London based BOOST ETP is launching a platform of leveraged and short exchange-traded products. WealthBriefing understands that there will be an initial launch of 20 products within weeks; BOOST expects to list up to 100 ETPs across all asset classes over the next two years.

The firm says it will be the first ETP provider in Europe to focus on issuing 3x leveraged and 3x short ETPs. These products are designed to provide short and/or leveraged exposure to the daily changes in widely-followed indices. For example, if the NASDAQ 100 Index rises or falls by 1 per cent on a day, the BOOST NASDAQ 100 3x Leverage Daily ETP will rise or fall by 3 per cent on that day.

Investors will be able to buy and sell the new BOOST ETPs on the London Stock Exchange; the minimum trade is one security and settlement is trade date plus three business days.

“We believe that the leveraged and short ETPs … introduce investment products which investors currently demand, but are not yet available,” co-chief executive Hector McNeil said in a statement.

BOOST ETP made its official entrance onto the ETP market at the beginning of November this year.

There continues to be a trend of firms rolling out exchange traded products, including increasingly complex or "synthetic" products. Short ETPs are designed to generate a return if a market index falls, while leveraged products are designed to achieve superior returns. Some critics in the industry have previously voiced concerns about whether these products will perform always as advertised, particularly in the case of synethic products that replicate returns via the use of swaps.