• Some investors may buy or sell an ETF in the Futures and Options (F&O) market, with a much lower capital outlay compared to a basket of stocks. Given current lot sizes in the NSE and margin requirements, minimum capital outlay in ETFs will still be much lower compared to futures.
• While Futures and options have expiry dates (last Thursday of the month), ETFs have no expiry date. You can invest in ETF and hold it as long as you want. In summary, F&O are trading products, whereas ETFs are investment products.
• In F&O you can take a much bigger position with a smaller capital outlay. While your profits may be high, your losses can also be high. F&O positions are marked to market and in case of market correction; investors may have to provide additional money for maintaining margin even before expiry. ETFs are not leveraged positions and hence there is no margin requirement. During market correction, your ETF NAV will fall but you will not have to pay any additional money. Risk in ETF is therefore, much lesser than futures.