The last thing on the minds of most investors these days is the desire to use leverage to improve investment returns. And that's good news. So, to maximize returns and increase exposure to various slices of the market, investors can consider using exchange-traded funds (ETFs) designed to return three times the yields of the underlying investments.
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Triple The Upside/Downside On FinancialsThe Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares ETF (ARCA:FAS) is designed to return three times the performance of the Russell 1000 Financial Services Index ("Financial Index") on a day to day basis. The underlying financial services index is a capital weighted index of financial service providers ranging from large capitalization banks, like Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), to insurance providers, like Aflac (NYSE:AFL) and Allstate (NYSE:ALL). The FAS ETF had posted 62.38% returns year-to-date, while the Russell 1000 Financial Services Index grow by about 5% over the same period. (These funds seem simple, but more goes on behind the scenes. Read Dissecting Leveraged ETF Returns to learn more.)
How Does It Work?The FAS ETF will invest a minimum of 80% of its net assets in long positions of the individual securities that make up the Financial Index. The fund also invests in financial instruments that provide leveraged and unleveraged exposure to the Financial Index, thus, creating the ability for returns of the underlying index to be tripled. The balance of the net assets are held in money market instruments. However, notice that the ETF's year to date performance is not equal to 3x the index's performance. As the prospectus notes: "The pursuit of daily leveraged investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may bear no resemblance to 300% of the return of the Index for such longer period because the aggregate return of the Fund is the product of the series of daily leveraged returns for each trading day."
Can I Play Downside?The other side of the coin offers investors the opportunity to benefit from the downward slide of financials in the Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares ETF (NYSE:FAZ). The FAZ fund is designed to return the inverse of the Financial Index by creating short positions as opposed to holding long positions in equities, like its Bull friendly sister, the FAS ETF. The FAZ ETF is down approximately -42% year-to-date. (For more on using inverse ETFs when the market is down, be sure to read Inverse ETFs Can Lift a Falling Portfolio.)
Other 3X OptionsETFs that offer three times the up (Bull) and three times the down (Bear) also are available as sector-specific funds. These include: the Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares (NYSE:TYH), the Direxion Daily Technology Bear 3X Shares (NYSE:TYP), the Direxion Daily Energy Bull 3X Shares (NYSE:ERX) and the Direxion Daily Energy Bear 3X Shares (NYSE:ERY).
Final ThoughtsGiven the volatility in the market, only investors who have the time to pay attention to these investment vehicles should consider allocating a small portion of their investments into the three- times returns ETFs. The upside potential looks explosive if you're on the right side of the market movement. However, beware of the compounded negative returns on the other side.
Triple The Upside/Downside On FinancialsThe Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares ETF (ARCA:FAS) is designed to return three times the performance of the Russell 1000 Financial Services Index ("Financial Index") on a day to day basis. The underlying financial services index is a capital weighted index of financial service providers ranging from large capitalization banks, like Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), to insurance providers, like Aflac (NYSE:AFL) and Allstate (NYSE:ALL). The FAS ETF had posted 62.38% returns year-to-date, while the Russell 1000 Financial Services Index grow by about 5% over the same period. (These funds seem simple, but more goes on behind the scenes. Read Dissecting Leveraged ETF Returns to learn more.)
How Does It Work?The FAS ETF will invest a minimum of 80% of its net assets in long positions of the individual securities that make up the Financial Index. The fund also invests in financial instruments that provide leveraged and unleveraged exposure to the Financial Index, thus, creating the ability for returns of the underlying index to be tripled. The balance of the net assets are held in money market instruments. However, notice that the ETF's year to date performance is not equal to 3x the index's performance. As the prospectus notes: "The pursuit of daily leveraged investment goals means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a full trading day may bear no resemblance to 300% of the return of the Index for such longer period because the aggregate return of the Fund is the product of the series of daily leveraged returns for each trading day."
Can I Play Downside?The other side of the coin offers investors the opportunity to benefit from the downward slide of financials in the Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares ETF (NYSE:FAZ). The FAZ fund is designed to return the inverse of the Financial Index by creating short positions as opposed to holding long positions in equities, like its Bull friendly sister, the FAS ETF. The FAZ ETF is down approximately -42% year-to-date. (For more on using inverse ETFs when the market is down, be sure to read Inverse ETFs Can Lift a Falling Portfolio.)
Other 3X OptionsETFs that offer three times the up (Bull) and three times the down (Bear) also are available as sector-specific funds. These include: the Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares (NYSE:TYH), the Direxion Daily Technology Bear 3X Shares (NYSE:TYP), the Direxion Daily Energy Bull 3X Shares (NYSE:ERX) and the Direxion Daily Energy Bear 3X Shares (NYSE:ERY).
Final ThoughtsGiven the volatility in the market, only investors who have the time to pay attention to these investment vehicles should consider allocating a small portion of their investments into the three- times returns ETFs. The upside potential looks explosive if you're on the right side of the market movement. However, beware of the compounded negative returns on the other side.
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