NEW YORK, March 31, 2026, 11:05 EDT
Several U.S. wealth managers bulked up on leveraged Nasdaq-100 bets at year-end, filings show. Sherman Wealth Management snapped up 42,668 shares of ProShares UltraPro QQQ, according to market notes dated March 29 and March 30. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services more than doubled its stake, now holding 135,309 shares. Woodward Diversified Capital increased its ProShares Ultra QQQ holdings as well. MarketBeat
The disclosures catch attention, especially after the abrupt reversal in the underlying trade those leveraged funds track. Monday saw the Nasdaq Composite drop 0.73%, pushing it over 10% below its October high, which marks a technical correction. TQQQ aims for triple the daily move of the Nasdaq-100; QLD targets double. Reuters
Wealth Enhancement reported holding 135,309 shares of TQQQ, worth about $7.44 million, in its quarter-end filing accepted Jan. 8. Out of that, 68,013 shares were added in the fourth quarter. Sherman’s mid-January disclosure listed 42,668 shares of TQQQ, with an estimated value of $2.25 million, according to holding trackers. SEC
Woodward reported holding 26,519 shares of QLD, valued at close to $1.87 million, in a Dec. 31 filing. Market note and stock tracker data from March 29 put that figure up nearly 128% versus the prior quarter. SEC
These are leveraged funds, plain and simple. QLD aims to deliver double the daily move of the Nasdaq-100; TQQQ chases triple that. But ProShares throws in a warning: hang on to these longer than a day, and your returns could veer sharply from those multiples—sometimes wildly in either direction. ProShares
Those filings cut harder when markets sag, thanks to the daily reset mechanism. “Everything is getting hit in this environment, and tech is no exception,” said Angelo Kourkafas, strategist at Edward Jones. Matt Orton at Raymond James called it a “perfect storm” for the megacap tech space. Reuters
ProShares isn’t alone here. Direxion and GraniteShares are also pushing ahead with more leveraged products, despite the SEC’s move in December to temporarily halt reviews of some funds offering leverage above 2x to evaluate risk. “Interest in trading the volatility in markets has grown,” said Mo Sparks at Direxion. For Morningstar’s Bryan Armour, this is “growing reliance on speculation.” Reuters
Yet the disclosures aren’t complete. Under SEC rules, Form 13F only shows holdings at the end of the quarter—meaning the data just made public reflects positions as of Dec. 31, with that standard 45-day delay. Anything that changed after March’s turbulence isn’t in view. SEC
Opportunity could be emerging, according to Franklin Templeton’s Chris Galipeau. “The risk-reward is improving,” he says. Tech valuations have retreated: the sector’s forward price-to-earnings ratio has dropped to 20, down from 32 at the end of October, Reuters reports. Reuters
Anyone looking for clarity on advisers’ holdings will have to hang on until first-quarter 13F reports drop—the SEC gives them 45 days post-March 31 to file. For the moment, those filings show that by the close of 2025, quite a few wealth managers were still sitting on hefty leveraged bets tied to the Nasdaq-100. SEC
