Understanding the complexities of exchange-traded notes (ETNs)

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What’s the difference?

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Exchange-traded notes (ETNs) sound a lot like exchange-traded funds (ETFs), but don’t confuse these two investment vehicles. There are significant differences in how they’re structured, and thus the implications for you as a potential ETN investor.

ETNs are unsecured (meaning, not backed by collateral) debt obligations issued by a financial institution, usually a bank. Terms—including return rates and maturity dates—are set by the bank. Like bonds, ETNs can be traded or held until maturity. When an ETN is launched, a maturity date is set—typically between 10 and 30 years.

ETNs are the risker cousin to ETFs. The notes often employ complex strategies that may not be easy to understand, and ETNs expose holders to additional risks, including credit risk (i.e., risk of issuer default). The two vehicles also fall under different regulatory frameworks that offer different investor protections.

Financial institutions create ETNs based on a particular strategy or index. ETN issuers can create unique products that offer investors exposure to parts of the market that would be difficult to package with an ETF. Some ETN strategies include:

In addition to accessing some hard-to-get markets, there are other potential benefits to using an ETN. Those include:

It’s easy to confuse ETNs and ETFs. They have similar-sounding names, and both follow a creation-and-redemption process to keep the size of the fund consistent with the amount of shares held by investors at any given time. Both trade on exchanges and can be bought or sold throughout the trading day.

That’s where the similarities end. Inside ETFs are securities, and holders of ETF shares essentially own a piece of those securities—stocks, bonds, or commodities, for example. When an ETF is created or redeemed, the value of the underlying holdings determines the fund’s net asset value (NAV). Each day, ETF issuers disclose the NAV.

Because ETNs do not own any securities, when ETNs are created or redeemed, the ETN issuer determines the value of the note via a preset (and published) formula called the “indicative value.”

Issuers can create ETNs with long maturity dates—anywhere from 10 to 30 years is common. When they create ETNs, they often hedge the strategy’s exposure to reduce risk. If that hedge becomes too costly, the issuer can redeem the note before it matures. When a note is redeemed, the holders are paid by the issuer based on a predetermined formula.

Issuers can also delist a note (i.e., remove it from trading on a major exchange) without redeeming it. When that happens, the issuer no longer actively supports the note through the creation/redemption process. The note is not shut down, but trading moves to the so-called “pink sheets,” an over-the-counter market for low-liquidity, lightly regulated securities.

Trading on the pink sheets is very thin, making it hard for holders to sell their notes. Plus, the notes typically trade at a great discount to their indicative value. The notes can continue to trade on the pink sheets until maturity; if you own shares, you’ll continue to pay the management fee to the issuer unless you sell. ETNs launched a few decades ago, so about 80% of the notes have either matured, were redeemed, or were delisted.

Because ETNs are often riskier strategies, market conditions can quickly move against them. This happened in 2018 with an inverse volatility index ETN issued by Credit Suisse (CS). The ETN was a bet on low stock market volatility made at a time when stock market price movements were subdued. When the volatility index spiked following surprising news, the movement went against the ETN holders. Eventually the value of the ETN fell by more than 90%. When Credit Suisse abruptly delisted the note, it left holders with pennies on the dollar.

Although ETNs are a niche product, representing about $10 billion (versus $6.7 trillion in ETFs as of 2023, according to Investment Company Institute data), that day’s violent price movement in the ETN caused broader market turmoil (known in trading circles as “volmageddon”). Investors in the ETN had no recourse because the note’s prospectus outlined how the product would act in such an extreme volatility event.

ETNs are registered under the Securities Act of 1933, while ETFs are registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Products registered under the 1933 Act call for explicit disclosures about the product’s material risks in plain English. However, 1940 Act funds have greater user protections. For example, ETFs have a board of directors with discretion over changes in the fund. ETNs have no board; in order to make changes to the notes, issuers must create new versions.

ETNs may offer investors greater tax efficiency and make it easier to access certain types of trading strategies, such as commodities and volatility exposure. With that efficiency and access come greater risks, including counterparty credit risk and illiquid trading.

If you wish to buy an ETN, you should read the prospectus carefully and understand that your entire investment may be at risk.