The Options Industry Council

What The Options Industry Council does

The Options Industry Council (OIC) is a non-profit educational organization founded in 1992 and wholly owned by The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC), the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization. Headquartered at 125 South Franklin Street, Suite 1200 in Chicago, Illinois, OIC provides free educational resources about U.S. exchange-listed equity options to a global audience of individual investors, financial advisors, and institutional investors. The organization generates no direct revenue and operates as an industry-funded education initiative, with all content provided free of charge.

OIC's product ecosystem is centered on optionseducation.org and comprises the OCC Learning structured learning management system (with separate tracks for individual investors, financial advisors, and institutional investors); an Options Calculator Suite (Options Calculator, Probability Calculator, Position Profit & Loss Simulator, and Historical and Implied Volatility tools); live and on-demand webinars hosted on On24; the Wide World of Options podcast and Fundamentals I & II series distributed across major streaming platforms; a Reference Library (glossary, FAQ, expiration calendar, ODD Quick Guide, brochures, white papers); the MyPath Assessment; and a mobile application. The underlying technology stack combines content management, interactive financial calculators, an LMS, webinar infrastructure (On24), podcast distribution networks, and social/email channels. The architecture is designed for free, self-serve global consumption with registration gating for advanced features.

The organization employs 51–100 staff and follows a community-led, education-first go-to-market motion. Pricing is fully freemium ($0). OIC segments its audience horizontally across three personas—Individual Investors (primary), Financial Advisors, and Institutional Investors—and distributes through its website, social media (Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube), podcast networks, and webinars. Strategic partners include OCC (parent/strategic co-developer) and the six OCC participant exchanges (BOX, Cboe, MEMX, MIAX, Nasdaq, NYSE) listed as ecosystem participants on the OIC site.

Name

The Options Industry Council

Legal name

The Options Industry Council

Website

https://www.optionseducation.org/

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Options Industry Council is a non-profit educational organization founded in 1992 and wholly owned by OCC (The Options Clearing Corporation). It provides free educational resources about exchange-listed equity options to individual investors, financial advisors, and institutional investors globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Options Education / Investor Education

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Open Educational Resources (OER) & Curriculum Repositories (EDAFACAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Open Courseware & Course Modules (OCW) (EDAGAJAB)

Keywords

• Options education
• Investor education
• Derivatives training
• Options strategies
• Financial literacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Educational Services (Free): OIC provides all educational resources free of charge as an industry service funded by OCC (The Options Clearing Corporation). No direct revenue is generated from OIC services; the organization operates as a non-profit industry education initiative.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

OIC operates the optionseducation.org digital education ecosystem, providing free, authoritative educational resources about U.S. exchange-listed options to individual investors, financial advisors, and institutional investors. Offerings span structured OCC Learning courses, live and on-demand webinars, podcasts (Wide World of Options and Fundamentals series), analytical calculators, monitoring tools, a reference library, brochures, a mobile app, and the MyPath Assessment, all funded by parent OCC.

