MIAMI, Aug. 5, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The securities law firm of Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. (http://www.dkrpa.com) announced today that it is investigating claims involving investment losses in leveraged and short exchange traded funds ("ETFs"). Among the broker-dealers that have sold ETFs are Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo Advisors (formerly Wachovia Securities), Smith Barney, LPL Financial, Ameriprise, Edwards Jones, UBS, and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.
Leveraged and short ETFs are leveraged equity investments that attempt to magnify gains from inverse market performance of various stock, bond, and commodity indexes on a daily basis, i.e., ETFs are designed to increase in value as their respective target indexes decrease. Because they aim to achieve investment results that target the daily returns of their underlying benchmarks, they are best suited for investors with a very short-term time horizon. And because they employ leverage, they can carry a high risk to an investor's principal.
But investors often are not told of the true risks of these products, and ETFs have been recommended to investors seeking both safe investments and longer-term investing. And as a result, many investors have unknowingly taken on unsuitable risk of loss and have suffered unexpected losses in ETFs. The most widely sold ETFs are created by Rydex Investments, Direxion Funds, and ProShares, a unit of ProShare Advisors LLC.
Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. is an AV-Rated law firm that represents investors nationwide in stockbroker-misconduct and investment-fraud cases. They have represented investors against most major Wall Street brokerage firms in claims involving stocks, options, variable annuities, hedge funds, mutual funds, and bonds. If you suffered securities investment losses in ETFs or other investments, please contact Jeffrey Kaplan, Esq. of Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. at (888) 578-6255 or jkaplan@dkrpa.com for a free case evaluation. You also may visit Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. on the web at www.dkrpa.com.
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