ZISHI seeks new partners to replicate ICE trading diploma

ZISHI has said it is keen to partner with exchanges and trading houses to deliver more courses like the one the training firm has just delivered with Intercontinental Exchange.

ZISHI, which span off from prop trading firm OSTC a year ago, said 18 students completed on Friday its first Level 5 Advanced Diploma in Financial Trading course hosted by the Sheffield Business School in partnership with ICE.

Robert Russell, Global Head of Professional Trading Qualifications at ZISHI, said this diploma is different from ZISHI’s Undergraduate and Masters trading degrees because “it is designed for students that are not necessarily from a finance background and would not otherwise have access to a career in finance”.

He continued: “ICE was the perfect partner on this course, engaging with the students personally to introduce them to the ICE careers team and working with the Sheffield Hallam talent acquisition programme to provide the students with multiple touch points into the industry.”

And Russell said ZISHI is keen to engage other partners to deliver more of these courses in future: “Looking ahead, the plan is to grow the Sheffield Hallam offering and roll out the programme at some of the other universities where we already offer courses in partnership with firms that might be exchanges, trading firms or corporates that have trading roles.”

Chris Jenkins, CEO at the ZISHI Group, said the diplomas can help firms deliver on their corporate and social responsibility objectives: “This course presents firms with great opportunities for talent acquisition, opening up the students’ eyes to the world of finance but also opening up the industry’s eyes to these untapped pools of talent.”

ICE signed in March this year a three-year deal with ZISHI to supply education to the US group's staff and clients in the first long-term partnership by the training firm after it split from OSTC.

OSTC confirmed in August last year its plan to restructure the business by establishing its trading and training divisions as two separate entities.

ZISHI has grown rapidly in recent years, partly through bolt-on acquisitions. The firm bought FSTP in May 2021, BG Consulting in January 2021 and UK options training firm Volcube in late 2020.