Beginning Oct. 22, CME will list e-mini futures on the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, a free float-adjusted market capitalization index containing more than 800 leading securities from 25 emerging markets. The cash-settled contract will be offered exclusively on the Globex electronic platform and trade on a March quarterly cycle. David Lerman, director of equity products and services at CME Group, said "several people are very interested" in the product, from pension funds looking to hedge their emerging-markets exposure to speculators and proprietary traders hoping to capitalize on the index's volatility. CME's entire product line has benefited from a recent surge in market volatility amid investors' concerns about problems in subprime mortgage and credit markets, with the largest gains coming in its e-mini-equity complex, which consists of smaller-sized, electronically traded contracts meant to appeal to retail investors. The complex saw record average daily volume of 3.6 million contracts in August, up 155 percent over the prior year. Lerman said that although an investor can buy an emerging-markets mutual fund, this new futures contract offers direct exposure at much lower costs.