Leverage effect: Stock index futures have leverage effect, which enables investors to control larger market value with less funds, thus bringing greater potential profits, but also increasing risks accordingly. ETF options have no leverage effect, so the risk is relatively small.
Trading time: ETF options can be bought and sold at any time, while stock index futures can only be traded at a specific time specified by the exchange. Therefore, ETF options have advantages in flexibility and can be adjusted at any time according to market fluctuations, but the risks also increase accordingly.
Agreed price: The agreed price of ETF options is relatively fixed, while the agreed price of stock index futures changes with market fluctuations. If the investor's trading strategy is inconsistent with the direction of market fluctuation, the risk will increase accordingly.
Transaction cost: the transaction cost of ETF options is relatively high, including option fee and transaction commission. The transaction cost of stock index futures is relatively low, because only a certain margin is required.
To sum up, ETF options and stock index futures have different risks and need to be selected according to investors' needs and risk tolerance. If investors have high risk tolerance and hope to obtain higher returns through leverage effect, they can choose stock index futures; If investors have relatively low risk tolerance and want to make flexible trading adjustments, they can choose ETF options.