Product overview

The Options Industry Council (OIC) operates a comprehensive education ecosystem centered on its website at optionseducation.org. The platform consists of the core OIC Website, OCC Learning (a learning management system), a suite of analytical calculators (Options Calculator, Probability Calculator, Position P&L Simulator, Historical and Implied Volatility), monitoring tools (Options Monitor, Stock Monitor, Trending Options Volume), webinars (live and on-demand), podcasts (Wide World of Options, Fundamentals I/II, Intermediate, Advanced series), Reference Library (Glossary, FAQ, Expiration Calendar, ODD Quick Guide, Product Specifications), Brochures & Literature, a mobile application, and the MyPath Assessment tool. The ecosystem serves individual investors, financial advisors, and institutional investors seeking to learn about exchange-listed options issued by OCC. Since 1992, OIC has provided educational resources covering options basics, strategies, Greeks, pricing, and advanced concepts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• OIC Website (OptionsEducation.org) The flagship digital education platform providing comprehensive resources about exchange-listed options, including articles, tools, calculators, webinars, podcasts, and reference materials for individual investors and options professionals.
• OCC Learning A learning management system within the OIC platform offering structured options courses with separate tracks for individual investors, financial advisors, and institutional investors, including progress tracking and access to course content.
• Options Calculators Suite A suite of analytical tools including the Options Calculator, Probability Calculator, Position Profit & Loss Simulator, and Historical and Implied Volatility calculator for options analysis and strategy planning.
• Options Monitor & Stock Monitor Real-time and near real-time monitoring tools for tracking options quotes and stock prices, including Trending Options Volume for insights into market activity.
• Webinars (Live & On-Demand) Educational webinar sessions led by OIC instructors covering options strategies, market analysis, and trading concepts, available as live sessions or on-demand recordings, including Office Hours Q&A sessions.
• Wide World of Options Podcast A podcast featuring industry interviews, strategy insights, current events in options markets, and educational discussions hosted by OIC instructors, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Options Insider Radio Network.
• Fundamentals I & II Podcast Series Foundational podcast series covering options basics, pricing, trading mechanics, strategy fundamentals, and tax considerations for options investors.
• Reference Library Comprehensive reference resources including Options Glossary, FAQ, Expiration Calendar, ODD Quick Guide, Options Product Specifications, White Papers, Research Articles, and Market Data.
• Brochures & Literature Educational publications including the Options Overview for Investors, Options Strategies Quick Guide, A Guide to Investing With Options eBook, and Options Box Spreads Paper.
• Mobile Application A mobile application version of the OIC website and educational platform enabling investors to access options education resources on mobile devices.
• MyPath Assessment An assessment tool that helps evaluate investor knowledge and proficiency in options trading concepts.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• OCC (The Options Clearing Corporation)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOIC is an industry resource provided by OCC. OCC is the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization and provides the official backing and content authority for OIC's educational resources. OIC was established by OCC in 1992 to educate investors about exchange-listed options.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• tastytrade: tastytrade is an options-focused brokerage and content network producing daily shows, research, and strategy education aimed at retail options traders; it competes directly with OIC for the self-directed options-trader audience with deep strategy and Greeks content.
• Investopedia: Investopedia is a major free online financial education platform offering articles, tutorials, a term glossary, and an options-trading section covering strategies and Greeks — directly overlapping OIC's content mission for retail investors learning about options.

Broad incumbents

• Interactive Brokers — Traders' Academy: Interactive Brokers' Traders' Academy offers free multilingual courses on options, futures, and trading concepts, with deep institutional-grade material and global reach comparable to OIC's institutional investor track.
• CME Group — Trading Education: CME Group operates major U.S. derivatives exchanges and offers extensive free trading education across options, futures, and complex derivatives strategies, serving a similar institutional and retail educational audience with broader product scope.
• TD Ameritrade (now Schwab) — TradeWise / education: TD Ameritrade had a well-known retail options education library (now integrated into Schwab), with strategy videos, courses, and hosted learning content aimed at beginner-to-intermediate options traders comparable to OIC's individual investor track.
• Cboe Global Markets — Options Institute: Cboe operates one of the largest U.S. options exchanges (listed as an OCC Participant Exchange on OIC's site) and provides its own options education content, including courses and webinars; it is a broader incumbent covering both exchange operations and investor education.
• Charles Schwab — Learning Center: Schwab's Learning Center provides free options education — articles, videos, and courses on strategies and risk — bundled with a brokerage platform, giving it a trading-execution integration OIC cannot match directly.

Emerging players

• Option Alpha: Option Alpha is a niche options education community offering courses, podcasts, and a backtesting platform aimed at self-directed retail options traders — directly comparable to OIC's curriculum in scale and audience even though it is a smaller, independent company.
• Project Finance Institute / Corporate Finance Institute: Corporate Finance Institute delivers structured online finance and derivatives courses to professionals and aspiring analysts, including options content; it parallels OIC's structured "OCC Learning" track approach with paid credentials.

Others

• FINRA — Investor Education (Smart Investing): FINRA provides free investor education covering options risks and disclosure obligations, serving a regulatory-protection function broadly comparable to OIC's ODD-document orientation though not a direct competitor for strategy instruction.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/options_edu
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/OptionsEdu
• Facebookfacebook.com/OptionsIndustryCouncil
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/showcase/the-options-industry-council-oic-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Options Industry Council