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What is leverage trading?

Your capital is at risk if you invest. You could lose all your investment. Please see the full risk warning here.

Many investors have come across the term leverage trading, a powerful investment tool used quite often not only in the financial but also in the mainstream media. However, do investors know how to fully utilize that weapon in their investing arsenal? Let’s explore this concept in detail.

WHAT IS LEVERAGE TRADING?

Investors can make far more money than they physically have by borrowing funds from their broker on top of their existing balances with the aim of maximizing their buying power and ultimately return. Put differently, it’s using borrowed capital on top of your own equity (cash) to magnify the potential returns of your bet.

WHAT IS A LEVERAGE RATIO?

In simple terms, it is the ratio between the amount of money you can trade over the amount of money you have. For instance, a 10:1 leverage ratio means you trading up to $10 000 for every $1 000 exposure to your broker. This will allow you to increase your equity (money) up to $10k. Now your buying power is up 10x allowing you to make much larger investments.

HOW DOES LEVERAGE TRADING WORK?

Leverage works by using a deposit, known as margin, to provide you with increased exposure. Let’s continue with our previous example. Suppose that you currently have $1000, but you feel that is not enough if you aim for 10% return or $100 gain. If you decide to use 10:1 leverage to boost the return of your initial investment, the broker will take your $1 000 and lend you the rest or $9 000. In essence, bumping up your buying power or equity to $10k. Now if you successfully achieved that same return your profit will be $1000 or ten times larger with the use of leverage. Hence, leverage is great as it increases your future profits but also can act as a double-edged sword leading to higher future losses. So, the next question that comes to mind is

HOW MUCH LEVERAGE SHOULD I USE?

Choose the leverage you are comfortable with depending on your experience, financial knowledge, and comfort level.

Obviously, beginner investors should be careful as leverage amplifies your potential gains as well as possible losses.

HOW LEVERAGE TRADING APPLIES TO MULTIPLE ASSET CLASSES

Leverage can be used across a variety of financial markets stocks, indices, forex, treasuries, CFDs, and ETPs. Also, you can use leverage in investing outside your margin account. Leverage exchange-traded funds (ETPs) use borrowed funds to deliver returns of 2x, 3x or even 5x vs their benchmark indices. There are many advantages of using ETPs in comparison to other investment vehicles that use leverage.

Benefits of using ETPs vs other financial instruments.

  • Max loss, in essence like a stop loss, up to your original investment
  • No need for a margin account, which requires a large sum to be deposited in advance in your broker account
  • Trade on an exchange – there are multiple maker makers providing liquidity – facilitating easily going in and out of a trade
  • Fees are quite low as these products are usually passively managed
  • Collateralized – covered by pledged collateral

BOTTOM LINE

Borrowing money enables you to make investments on a much larger scale.

The drawback being it is a double-edged sword as it magnifies your winner as well as possible losses.

ETPs unlike other financial products offer a practical and elegant solution to most problems created by the use of leverage.

Your capital is at risk if you invest. You could lose all your investment. Please see the full risk warning here.

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Violeta Todorova

Senior Research

Violeta è entrata a far parte di Leverage Shares nel settembre 2022. È responsabile dello svolgimento di analisi tecniche e ricerche macroeconomiche ed azionarie, fornendo pregiate informazioni per aiutare a definire le strategie di investimento per i clienti.

Prima di cominciare con LS, Violeta ha lavorato presso diverse società di investimento di alto profilo in Australia, come Tollhurst e Morgans Financial, dove ha trascorso gli ultimi 12 anni della sua carriera.

Violeta è un tecnico di mercato certificato dall’Australian Technical Analysts Association e ha conseguito un diploma post-laurea in finanza applicata e investimenti presso Kaplan Professional (FINSIA), Australia, dove è stata docente per diversi anni.

Julian Manoilov

Marketing Lead

Julian è entrato a far parte di Leverage Shares nel 2018 come parte della prima espansione della società in Europa orientale. È responsabile della progettazione di strategie di marketing e della promozione della notorietà del marchio.

Oktay Kavrak

Head of Communications and Strategy

Oktay è entrato a far parte di Leverage Shares alla fine del 2019. È responsabile della crescita aziendale, mantenendo relazioni chiave e sviluppando attività di vendita nei mercati di lingua inglese.

È entrato in LS da UniCredit, dove è stato responsabile delle relazioni aziendali per le multinazionali. La sua precedente esperienza è in finanza aziendale e amministrazione di fondi in società come IBM Bulgaria e DeGiro / FundShare.

Oktay ha conseguito una laurea in Finanza e contabilità ed un certificato post-laurea in Imprenditoria presso il Babson College. Ha ottenuto anche la certificazione CFA.

Sandeep Rao

Research
Sandeep è entrato a far parte di Leverage Shares nel settembre 2020. È responsabile della ricerca sulle linee di prodotto esistenti e nuove, su asset class e strategie, con particolare riguardo all’analisi degli eventi attuali ed i loro sviluppi. Sandeep ha una lunga esperienza nei mercati finanziari. Iniziata in un hedge fund di Chicago come ingegnere finanziario, la sua carriera è proseguita in numerose società ed organizzazioni, nel corso di 8 anni – da Barclays (Capital’s Prime Services Division) al più recente Index Research Team di Nasdaq. Sandeep detiene un M.S. in Finanza ed un MBA all’Illinois Institute of Technology di Chicago.

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