Wall Street Wants to Bring Election Bets Into Brokerage Accounts

Roundhill Investments has asked the US Securities and Exchange Commission for permission to launch six ETFs that would let investors wager on US election outcomes through standard brokerage accounts — the most ambitious attempt yet to bring prediction markets into mainstream finance.

The proposed exchange-traded funds, disclosed in a filing on Feb. 13, cover presidential, Senate and House races across both parties. The tickers — BLUP, REDP, BLUS, REDS, BLUH and REDH — track funds with names like Roundhill Democratic President ETF and Roundhill Republican Senate ETF.

Each fund would hold event contracts, a class of derivatives that settle at ...