Alternative Investments

Most brokers only offer equities, bonds, and mutual funds to trade while a select few seem to offer futures. If I wanted to buy an investment such as a credit default swap, where would I need to go? You hear about these things all the time but are they even available to retail traders like me?

Thanks for the advice.

I've never heard of retail traders getting access to CDSs.

Two problems - firstly they're all traded under ISDA agreements, so you'd need to get one of those set up with each counterparty you wish to deal with. This is a hassle for a hedge fund, let alone a retail trader. You may also need to be an ISDA member and you'd need considerable assets with your prime broker as collateral. Secondly the minimum size tends to be much larger than most retail traders would want - face values of millions of dollars.

I may be wrong though, but getting an ISDA agreement in place would be the first step, so that's a good place to start your research.