Fund Evaluator:

Rydex Inverse NASDAQ-100® Strategy Inv Overview

Rydex Inverse NASDAQ-100® Strategy Inv (RYAIX) is a passively managed Miscellaneous Trading--Inverse Equity fund. Rydex Funds launched the fund in 1998.

The investment seeks to provide investment results that match, before fees and expenses, the inverse (opposite) of the performance of the NASDAQ-100 Index® on a daily basis. The fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in financial instruments with economic characteristics that should perform opposite to the securities of companies included in the underlying index. The index is a modified capitalization-weighted index composed of 100 of the largest non-financial companies listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market with capitalizations ranging from $10.4 billion to $3. The fund is non-diversified.

About Rydex Inverse NASDAQ-100® Strategy Inv (RYAIX)

There are 4 members of the management team with an average tenure of 9.95 years: Brendan Cain (2022), Spencer Crane (2022), Scott Miller (2022), Michael Byrum (1998). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: S&P 500 (TR) (1970) index with a weighting of 100% and NASDAQ 100 TR USD index with a weighting of -100%. Rydex Inverse NASDAQ-100® Strategy Inv has 17 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 67.2% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Rydex Inverse NASDAQ-100® Strategy Inv is part of the Other global asset class and is within the Miscellaneous fund group. Rydex Inverse NASDAQ-100® Strategy Inv has 0.4% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 29.5%. There is 0.2% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 2.1% (1.8% domestic bond, 0.3% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Rydex Inverse NASDAQ-100® Strategy Inv has 65.1% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $12 million in total assets, which is above the $4 million average for the Trading--Inverse Equity category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

RYAIX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Rydex Inverse NASDAQ-100® Strategy Inv expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Trading--Inverse Equity category. Rydex Inverse NASDAQ-100® Strategy Inv has an expense ratio of 1.44%, which is 27% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a A. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Rydex Inverse NASDAQ-100® Strategy Inv has a portfolio turnover rate of 23%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 436% for the Trading--Inverse Equity category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, Rydex Inverse NASDAQ-100® Strategy Inv returned -0.2%, which earned it a grade of C, as the Trading--Inverse Equity category had an average return of -0.6%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

Rydex Inverse NASDAQ-100® Strategy Inv has a trailing yield of 2.68%, which is below the 6.95% category average. The fund normally distributes its income annually and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Rydex Inverse NASDAQ-100® Strategy Inv Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned -16.8%, 1.8 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of D. The fund has returned -23.5% over the past year (grade of B), -18.0% over the past three years (grade of C) and -13.6% per year over the past five years (grade of C) and -19.4% per year over the past 10 years (grade of C).

For more mutual fund grades, analysis and screening tools to help your investment discovery, join AAII for a $2, full-access trial. Learn more here: https://invest.aaii.com/membership.

Otherwise, for more information about Rydex Inverse NASDAQ-100® Strategy Inv, including its riskiness, submit your email to unlock the rest of the article.