KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 14, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FCStone Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:FCSX), a commodity risk-management firm, today announced that veteran dairy industry expert Ken Bailey has joined the firm as a full-time consultant and broker. Dr. Bailey specializes in advising and executing risk management strategies for processors/dairy buyers to hedge their dairy component risks, and has previously served as a consultant to FCStone and, before that, to Downes-O'Neill prior to its acquisition by FCStone in 2008.
Dr. Bailey's deep expertise in the dairy sector reflects his prior service as a Professor of Agricultural Economics at Penn State University, where he developed educational programs in the area of dairy markets and policy.
"With his extensive expertise and unique perspective on the U.S. dairy industry, Ken has been a vital contributor to our firm, and having him join us in-house will provide additional benefits to our customers," said Tom Gaughan, Vice President of the Food Service Division at FCStone. "The current economic environment makes it critical for dairy farmers, producers, processors, and investors to be informed on the latest trends and issues. Ken's historical knowledge and understanding of dairy market supply and demand factors is itself an extremely valuable commodity for our clients."
"The growing demand for specialized dairy consulting services has made this the perfect time for me to join FCStone full time," said Dr. Bailey. "Our clients value our in-depth expertise and our ability to provide strategies that help offset the ups and downs of the markets and their businesses. I look forward to my new role and dedicating more time to helping the firm's clients."
Dr. Bailey holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota. He also writes The Bailey Report, a monthly FCStone publication focusing on dairy market trends and products.
About FCStone Group, Inc.
FCStone Group, Inc., along with its affiliates, is an integrated commodity risk management company providing risk management consulting and transaction execution services to commercial commodity intermediaries, end-users and producers. The firm assists primarily middle market customers in optimizing their profit margins and mitigating exposure to commodity price risk. In addition to risk management consulting services, FCStone, LLC, operates one of the leading independent clearing and execution platforms for exchange-traded futures and options contracts. FCStone Group, Inc., serves more than 8,000 customers and in the 12 months ended May 31, 2009, executed more than 73.7 million derivative contracts in the exchange-traded and over-the-counter markets. The FCStone Group companies work in all the major commodity areas including agriculture, energy, renewable fuels, foods, forestry, cotton and textile, dairy and currency exchange. Headquartered in the Midwest, it has offices located throughout the world and is a clearing member of all major North American Futures exchanges. FCStone Group, Inc., trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "FCSX."