February 21, 2020
I am individual investor, managing my own funds for over 20 years. I have used leveraged fund extensively, and occasionally have used inverse funds. The use of these funds has become an important tool for me to manage the risk of my portfolio holdings and has provided an opportunity to more safely be a market participant . Prior to the use of these types of funds, I used options to accomplish these goals.
I find the possible restriction the SEC is considering on leveraged and inverse funds to be a very negative action for me as an individual investor. It would necessitate me to use much more complicated investment tools, requiring me to then compete at much higher levels of trading expertise and insider competition to accomplish my investment and trading goals. I have found these funds to be very reliable, delivering, for the most part, what they have been designed to accomplish.
The logic for consideration of this policy appears to have less than altruistic motives. At a time when more trading tools continue to be offered to individuals who manage their own investments and the industry is encouraging more individual participation, this move would go back to prior decades old restrictions of individuals who manage their own funds. Rather than providing tools for individual investors to effectively manage and protect their portfolios, it would take away these proven tools and force many investors to use more complicated tools, requiring much higher levels of expertise to continue the personal management of their own investments.