This website collects cookies to deliver better user experience. Cookie Policy
Accept
Sign In
The Wall Street Publication
  • Home
  • Trending
  • U.S
  • World
  • Politics
  • Business
    • Business
    • Economy
    • Real Estate
    • Markets
    • Personal Finance
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
    • Lifestyle
    • Style
    • Arts
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
Reading: Risky Volatility Funds Set to Make a Comeback
Share
The Wall Street PublicationThe Wall Street Publication
Font ResizerAa
Search
  • Home
  • Trending
  • U.S
  • World
  • Politics
  • Business
    • Business
    • Economy
    • Real Estate
    • Markets
    • Personal Finance
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
    • Lifestyle
    • Style
    • Arts
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
© 2024 The Wall Street Publication. All Rights Reserved.
The Wall Street Publication > Blog > Markets > Risky Volatility Funds Set to Make a Comeback
Markets

Risky Volatility Funds Set to Make a Comeback

Editorial Board Published October 10, 2021
Share
Risky Volatility Funds Set to Make a Comeback
SHARE

Funds that track stock-market volatility are making a comeback, despite concerns they are too complicated for some investors.

Contents
Newsletter Sign-upMarketsSecurities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler has expressed concern about funds that track stock-market volatility.SHARE YOUR THOUGHTSRead More About Markets

Two new exchange-traded funds that let investors make leveraged or inverse bets on a popular barometer of market fluctuations are set to start trading later this fall. Similar products devastated investors in a high-profile blowup less than four years ago.


Newsletter Sign-up

Markets

A pre-markets primer packed with news, trends and ideas. Plus, up-to-the-minute market data.


The new funds, run by asset manager Volatility Shares LLC, were cleared this month for launch by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Both are linked to futures contracts on the Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, sometimes called Wall Street’s “fear gauge.” One of the funds bets that VIX futures will decline, essentially shorting the index. The other is designed to provide double the daily return of VIX futures, meaning it can rise sharply when stocks turn turbulent.

Some investor advocates criticized the SEC’s approval, warning unsophisticated investors could get burned by such products.

“There’s very little chance most investors can really understand how these products work,” said Tyler Gellasch, executive director of Healthy Markets Association, an investor trade group that has criticized the listing of complex volatility products.

The SEC approved the two funds after reviewing them for more than a year. Despite the approval, some commissioners remain worried about the funds’ risks and urged further study and potentially new rules to safeguard investors.

These products “can pose risks even to sophisticated investors, and can potentially create systemwide risks by operating in unanticipated ways when markets experience volatility or stress conditions,” said SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler has expressed concern about funds that track stock-market volatility.

Photo: bill clark/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Stuart Barton, co-founder of Volatility Shares, said the firm worked closely with the SEC to “come to a solution that works for everybody.”

The firm, founded in 2019, has structured its funds in hopes of avoiding problems that hobbled earlier generations of volatility-linked investment products, according to regulatory filings.

Volatility Shares’s products are set up as funds rather than exchange-traded notes. The difference has several implications for investors.

For starters, a fund has a board of directors, like a mutual fund, that oversees it and must act in the interests of investors. Exchange-traded notes, by contrast, exist at the discretion of the bank that issues them, giving that entity broad discretion to delist or even shut down a vehicle if it is in the issuer’s own economic interest.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

Are volatility ETFs too risky for investors? Join the conversation below.

As well, the exchange-traded funds own futures contracts based on the VIX. Notes that track the gauge own a bond created by the issuer, which usually then buys or sells futures contracts to hedge its exposure to the VIX.

Volatility Shares will also use a new approach to the daily rebalancing of its funds’ futures portfolios. This is an effort to address flaws in older VIX products that contributed to a 2018 meltdown dubbed “Volmageddon.”

On Feb. 5 of that year, the VIX more than doubled, with much of the gain coming in the last minutes of the trading day. The move caused losses for investors in a popular trade that bet on the VIX declining.

Among the casualties was Credit Suisse Group AG’s VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short-Term ETN. That note had nearly $2 billion in assets before the spike. Not only did the note lose more than 90% of its value due to the jump in the VIX, it also fueled the index’s afternoon surge, analysts said.

That was because of the way Credit Suisse rebalanced the holdings of futures that underpinned the note. The rebalancing took place at the close of the market day, triggering heavy buying of VIX futures just before 4 p.m.

In contrast, Volatility Shares’s new funds will rebalance over a longer period before the close. The approach is “reasonably designed to help mitigate” market impact concerns, the SEC said in its orders approving the new funds.

Still, Volmageddon remains a cautionary tale for investors. Credit Suisse closed its note soon after the episode. And critics of volatility funds say their use of leverage—amplifying or inverting the moves of what is already a volatile underlying index—makes them particularly risky for investors.

