Back to Disclosures

Fennel Financials, LLC.

Risk Disclosure

As a Fennel Financials, LLC. (“Fennel”) app user, you are a self-directed investor, meaning that you are individually responsible for determining the suitability of your investment decisions. You alone are responsible for evaluating the merits and risks associated with the use of the Fennel app and trades placed through Fennel are done so at your sole risk and responsibility. Fennel does not offer investment, financial, legal or tax advice. Our employees, agents and representatives are not authorized to give you investment guidance and any instructions you receive from us with respect to your brokerage account will be limited to technical or administrative guidance.
The risk of loss when trading any security can be substantial. You should therefore carefully consider, prior to making any investment decision, whether such a transaction is suitable for you in light of your investment objectives, financial circumstances, your tolerance to risks and your investment experience. In considering whether to trade or invest, you should inform yourself and be aware of the risks generally, and in particular should note the following:
  • General Securities Investment Risk: Any trading in securities carries investment risks. In particular the price or value of any security can and does fluctuate and may even become valueless, resulting in possible loss not only of profit but also of all or part of the principal sum invested. Past performance of any investment is not necessarily indicative of future performance.
  • Market Risk: One of the most obvious risks of investing in the stock market is market risk, meaning that your investments may lose value as a result of the overall performance of the financial markets. This, of course, is apparent in the most recent world pandemic that we are experiencing today. While younger investors may have a longer time horizon to ride out market volatility, older investors may not have the luxury to do the same. If you are at or near retirement, a major downturn in the stock market can be devastating.
  • Online Trading Risk: Online trading has inherent risk due to system response, execution price, speed, liquidity, market data and access times that may vary due to market conditions, system performance, market volatility, size and type of order and other factors. You should not assume that an order placed through the Fennel app has been executed until you receive a confirmation of the execution.
  • Liquidity Risk: Liquidity risk arises when an investment can’t be bought or sold quickly enough to prevent or minimize a loss. While many securities actively trade, some may be difficult to sell and may cause you to take a bigger loss.
  • Taxation Risk: Income or profit from trading in any investments may be subject to certain. You should consult your tax advisor for additional information.

Specific Risk of Trading Exchange Traded Funds (“ETFs”)

  • Underlying Asset Risk: ETF investors are exposed to any type of risk associated with the underlying basket of investments. For example, a bond ETF is exposed to credit, default, and interest rate risks. Look for the risk section of an ETFs prospectus for detailed explanations of the risks associated with that fund.
  • Leveraged ETFs: Leveraged ETFs may sound very appealing when they offer the amplification of returns by 2 or 3 times the value of a regular ETF, but some characteristics of these products bring about a significant amount of risk. Due to the complicated characteristics of these investments, they are not right for everyone and should be considered carefully before investing. The net asset value (the value of the underlying securities) of an ordinary ETF may deviate from the market price from time to time, but, on the whole, the performance should track the underlying index and equal that performance over long periods. When it comes to a leveraged ETF, however, the fund uses debt and derivatives to amplify the returns of the underlying index at a ratio of 2-to-1 or even 3-to-1, instead of 1-to-1 like a regular ETF. The financial derivatives and debt used in these funds introduce an outsized amount of risk, even as they have the potential to have outsized gains. Leveraged ETFs also often come with higher expense ratios than regular ETFs. In addition to asset management fees and other expenses, such as trading costs and custody fees, there is also interest expense of the debt used to achieve the leverage. All of these expenses will have the effect of lowering the value of the portfolio. In addition to higher expenses, the portfolio of the leveraged ETF is rebalanced daily. This rebalance, especially in times of market volatility will cause the value of the ETF to decline. Due to compounding, leveraged ETFs held over the long term can see strikingly different returns than the fund's target. Because these funds reset each day, you can see significant losses, even if the fund itself appears to be showing a gain. Leveraged and inverse exchange traded products are not designed for buy and hold investors or investors who do not intend to manage their investment on a daily basis. These products are for sophisticated investors who understand their risks (including the effect of daily compounding of leveraged investment results), and who intend to actively monitor and manage their investments on a daily basis.
Contact Fennel at support@fennel-financials.com for a prospectus, offering circular or, if available, a summary prospectus containing this information.
Fennel is a member of FINRA/SIPC. Securities products are Not FDIC insured.