A.P. "Skip" Viragh, founder of Rydex Investments,
was an innovator and visionary in the financial services industry.
In 1993 he formed Rydex Investments to develop products and
services for financial advisors, registered investment advisors
and sophisticated investors who employed more active trading
strategies. He was the first person to offer sophisticated
inverse (or "short")¹ and leveraged index funds to
the general public.
In the years after, Rydex Investments established other firsts
in the mutual fund industry, including the first leveraged fixed-income
fund. Today, Rydex is one of the fastest growing financial services
firms in the industry, with $
12
billion² in assets under management.
In 2001, Investment News named Skip one of the industry's "power elite" due to his record of innovation. The
Rydex Investments founder also bucked the trend during the
last recession when he cut back bonuses and other benefits
to avoid firing any staff during the downturn. In a September
2003 Newhouse News article, he was quoted, "Our culture
today really is very strong because everybody knows that we
came through it as a team."
Sadly, Skip died of pancreatic cancer on December 11, 2003
at age 62. In addition to his legacy in the financial services
industry, Skip also made a name for himself with his largesse.
He gave $13.5 million to his alma mater Spring Hill College,
making him the college's largest benefactor. In addition,
in 2000, he and his four siblings formed the Viragh Family
Foundation, a private foundation formed to benefit individuals
by making donations to medical research programs and other
charitable organizations designed to help individuals attain
educational goals and end hunger, homelessness and domestic
violence. Through his creation of a charitable group at Rydex,
the company is active in giving to local Washington, D.C.
charities such as Make-A-Wish, the Salvation Army's Christmas
Gift Drive, Red Cross Blood Drives and the Capital Area Food
Bank.
Inverse funds and leveraged funds may not be suitable for all investors. Investing in short/inverse funds involves certain risks, which may include increased volatility due to the funds' possible use of short sales of securities and derivatives such as options and futures. The funds are subject to active trading risks that may increase volatility and impact the funds' ability to achieve their investment objectives. The use of leverage by a mutual fund increases the risk to the fund. The more a mutual fund invests in leveraged instruments, the more the leverage will magnify any gains or losses on those investments.
1. “Short funds” or “inverse funds” are designed to provide investment results that move in the opposite direction of the daily price movement of the index to which they are benchmarked.
For more complete information regarding Rydex funds, call 800.820.0888 or click here for a prospectus. Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of a fund carefully before investing. The fund's prospectus contains this and other information about the fund. Read the prospectus carefully before you invest or send money.
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A.P. "Skip" Viragh, founder of Rydex Investments,
was an innovator and visionary in the financial services industry.
In 1993 he formed Rydex Investments to develop products and
services for financial advisors, registered investment advisors
and sophisticated investors who employed more active trading
strategies. He was the first person to offer sophisticated
inverse (or "short")¹ and leveraged index funds to
the general public.
