While we all know the saying, 'past performance is not indicative of future results', taking a look back at what happened in the past is always a smart move. That is because as the other saying goes, 'those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.' And the past mistakes we are about to discuss are certainly not mistakes you want to be repeating anytime soon.
So now that 2016 is over, let's take a look at a few of the worst performing Exchange Traded Funds during the year and see what we can learn from these epic failures.
The biggest Exchange Traded Fund loser of 2016 was Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bear 3X Shares ETF (PACF:JDST) which lost an astonishing 97.95% of its value in 2016. The three times leveraged bear portfolio ran into a buzz saw in 2016 and lost investors some serious capital. At its last reporting the fund only had $84 million in assets under management, which is scary for a fund that has an inception date in October 2013. JDST attempted to inverse exposure to the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners Index, which is a market capital weighted index of mining companies that receive at least 50% of their revenue from gold or silver mining. Furthermore, the index caps exposure to silver mining companies at 20% each quarter, meaning the index is 80% gold mining. Continue reading "3 Big 'Exchange Traded Fund' Losers of 2016"
