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SEBI study: 89% of young derivatives traders lost money in FY26
Young traders under 30 now make up 43% of Indian equity derivatives participants, but 89% of them incurred losses, according to a SEBI study. Traders with small portfolios bore the heaviest losses.
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The profile of India's equity derivatives market is shifting younger, and the losses are concentrated in that same cohort. A study by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) found that traders under 30 made up 43% of individual participants in the year ended March 2026, up from 31% four years earlier. Among that age group, 89% were loss-makers, compared with 81% for traders above 60.
The study, drawn from client-level data across exchanges, also showed that the retail base is broadening beyond the big cities and higher income brackets. About three-fourths of individual derivatives traders reported annual income below ₹5 lakh. That group generated 43% of turnover but absorbed 53% of aggregate losses. Around 88% of traders in that income bracket lost money, versus 81% of those earning above ₹1 crore.
Geography reinforced the pattern. Investors from smaller towns – classified as B30 by the regulator – accounted for roughly two-thirds of individual traders and nearly half of derivatives turnover in FY26. SEBI noted that B30 investors hold only about one-fourth of individual mutual fund assets, pointing to a disproportionately high derivatives risk appetite relative to their broader investment behaviour.