Do Leveraged and Inverse ETFs Converge to Zero? (2024)

FAQs

Do Leveraged and Inverse ETFs Converge to Zero? ›

Over the long-term, inverse ETFs with high levels of leverage, i.e., the funds that deliver three times the opposite returns, tend to converge to zero (Carver 2009 ).

Leveraged ETF prices tend to decay over time, and triple leverage will tend to decay at a faster rate than 2x leverage. As a result, they can tend toward zero.

For most standard, unleveraged ETFs that track an index, the maximum you can theoretically lose is the amount you invested, driving your investment value to zero. However, it's rare for broad-market ETFs to go to zero unless the entire market or sector it tracks collapses entirely.

If the volatility is high enough and the holding period is long enough, the constant will be small and the return on the leveraged ETF will be smaller than that of its underlying index. It is possible for an investor in a leveraged ETF to earn negative returns even when the underlying index increases in value.

Bottom Line. Leveraged ETFs decay due to the compounding effect of daily returns, volatility of the market and the cost of leverage. The volatility drag of leveraged ETFs means that losses in the ETF can be magnified over time and they are not suitable for long-term investments.