“The investor has to be very careful about what they want to invest in and how they’re attaining exposure,” Henry Timmons, director of ETFs at financial advisory firm Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC, said of volatility funds. “Somewhat similar to picking up pennies and nickels in front of a steamroller, it makes a little bit of money most of the time, but you have to watch out so you don’t get run over.”

Both of Volatility Shares’s funds remain susceptible to extreme price movements in the VIX, just like any other ETF linked to the volatility gauge. In March 2020, when Covid-19 sent the stock market into a tailspin, the index tracked by Volatility Shares’s -1x Short VIX Futures ETF fell 68%. This year, the index is up about 70%.

Volatility Shares says its funds aren’t appropriate for all investors. Cboe Global Markets Inc., which runs the exchange where the two new funds will be listed, also stressed the need for investor education.

“Not all products are for everyone,” said Laura Morrison, global head of listings at Cboe. “It’s important to understand the intricacies of each asset class and the risks of trading that asset class.”

Read More About Markets

Write to Michael Wursthorn at [email protected] and Alexander Osipovich at [email protected]

Copyright ©2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

TAGGED:MarketsPAIDWall Street Publication
Share This Article
Twitter Email Copy Link Print
Previous Article Disney Meets Roadblocks to Movie Releases in China Disney Meets Roadblocks to Movie Releases in China
Next Article Income-Tax Rate on the Rich Depends on Who’s Doing the Math Income-Tax Rate on the Rich Depends on Who’s Doing the Math

Editor's Pick

California dwelling of lacking child’s mother and father searched; father has served time for youngster cruelty

California dwelling of lacking child’s mother and father searched; father has served time for youngster cruelty

San Bernardino County sheriff’s investigators on Sunday, Aug. 17, searched the house of the mother and father of the infant…

By Editorial Board 9 Min Read
Farmer Needs a Spouse: John Sansone and Claire Dinette Break up!
Farmer Needs a Spouse: John Sansone and Claire Dinette Break up!

Studying Time: 2 minutes It's sadly over for one more actuality tv…

4 Min Read
Meri Brown Hints at “Accusations, Heartbreak” in Instagram Publish
Meri Brown Hints at “Accusations, Heartbreak” in Instagram Publish

Studying Time: 3 minutes Meri Brown seems to be going via it…

5 Min Read

Oponion

Apple Goes Deeper Into Finance With Buy Now, Pay Later Offering

Apple Goes Deeper Into Finance With Buy Now, Pay Later Offering

Apple Inc. tiptoed into finance with Apple Pay and the…

June 11, 2022

Economy Week Ahead: China GDP, U.S. Housing

Resume Subscription We are delighted that…

January 16, 2022

Huge 12 soccer TV lineup: The place (and when) to search out the video games on ESPN, Fox and TNT

The second season of the brand…

August 23, 2025

Ryan Reynolds Did not Blacklist Justin Baldoni from Company

Did Blake Vigorous and Ryan Reynolds…

January 2, 2025

Chris Wallace Leaves Fox News to Join CNN+

Chris Wallace, the longtime host of…

December 12, 2021

You Might Also Like

Trump’s 401(ok) enlargement fuels ethereum growth
Markets

Trump’s 401(ok) enlargement fuels ethereum growth

FOX Enterprise' Gerri Willis has the main points on the funding technique on 'Varney & Co.' Practically $4 billion of…

4 Min Read
Cracker Barrel inventory plunges amid model makeover backlash
Markets

Cracker Barrel inventory plunges amid model makeover backlash

FOX Enterprise’ Jeff Flock reviews on Cracker Barrel unveiling a brand new brand as a part of a broader model…

3 Min Read
Intel will get  billion from Softbank as White Home mulls stake
Markets

Intel will get $2 billion from Softbank as White Home mulls stake

Former Chrysler and Dwelling Depot CEO Bob Nardelli praises President Donald Trump’s daring financial play because the White Home eyes…

5 Min Read
Intel will get  billion from Softbank as White Home mulls stake
Markets

White Home mulls 10% stake in Intel after CEO assembly

Former Chrysler and Dwelling Depot CEO Bob Nardelli praises President Donald Trump’s daring financial play because the White Home eyes…

4 Min Read
The Wall Street Publication

About Us

The Wall Street Publication, a distinguished part of the Enspirers News Group, stands as a beacon of excellence in journalism. Committed to delivering unfiltered global news, we pride ourselves on our trusted coverage of Politics, Business, Technology, and more.

Company

  • About Us
  • Newsroom Policies & Standards
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Careers
  • Media & Community Relations
  • WP Creative Group
  • Accessibility Statement

Contact

  • Contact Us
  • Contact Customer Care
  • Advertise
  • Licensing & Syndication
  • Request a Correction
  • Contact the Newsroom
  • Send a News Tip
  • Report a Vulnerability

Term of Use

  • Digital Products Terms of Sale
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Settings
  • Submissions & Discussion Policy
  • RSS Terms of Service
  • Ad Choices

© 2024 The Wall Street Publication. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?