Leveraged Chinese Short ETFs Down Over 30% in 2014
The Chinese stock market was one of the best performing markets worldwide in 2014, with the Shanghai Composite Index up over 50% on the year in local currency. A stronger US Dollar versus the Chinese Yuan limited some of those gains if investors were not hedged appropriately. Still, Americans investing in China last year saw substantial gains. Several inversely leveraged China-focused investment funds, however, which actively trade in the US in the form of exchange traded funds (ETFs), were down significantly for 2014.
Leveraged ETFs are set up to track the daily performance of an underlying index or strategy, usually by two or three times in the same (bull) direction or inverse (bear) direction, by purchasing or selling complex option and derivative contracts in addition to the underlying securities.
The following inversely leveraged funds that track Chinese investments were down over 30% each in 2014:
| Ticker | Fund Name | 2014 Performance |
| YANG | Direxion Daily FTSE China Bear 3X | -45.74% |
| FXP | ProShares UltraShort FTSE China 50 | -30.84% |
Leveraged funds are specifically structured for traders looking to time the market and realize short-term profits based on the underlying index making single-day moves. Leveraged funds are generally not suitable for long-term investors, as the investment will ultimately lose value or significantly underperform, over a longer term, compared to its stated objective. In fact, Direxion Funds, a leader in leveraged ETFs, puts this disclosure in bold print on its web-page for each of its leveraged funds: “The fund should not be expected to provide [the multiple] times the return of the benchmark’s cumulative return for greater than a day.” Therefore, these leveraged funds are highly unsuitable for long term investors.
If your financial advisor or stockbroker recommended that you invest in inversely leveraged Chinese securities, you may have options to recover your investment loss. If your advisor failed to fully disclose the risks of investing in inversely leveraged Chinese securities, then you may have a claim for misrepresentation. If your investment objective was to only invest in safe and stable investments, you may have a claim for unsuitability. If inversely leveraged Chinese securities made up a large portion of your portfolio, then you may have a claim for over-concentration and lack of diversification. If your advisor purchased this fund without your knowledge, you may have a claim for unauthorized trading. If your advisor purchased this fund on margin, you may have a claim for excessive use of margin and negligence.
The attorneys at Carlson & Associates, P.A., located in Miami, Florida, represent investors who have lost money due to the improper conduct of financial advisors. If you would like to have a free consultation, we can be reached at (305) 372-9700 to discuss your options.