I fail to understand why I, an investor, am being restricted from investing in any and all investment vehicles available on the open market. For a country that touts itself as a "free, open, and fair market", restricting me, a retail investor, from using the same investment vehicles available to professional investors is a flagrant and unabashed infringement upon a "free, open, and fair market". Inverse and leveraged funds are a means, like the professionals use, to control risk. They are integral to helping me manage my risk/reward profile. Without them my ability to control downside risk is non-existent. In other cases, when the economy is strong and healthy, using a leveraged fund lets me use leverage without concerning myself with bets on a price hitting a strike point by a certain date. I can simply put money into a leveraged fund and the complexity (and risk) of managing options is opaque to me; and something I don't have to manage. To put it simply: using leveraged and inverse funds makes it safer for me as a retail investor as I no longer have to touch options directly. I get all the benefits of options without any of the risk. If I'm being honest, this really feels like another onerous and cumbersome regulation that uses the "think of the babies" arguments but is really going to disenfranchise, alienate, and squash retail investment adoption. It feels like it's another regulation whereby the rich and powerful have more tools at their disposal that we, the regular people, don't have access to -- or from our perspective: you're giving the professionals yet another advantage that is not available to retail. I'm staunchly against this ridiculous assault on my freedoms and capability as an investor. I'm not some baby that needs to be coddled.
Jason Ott Comment On Regulatory Notice 22-08
I fail to understand why I, an investor, am being restricted from investing in any and all investment vehicles available on the open market. For a country that touts itself as a "free, open, and fair market", restricting me, a retail investor, from using the same investment vehicles available to professional investors is a flagrant and unabashed infringement upon a "free, open, and fair market". Inverse and leveraged funds are a means, like the professionals use, to control risk. They are integral to helping me manage my risk/reward profile. Without them my ability to control downside risk is non-existent. In other cases, when the economy is strong and healthy, using a leveraged fund lets me use leverage without concerning myself with bets on a price hitting a strike point by a certain date. I can simply put money into a leveraged fund and the complexity (and risk) of managing options is opaque to me; and something I don't have to manage. To put it simply: using leveraged and inverse funds makes it safer for me as a retail investor as I no longer have to touch options directly. I get all the benefits of options without any of the risk. If I'm being honest, this really feels like another onerous and cumbersome regulation that uses the "think of the babies" arguments but is really going to disenfranchise, alienate, and squash retail investment adoption. It feels like it's another regulation whereby the rich and powerful have more tools at their disposal that we, the regular people, don't have access to -- or from our perspective: you're giving the professionals yet another advantage that is not available to retail. I'm staunchly against this ridiculous assault on my freedoms and capability as an investor. I'm not some baby that needs to be coddled.