Net Long

Net long refers to a condition in which an investor has more long positions than short positions in a given asset, market, portfolio or trading strategy. Investors who are net long will benefit when the price of the asset increases.

Net long is a term used broadly across the investment industry. Investors and market traders can take either a long or short position on an investment. Long positions are typically taken by bullish investors and short positions are associated with bearish investors. Net long can be a calculation of a single position or it can refer to an entire portfolio comprehensively. It can also generally refer to a market view.

Speculators often view market traders’ positioning in an asset as a signal of the market’s expectation for the asset’s future price. For example, traders’ positioning on crude oil and euro versus dollar contracts are two assets highly followed in the investment markets. Both saw significant net long positions in the second half of 2017 as bullish bets were more favorable than short positions signaling an uptrend for the assets overall.

Investors take a net long position when they buy and hold securities for the long term. A net long position can also occur from multiple investments. Mutual funds often have the option to take both long and short positions to achieve the targeted objective of the portfolio. Therefore, the net long position would typically be calculated by subtracting the market value of short positions from the market value of long positions. In a net long portfolio the market value of long positions is greater than short positions. Some mutual funds may be restricted from short selling, which means 100% of the securities are bought and held for a full net long position.

Individually, retail investors are not typically known for taking deep short positions, making the net long portfolio a common and usually expected investing situation for individuals. In larger portfolios such as institutional and high net worth accounts, short positions may be more common. Some portfolio investment strategies may focus entirely on short positions for achieving the investment objective. The ProShares UltraPro Short S&P 500 ETF (SPXU) is one example of a portfolio taking a comprehensive short position on the S&P 500. Opposite of a net long strategy, SPXU uses a short selling strategy. In the ProShares UltraPro Short S&P 500 ETF the majority of the portfolio is comprised of short positions on the S&P 500 Index resulting in a net short position.