What are ETFs and how do you trade them?

What is an exchange traded fund (ETF)?

An exchange traded fund (ETF) is an investment instrument that tracks the performance of an existing market or group of markets. The fund will either physically buy the assets it is tracking or use more complicated investments to mimic the movement of the underlying market.

Because they perform a similar function to indices, investment trusts and other exchange traded products, you can use an ETF as a single point of entry into a wide selection of assets. For example, you can gain exposure to an index, stocks from a specific country, a commodity, a currency, or fixed income markets via an ETF.

ETFs are bought and sold on a stock exchange – in much the same way as stocks.But with us, you’ll trade ETFs using CFDs (contracts for difference).

CFDs are derivative products that enable you to speculate on the price movements of the underlying ETF without ever owning any actual shares. This is because derivatives simply track the price of the asset on which they are based.
With CFDs, you can take either long or short positions, based on whether you think asset prices will rise or fall. If you believe a market will rise, you’ll ‘go long ’; if you think it will fall, you’ll ‘go short ’.

Learn how to take a position on ETFs or start trading now.

Popular ETFs to watch

• The iShares Core EURO STOXX 50 UCITS ETF seeks to track the performance of an index composed of the 50 largest companies in the Eurozone
• The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF tracks the S&P 500 index, which measures the performance of large-cap US stocks
• The iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF tracks the results of large-, mid- and small-cap developed market equities, excluding the US
• The SPDR Portfolio Emerging Markets ETF tracks the performance of the S&P Emerging BMI Index, providing widespread exposure to several emerging market economies
• The iShares US Energy ETF tracks the results of the Dow Jones US oil and gas index, which measures the performance of companies in the US oil and gas sector
• The WisdomTree WTI Crude Oil ETF gives indirect exposure to crude oil prices by tracking the Bloomberg crude oil subindex

Stock index ETFs

Stock index ETFs are funds that track the performance of a given index. As stock indices are nothing more than a number representing a group of shares, traders and investors have to find ways to trade on their price.

ETFs enable you to gain exposure to an entire index from a single position. For example, a FTSE 100 ETF would track the performance of the FTSE 100, and would either hold physical shares of the index’s constituents, or products that mimic its price movements.

Currency ETFs

Currency ETFs enable you to gain exposure to the forex market, without having to buy or sell the underlying currencies. In some cases, these ETFs will only track a single currency, but for the most part they track baskets of currencies.

You can use currency ETF to trade the economic health of regions – such as the EU – or emerging market economies. They can also be used as hedge against inflation and foreign asset risk.

Sector and industry ETFs

A sector or industry ETF tracks an index of companies operating within the same industry. For example, the AI and robotics sector has the Robo-Stox Global Robotics & Automation Index ETF, which tracks stocks related to autonomous transportation, robotics and automation, and more.

Like currency ETFs, sector ETFs can be used to take advantage of changes in an economy’s health and as a hedge against any existing positions. If you have significant risk in a particular sector, you might choose to mitigate this risk by shorting a sector ETF.

Commodity ETFs

Commodity ETFs usually take their price from futures contracts, rather than containing the physical commodity.

It’s important to note that there is a difference between commodity ETFs and commodity-linked ETFs, such as the sector ETFs described above. Commodity ETFs emulate the price of the underlying commodity, whereas commodity-linked assets track companies within the industry.

Geographic ETFs

Geographic ETFs enable you to track assets in a specific region. For example, you can buy a US ETF that grants you exposure across all the US indices, a North American ETF that includes Canadian companies, or an international ETF if you’re looking to diversify your portfolio.

Inverse or short ETFs

Inverse ETFs move in the opposite direction to the underlying asset. They can be found in any of the above categories of ETF.

You’d use an inverse ETF as a means of opening short positions on the market. They can be useful hedges for existing long positions, or as a way of speculating on falling markets.

Leveraged ETFs

Leveraged ETFs are designed to mirror an underlying asset but use financial derivatives to amplify your exposure. For example, a leveraged 2x ETF would maintain a $2 exposure to the underlying asset for every $1 of your capital.

When using a leveraged instrument, losses can also be magnified. This is why it’s important to thoroughly research these ETFs and create a risk management strategy before opening a position.

Trading an ETF with derivatives

When trading ETFs online with us, you’ll use a derivative to speculate on the price movements of the underlying asset without owning the asset itself. This is because derivatives like CFDs track the price of the asset on which they are based.

ETFs can offer broad market exposure from just a single position. You can trade ETFs on sectors, indices, bonds, commodities and more by opening an account . We have over 2500 global ETFs to choose from.

When you trade ETFs with CFDs, you can use leverage to get amplified exposure to the ETF of your choice. This means that you can open a position for just a fraction of the cost of traditional investing, where you’d have to pay the full value of the shares upfront.

But, please note, while leverage can magnify your profits, it can also magnify your losses, so it is important to create a risk management strategy before you trade.