An Ontario court has thrown out an aggrieved investor’s claim for losses suffered trading leveraged inverse exchange-traded funds (ETFs) at the height of the financial crisis, ruling that the investor was responsible or his own losses.

The Superior Court of Justice Wednesday denied the claim of Zenon Junko against Canaccord Capital Corp. and his broker, David Toles.

According to the court decision, in the midst of the market chaos in October 2008, Junko invested in an ETF called Proshares Ultrashorts, which inversely tracked the movement of the Dow Jones financial index by a multiple of two. He also traded the fund on margin.

The decision states that on October 9, 2008, Junko made money trading the fund. But, the next day, he lost a considerable amount of money. Canaccord sold off other securities in his account to cover the losses, but in the end Junko owed $292,398, the decision states. Junko signed a promissory note to the firm, promising to pay that amount as well as interest.

When he didn’t pay, Canaccord launched an action against him, and Junko counterclaimed and added Toles as a defendant. The court granted summary judgment to the firm on the promissory note, and then heard the trial of the counterclaim.

In the decision on the counterclaim, the court says that Junko maintains that he suffered the losses in his account because his stockbroker made unauthorized trades in his account, and forced him to sign the promissory note.

However, the court has now sided with the firm, ruling that Junko “is the author of his own misfortune”. The court says that there was no fiduciary relationship between the advisor and the client, and that he decided to trade highly risky derivative securities on margin. It also rules that Junko authorized the trades in his account on the critical day where he sustained massive losses.

“Junko’s attempt to blame Toles for the losses was self-serving and not credible. I find that neither Canaccord nor Toles breached any duties that were owed to Junko. The counterclaim is dismissed,” it says.