Roger Carlsson

Roger Carlsson
Degree:
Agricultural Business
Year Graduated:
1978

2020 Henry A. Wallace Awardee

A veteran investment and risk officer, Roger Carlsson, chairman of First Continental Trading Group of Companies (FCT), is a driving force in the global investment management industry.

In 1984, Carlsson founded FCT, basing the company in Chicago, Illinois. An active member on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade, Carlsson grew FCT into a globally-recognized investment firm and one of the largest independent market making and proprietary trading groups in the world. With operations in key global financial centers, FCT was one of the largest independent shareholders of the London International Financial Futures Exchange, an organization eventually acquired by the New York Stock Exchange.

Following his graduation from Iowa State University in 1978, Carlsson earned a master’s degree in business administration from DePaul University and continued his studies at the London Business School, earning the organization’s Alumni Achievement Award in 2004, and currently serves on the school’s board of directors.

In 1998, Carlsson founded the Carlsson Family Foundation, which he established to manage his charitable contributions and provide a research vehicle for other donors wishing to make informed philanthropic decisions.

Carlsson’s philanthropy has extended to Iowa State University students. In 2018, he helped establish the Paul Doak Agricultural Business Recruiting Scholarship by launching a match-gift giving challenge to College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alumni and friends. In addition, he frequently hosts College of Agriculture and Life Sciences study abroad students visiting the United Kingdom.