Comments: The idea that leveraged products are more complex than the operations of other fund types seems absurd. Investments of any sort require an understanding of the operations of the fund and this is in no way limited to leveraged and inverse products.
Individuals choosing to invest need to be able to decide which investments are right for themselves and their family. Undue restrictions to these investments accomplishes nothing except to artificially punish individuals for their chosen investments or making it more difficult to access investments that can be part of any strategy (conservative or aggressive) that meets their chosen investment goals.
The only helpful aspect to investors would be to clarify and standardize the information expectations of fund providers, who already do an extraordinarily good job of explaining potential risks of certain investments. Once expectations of information are sufficiently clear, the onus is on individuals to decide how much information they are willing to consume in order to make sound investment decisions.
It should not be contingent on investors needing to jump through hoops to access these investment options. Some brokers already require further approval in order to trade leveraged and inverse funds and this is an unnecessary inconvenience. L&I funds should no more be subject to enhanced scrutiny than every investor be forced to verify their knowledge of a company's fundamentals before investing in its stock.
Lewis Roberts Comment On Regulatory Notice 22-08
Comments: The idea that leveraged products are more complex than the operations of other fund types seems absurd. Investments of any sort require an understanding of the operations of the fund and this is in no way limited to leveraged and inverse products.
Individuals choosing to invest need to be able to decide which investments are right for themselves and their family. Undue restrictions to these investments accomplishes nothing except to artificially punish individuals for their chosen investments or making it more difficult to access investments that can be part of any strategy (conservative or aggressive) that meets their chosen investment goals.
The only helpful aspect to investors would be to clarify and standardize the information expectations of fund providers, who already do an extraordinarily good job of explaining potential risks of certain investments. Once expectations of information are sufficiently clear, the onus is on individuals to decide how much information they are willing to consume in order to make sound investment decisions.
It should not be contingent on investors needing to jump through hoops to access these investment options. Some brokers already require further approval in order to trade leveraged and inverse funds and this is an unnecessary inconvenience. L&I funds should no more be subject to enhanced scrutiny than every investor be forced to verify their knowledge of a company's fundamentals before investing in its stock.