Institutions · benchmark administration
The yardstick nobody can build yet.
Benchmark Administration: Scopes builds and administers rules-based benchmarks for institutions that trade, hedge, or report on event-contract exposure and need an independent reference to measure against. A fund trading Kalshi rate contracts cannot credibly administer its own benchmark: the referee is the natural administrator.
It is a governance product: the value is that you have no discretion over the index and no conflict in its calculation. Construction is one-time; administration is recurring.
The history
A credible benchmark is calculated over a long, clean, point-in-time record. You cannot administer an index over data you only started keeping yesterday.
Scopes has recorded every tracked market since inception, append-only and bitemporal, with book depth. The archive an index is calculated over already exists.
The independence
An administrator that holds positions in what it measures cannot be trusted to calculate the index. A fund cannot credibly administer its own benchmark.
Scopes takes no positions in any market it covers and does not trade its desks. The referee is the natural, conflict-free administrator.
The published rules
A benchmark is only as trustworthy as its rules: specified in advance, versioned, and never changed retroactively so a past value cannot be re-cut.
Scopes already runs versioned, append-only methodology across every desk. Corrections are appended and disclosed, never overwritten.
What each mandate delivers
A constructed benchmark
Measurand, universe rules, passive construction (e.g. buy-and-hold-to-resolution), translation to probability where needed, and a SAMURAI statement, versioned and immutable once published (changes launch as v2 alongside v1).
Ongoing calculation & administration
Daily / as-of calculation, publication to the client, append-only correction discipline, quarter-end confirmations, and a methodology changelog.
Three-series delivery
Per covered contract family: the market price (as-of), the Scopes Fair Value, and the benchmark series, via the point-in-time API and/or Reference files.
Standard families
A small catalog of standard families, each documented and versioned, and licensed non-exclusively. "Custom" is a parameter set on a standard (universe, inception, weighting, rebalancing), not a bespoke build. Each family's methodology page is published on launch; the calculation isn't secret: the administration and the archive are the product.
- Scopes Rates Contract Benchmarkin preparation
FOMC decision ladders, year-end rate ladders, CPI-print ladders — passive hold-to-resolution; fair value from futures/nowcasts.
- Scopes Sports Contract Benchmarkin preparation
Season/league contract universes — pregame-only comparisons (flagging v2); fair value from de-vigged sharp lines.
- Scopes Election Contract Benchmarkin preparation
Passive exposure to Kalshi 2026 U.S. midterm race contracts (Senate & Governor party-winner), held to resolution.
Later: Energy, Equity-threshold, and Weather / Catastrophe families as those desks mature.
Published benchmarks ship under venue derived-data licenses: where a series carries a venue price, delivery is subject to that venue's redistribution rights (see Sources).
The fences
- Scopes constructs and administers benchmarks. It does not advise on positions, strategies, or sizing, ever.
- Scopes and its founder do not trade markets covered by its desks.
- Benchmarks are rules-based, specified in advance, and versioned; rules never change retroactively.
- Administration is independent: the client has no discretion over calculation; corrections are appended, never overwritten, and disclosed.
- Delivered subject to source-data rights (see /reference).
- Research and information only, not investment advice.
Inquire about a mandate
Mandates are quoted, not posted: construction plus administration, priced per scope. Tell us the exposure you need a benchmark for and we'll follow up.