futures business, Horsager says the most significant changes in this industry have been due to technology and the growth of risk management as a practice. With the experience and knowledge to back him up, Horsager secured the presidency of a United States futures exchange at a relatively young age.
Despite this feat, Horsager cares not to focus on his own accomplishments, but on the future of the Exchange as a whole.
“I can best be viewed as a conduit for the thinking and ideas of our membership and trading community,” he says. “I can say we have overwhelming support for the strategic direction in which we are moving, both in technology and product development.”
Horsager stresses the importance of fulfilling the MGEX’s mission—providing price discovery and risk transfer—as the Exchange’s primary goal, which means focusing on market and financial integrity and growing the core Exchange business. New, innovative product lines and more efficient market access due to improving technology will be key in reaching the goals, he says.
“My outlook for our business and industry is simple: in order to be successful, we have to provide value to our customers,” Horsager says.
Highlights:
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Bachelor of Science, University of Minnesota, Agriculture Economics
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Master of Science, University of California-Davis, Agriculture Economics
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Two years as Oilseed and Product Merchant for Cargill, Inc., International Oilseed Processing Group
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One year as an economics lecturer, University of Mainz, Germersheim, Germany
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One year as Marketing Consultant, Superior Farming Company, Germersheim, Germany
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13 years as President, Horsager Trading Company, a trading and brokerage firm focusing on trading futures, options and spreads
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Nine years on the MGEX board of Directors, three as chairman
Raymond Lottie profile
A
Minneapolis grain executive and longtime resident of the
Twin Cities has taken the helm as chairman of the MGEX
board of directors. Raymond Lottie, General Mills, Inc.
Manager of Cereal and Eastern Grain Operations was
elected to the position of chairman in 2002. He has
served on the board since 1994.
After
serving four years in the U.S. Army, he graduated with
distinction from the University of Minnesota with a
Bachelor of Science degree in business administration. He
joined General Mills, Inc. in 1973 and has remained there
since.
Highlights:
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Director
of the General Mills Political Action Committee (GMPAC)
since 1988
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Marketing Committee Chair for the National Grain and
Feed Association since 1997
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Former
Chairman/Director of the American Oat Association
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