New Delhi: The country’s equity derivatives market has taken on a notably younger profile, with traders under 30 making up 43% of individual participants in FY26, a sharp rise from 31% four years earlier, according to a study.

However, the younger cohort also recorded a higher incidence of losses, the study by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) revealed.

Around 89% of traders below 30 were loss-makers in FY26 compared to 81% of participants above 60.

The changing age profile is part of a wider transformation in the retail derivatives market, which has increasingly drawn investors outside India’s largest cities and from relatively lower-income groups. About three-fourths of individual derivatives traders belonged to the annual income category of below ₹5 lakh. This group accounted for 43% of turnover, but 53% of aggregate losses, the regulator said. Around 88% of traders in this income category incurred losses, compared with 81% of investors with annual income of above ₹1 crore.

The geographical spread of derivatives participation has been equally striking.

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Investors from smaller towns (B30) accounted for about two-thirds of individual traders and nearly half of derivatives turnover in FY26.

The study noted that B30 investors account for only about one-fourth of individual mutual fund assets, pointing to a markedly higher derivatives risk appetite relative to their broader investment behaviour. The study also examined the relationship between derivatives trading and the size of investors’ underlying equity portfolios.