New York, NY, June 21, 2006—ProShares, together with The American Stock Exchange® (Amex®), today announced the launch of eight new innovative exchange traded funds (ETFs) designed to make it easier for investors to get short or magnified exposure to an index.
Four Short ProShares are the first ETFs designed to provide short exposure to well-known market indexes, seeking daily investment results that correspond to the inverse of those indexes, before fees and expenses. Four Ultra ProShares are the first ETFs designed to magnify daily index performance. They seek daily investment results that correspond to twice the performance of their underlying indexes, before fees and expenses.
The Amex® and ProShares also anticipate launching four UltraShort ProShares ETFs that will seek daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse of their underlying indexes before fees and expenses. These ETFs are not yet available.
"We look at ProShares as the start of a whole new chapter in the development of ETFs," said Michael Sapir, CEO of ProShare Advisors, Inc., part of ProFunds Group. "By providing built-in short and magnified exposure to the indexes, ProShares make it much easier to execute a number of powerful strategies. In times like these, when the markets haven't necessarily offered a lot of help, we've seen investors interested in pursuing more sophisticated strategies—for example, hedging to manage risk. Now, to execute that strategy, they no longer have to go through the process of setting up margin accounts or covering margin calls—they can simply trade ProShares."
"The American Stock Exchange is proud to have partnered with ProShares to bring these exciting new products to the marketplace," said Cliff Weber, Senior Vice President of the Amex ETF Marketplace. "The Amex has a long history of helping new issuers enter the market and we are delighted to have worked with ProShares in launching these new ETFs."
| Fund Name | Daily Objective* | Ticker Symbol (NAV) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short QQQ® ProShares | Inverse of the NASDAQ-100 Index® |
PSQ |
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| Short S&P500® ProShares | Inverse of the S&P 500® Index |
SH |
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| Short Dow30SM ProShares | Inverse of the Dow Jones Industrial AverageSM |
DOG |
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| Short MidCap400 ProShares | Inverse of the S&P MidCap 400 |
MYY |
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| Fund Name | Daily Objective* | Ticker Symbol (NAV) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ultra QQQ ProShares | Double the NASDAQ-100 Index |
QLD |
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| Ultra S&P500 ProShares | Double the S&P 500 Index |
SSO |
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| Ultra Dow30 ProShares | Double the Dow Jones Industrial Average |
DDM |
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| Ultra MidCap400 ProShares | Double the S&P MidCap 400 |
MVV |
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The ProShares are managed by a team headed by Chief Investment Officer Gus Fleites, an ETF industry veteran who also leads the firm's overall ETF initiatives. In addition to ProShares ETFs, ProFunds Group manages ProFunds mutual funds, the nation's largest lineup of indexed mutual funds.¹ Since 1997, ProFunds has provided mutual fund investors access to innovative mutual fund strategies, including funds that seek to magnify daily index performance and funds that seek to increase in value when markets decline. The ProFunds Group describes the portfolio managers common to ProFund Advisors LLC, advisor to ProFunds mutual funds and ProShares Advisors LLC, advisor to ProShares ETFs.
The American Stock Exchange® (Amex®) is the only primary exchange that offers trading across a full range of equities, options and exchange traded funds (ETFs), including structured products and HOLDRSSM. In addition to its role as a national equities market, the Amex is the pioneer of the ETF, responsible for bringing the first domestic product to market in 1993. Leading the industry in ETF listings, the Amex lists 175 ETFs to date. The Amex is also one of the largest options exchanges in the U.S., trading options on broad-based and sector indexes as well as domestic and foreign stocks.
Carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses of ProShares and ProFunds before investing. This and other information can be found in their prospectuses. Read the prospectus carefully before investing. For a ProShares ETF prospectus, visit www.proshares.com and seek advice from you financial advisor or broker dealer representative. Financial professional can also call 866-PRO-5125.
Jun 21, 2006