I am a retail investor with approximately $1M in investments, spread over several accounts. I routinely trade leveraged and inverse ETFs as a small portion of my overall investment as part of my overall risk management strategy. Though these ETFs are a small percentage of my total assets, they sometimes form a larger percentage of an individual account, as I concentrate all these trades in a single account. Access to these ETFs allows me easier access with lower fees and allows me to spend less time managing the position relative to attempting to create the equivalent position with a complex chain of options. While some retail traders may not be sufficiently sophisticated to trade these ETFs safely, that is not true of all retail traders, and myriad other traps await the unweary. While it would be "nice" if investing guaranteed positive returns for everyone, it's not realistic. If these ETFs are restricted at all, they should be placed under the same system used by brokers for option trading - level 1, level 2, etc. Access to these ETFs should not be restricted wholesale.
Matthew Hansen Comment On Regulatory Notice 22-08
I am a retail investor with approximately $1M in investments, spread over several accounts. I routinely trade leveraged and inverse ETFs as a small portion of my overall investment as part of my overall risk management strategy. Though these ETFs are a small percentage of my total assets, they sometimes form a larger percentage of an individual account, as I concentrate all these trades in a single account. Access to these ETFs allows me easier access with lower fees and allows me to spend less time managing the position relative to attempting to create the equivalent position with a complex chain of options. While some retail traders may not be sufficiently sophisticated to trade these ETFs safely, that is not true of all retail traders, and myriad other traps await the unweary. While it would be "nice" if investing guaranteed positive returns for everyone, it's not realistic. If these ETFs are restricted at all, they should be placed under the same system used by brokers for option trading - level 1, level 2, etc. Access to these ETFs should not be restricted wholesale.